 |
| Graham
Chapman, Michael Palin, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam |
|
 |
Anamorphic
widescreen |
 |
Dolby Digital
5.1 |
|
DTS |
|
|
Trailer(s) |
|
Featurette(s) |
|
Documentary |
|
Audio commentary
|
|
Deleted scenes
|
|
Concept art
/ storyboards |
|
Multi-angle
feature |
|
|
|
|
The
Virgin Mandy: He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy!
Someone
born next door to Jesus is mistaken for the Messiah.
 Boy
am I glad to have the funniest Monty Python movie of all on DVD. Not
because of the superior audio or video. Not even because all the amazing
extra features that are included on the Criterion DVD edition. In the
case of this movie, I'm happy most of all to own it on a medium that
won't wear down for a long, long time. Life of Brian was one
of the first movies I ever owned on videocassette, and I honestly don't
know how many different tapes of it I have had. As it's one of those
movies that's still funny after having seen it many times, I have had
to replace VHS tapes as they were worn out.
I would include Life of Brian in a very short list of comedies
that includes Dr. Strangelove, This is Spinal Tap, Some Like it Hot
and The Jerk. These movies stay fresh and funny no matter how
many times you see them. The jokes, the performances, the timing, the
wit... it's all executed so perfectly that the pictures only seem to
grow with age. |
|
 |
 |
|
|
There
is a letterboxed movie-only release available for both Region 1 and
Region 2, and a Region 1 Special Edition from the Criterion Collection.
This is a review of the Special Edition.
The
picture has been matted down to its theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1,
and the widescreen image is presented in a new anamorphic transfer.
The transfer is by no means flawless, as the best source print available
would require major restoration to remove all the scratches and blemishes,
but it is certainly the best and brightest it has ever looked on home
video. All earlier VHS releases looked very hazy, with extremely poor
and undersaturated colors. This release won't stand up to comparison
with contemporary releases, but it's certainly the best I've ever seen
it look.
The sound is presented in a Dolby 2.0 soundtrack that sounds a bit tinny
(especially the score) but the dialogues are clear and distinct without
much hiss or pop.
The
Criterion Edition represents just about the ultimate DVD for Life
of Brian fans. Not only are there two separate audio commentary
tracks from all five surviving Python members, there is an hour-long
documentary that was shot on location while they were shooting in Tunisia,
and - best of all - there are six deleted scenes that have been rarely
seen before.
These deleted scenes are the most memorable feature, but the commentary
tracks and documentary are also extremely well done. Although the documentary
isn't really specifically about the production of Life of Brian,
it does give a nice insight into the mood while shooting. There are
also some very funny radio commercials for the movie and a theatrical
trailer that isn't that funny but is still interesting to see. The
main menu screen consists of a large-scale version of the 'epic-style'
logo before a starry-sky background, with an animation of the alien spacecraft
occasionally flying by and cues from the score playing in the background.
The menu options are presented in a font that looks appropriately mock-biblical.
The rest of the menu screens are also extremely nicely designed, each
of them a perfect match for the content available.
Dan Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: 2001
Click
here for IMDB info on Life
of Brian.
Click here
to return to the front page.
|
|
| |
