Masterful Movie

An absolute waste of money

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The members of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" recreate some of the best bits from the first two seasons of their TV series.OK--I LOVE Monty Python. "Life of Brian" and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" are two of the funniest movies ever made. "Live at the Hollywood Bowl" isn't bad and even "Meaning of Life" had its moments. However THIS was dreadful. What works on TV certainly does not work in a movie. This movie needs what the TV show had...a laugh track. Moments that were hilarious on TV just simply don't work in this context. I saw it at a revival theatre with "Holy Grail" once ages ago. The audience was in hysterics during "Grail". This one was greeted with dead silence. There was the occasional laugh here and there but mostly everyone sat there without reacting. It just doesn't work. Stick with any of the other movies and avoid this one.

Released in 1971, this first feature presentation by the zany Monty Python's troupe is very much like a "greatest hits" album where we have these very funny guys from the UK showcasing some of their most hilariously popular sketches and bizarre animated segments from their long-running TV series of the late 1960s.For anyone who enjoys outrageously odd comedy, this film's compilation is really a fine introduction to Monty Python's peculiar and unique brand of humour.Filled with all sorts of surreal slapstick and supreme silliness, this film includes such unforgettable, comic gems as - The World's Deadliest Joke, Upper-Class Twit Of The Year, Hells Grannies, Dead Parrot, and Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink, to name but a few.For some guaranteed giggles and outright laughs, you can always rely on the Monty Python's gang to deliver the goods..... Check it out!

While the Americans have a habit of taking movies and turning them into TV series, the Brits do it the other way round - we have a large number of cinema movies which have been spun off TV series.The Python crew's first outing onto the big screen is an unassuming affair - it takes a number of sketches from the series, most of which had been seen (and those which hadn't soon would be), and reproduces them on film as opposed to videotape. In that respect, they are of considerably better image quality than the video standard of the time and, of course, they don't have a laugh track.And they are all good sketches, well reproduced here, and an excellent reminder of what made Python successful in the first place.

This is a collection of many of the best and most loved sketches from the Flying Circus, redone on a (slightly!) bigger budget, and with a film crew instead of on sets. That of course means the camera-work is more loose and with proper, attractive cinematography, the editing more crisp, and the production value increases noticeably(better FX, sound quality, etc.). The parts tend to be played by the same members and extras(the lovely Carol Cleveland included), and much of the animation is reused. Things are put in a different order to keep things fresh, and some of the segues are changed, as well. Timing is at times less sharp than the original version, but they certainly put the same passion and effort into it. The Dead Parrot, "Say no more" man, "the importance of not being seen" and many others. This is like a reel of the greatest of the episodes, coming in at slightly less than 90 minutes. Of course there are slow points, and there is, indeed, no new material here. And yes, if you are unfamiliar with them, I'd try to watch the show before this. There is a lot of bloody, violent, disturbing content, a little sexuality and brief topless female nudity in this. I recommend it to long-time fans. 8/10