On a Midnight Clear 2000 years ago, three wise men enter a manger where a babe is wrapped in swaddling clothes. It is an infant called Brian...and the three wise men are in the wrong manger. For the rest of his life, Brian (Graham Chapman) finds himself regarded as something of a Messiah yet he's always in the shadow of this Other Guy from Galilee. Brian is witness to the Sermon of the Mount, but his seat is in such a bad location that he can't hear any of it ("Blessed are the cheesemakers?"). Ultimately he is brought before Pontius Pilate and sentenced to crucifixion, which takes place at that crowded, non-exclusive execution site a few blocks shy of Calvary. Rather than utter the Last Six Words, Brian leads his fellow crucifixees in a spirited rendition of a British music hall cheer-up song "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life." The whole Monty Python gang (Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, and Terry Gilliam) are on hand in multiple roles, playing such sacred characters as Stan Called Loretta, Deadly Dirk, Casts the First Stone, and Intensely Dull Youth; also showing up are Goon Show veteran Spike Milligan and a Liverpool musician named George Harrison.
Brian Cohen is an average young Jewish man, but through a series of ridiculous events, he gains a reputation as the Messiah. When he's not dodging his followers or being scolded by his shrill mother, the hapless Brian has to contend with the pompous Pontius Pilate and acronym-obsessed members of a separatist movement. Rife with Monty Python's signature absurdity, the tale finds Brian's life paralleling Biblical lore, albeit with many more laughs.
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PG??! It’s RATED R!ITunes messed up this time. This movie shows a naked woman and a naked man, and it was originally rated “r”.Score: 5/5
If you think Monty Python can do no wrong, this is the right movie for you.Having watched this film, I am glad that I can at last say that I have indeed seen “The Life of Brian.” Viewing this movie is one of those things that one should attempt--like studying Esperanto or examining every square millimeter of a Jackson Pollack painting. At almost forty years old “The Life of Brian” stands respectably on the fringes of human creative endeavor along with Pollack’s paint-crusted cigarette butts and the fur-lined coffee cups of Méret Oppenheim. I believe that the best line in the film is this: “Blessed are the cheesemakers.” “The Life of Brian” should be required viewing in so far as it tackles the sometimes tragic need of people to believe in something/anything and follow someone/anyone. And if the words “required viewing” make you suspect that this movie is not uproariously funny, you will not be surprised when you see it. I consider Chapman, Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin to be true pioneers of humor--but in the case of this movie the Python people remind me of that pioneer group called “the Donner Party” in so far as this film is replete with ill-conceived shortcuts and cannibalism (of earlier Python material in this case). The Pontius Pilate scenes are wearying. Pontius Pilate talking like (or should I say ‘wike?’) Elmer Fudd is not that amusing after the first forty-five seconds of it. To mask the unfunniness of this unmercifully long segment we have Roman soldiers acting as if they are vainly trying to suppress their titters at the procurator’s failure to grasp the humorousness of people’s names that sound like private parts and nether regions. Second, there is a long drawn-out scene where a huge crowd of Jerusalemites laughs hysterically as they repeatedly entice Pontius Pilate to say names and words that have ‘r’ sounds that he pronounces as ‘w.’ Needless to say, this is “hahdwee wipwoawing comedy.” Having a cast of thousands within the movie laughing at the movie’s own jokes seems to be a sort of substitute laugh track, and a very obvious shortcut for film-makers in a hurry and running short of good ideas. A strange interlude: Having “Brian” (Chapman) fall into a passing spaceship as he tumbles out of a tower: Apparently, someone for some reason wanted Chapman to fall out of a tower and had no idea what to do next. The spaceship seems like a surrealistic wheeze to get him to earth in one piece and restore continuity.Things along these lines were done much better with cheaply drawn animation in the original Python series on television. It is the old television series that makes this movie alluring and watchable. This film holds out the promise to us of spending a glorious hour in the company of artists who entertained us so magnificently in their glory days. And "The Life of Brian" delivers on this promise to a substantial degree. If you like watching entertainers regurgitate their earlier achievements, this could be the film for you. In this picture, Chapman, Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin all play roles remarkably similar to the ones that endeared them to millions in the Monty Python TV series, and this is not a thing to be undervalued: Graham Chapman: “The Schlemiel:” a nebbish, either highly placed or downtrodden, that shows up in one or two incarnations in this film. Several times, he gives vent to a screechy yodel of desperation that I recall from the Python TV series. No pipe-smoking officer-caste Chapman in this picture. John Cleese: the “organization man” who either seems to have a bit of a clue (as a centurion) or who is a slave to bureaucratic procedure (as a pettifogging Judean revolutionary who seems to be Basil Fawlty without a mustache). Terry Jones: dear old irascible Mum, bless her. He also plays a kindly bystander crucified as a result of his generosity. Eric Idle: the cheeky smart aleck, worldly-wise or merely wise-cracking who cannot resist playfully toying with systems, whether it be gender identity, how to bargain at a bazaar, or who gets to escape the fate of being crucified. Michael Palin: the quasi-competent, sometimes sweetly cordial character that is blissfully unaware of the surrealistic insanity of “gathering shoes in abundance,” organizing crucifixions like tour groups, or his own inability to pronounce certain consonants. Also, Palin's "guy in the dungeon" who respects the Romans is well worth the price of renting this film. In sum, if you think Monty Python can do no wrong this is the right movie for you, although it does pale in comparison to the original series and to “The Holy Grail” movie. I know that the Monty Python crew made other films, but after watching this one I am not inclined to try my luck on them..Score: 3/5
Add Flying Circus too!!This is one of my favorite all time movies and I’ve been wanting it to come to iTunes for a long time now. So glad to see it here! I just hope they add the Flying Circus to the store as well - it’s not available in the US store even though it’s available in the UK and Canada. Thanks!!.Score: 5/5
Pretty fun, but "trimmed" to fit what?This does have some pretty funny moments that still hold up well, but Apple has allowed the distributor to sell them a "modified to fit this screen" version! I though we were through with this nonsense, but nope, pan and scan lives on... what a pity!.Score: 2/5
Wrong ratingIts official MPAA rating is R, not PG!.Score: 1/5
What's with the trailers in these things...Let's post a clip that has little or no relevance to the content of the film! Yah, that's the ticket!!.Score: 4/5
Monty Python does it againLife of Brian does something that Monty Python had did in years. This time raised boy Brain who is raised by his loud aboxious mother he is praised as the second coming of christ and that the town has to welcome him. Life of Brian has cool animation and quarky acting to rule this feel-good history movie..Score: 5/5
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