Great Film overall

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

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

Blistering performances.

Pryor on the cusp and on the mend, halfway between the careening scatological genius of his 70s persona and the PG-rated grown man of the 80s. Yes PG Pryor generally sucks, but you know, setting yourself on fire can and should mellow anybody out. This movie is a stab at synthesis - he's still cultivating his mastery of the squirmy edge, but at the same time he's just turned his keen-eyed intelligence in on himself. It's funny and it's also very, very moving. The N-word disavowal is of course breathtaking - coming from Pryor it's like Rene Levesque doing a stop-smoking PSA. The story of being rescued from his talking freebase pipe by Jim Brown is another peak. And topping all is his seemingly spontaneous response to a shouted Mudbone request, applying that character's merciless storytelling bravado to the ballad of Richard Pryor. There are more dud bits than I'd like, but who cares? This is a fitting testament to a great artist and a good man.

I have no idea what is wrong with the authors of the negative comments about this film, but clearly they have no sense of humor because this is one of the funniest stand up routines ever - period.Richard Pryor has terrific material, perfect delivery and great comic timing - he is a comic genius. His self deprecating style is simply perfect and extraordinarily funny.I have seen this show several times on cable and I laugh often and out loud throughout every time. The opening 20 minutes have some of the funniest stuff I have ever heard particularly the bits about his relationships. And his description of Jim Brown trying to save him from crack addiction and the stories of his subsequent hospitilization for burn treatment are hilarious.Highly recommended.

Whoa! After seeing Richard Pryor Live some years ago, I was eagerly looking forward to this when it appeared on satellite TV a while back. Boy was I disappointed. As soon as I saw that the whole thing had been filmed in soft-focus, and that it had quite obviously been edited with canned laughter like an episode of Happy Days, my shoulders slumped. I barely managed a smile during the whole sad affair, and thought to myself, 'What happened to the genius that I enjoyed in the other concert?'. I can also honestly say that I cannot remember any of the tedious observations that Mr Pryor offered up. This was probably made during his substance abusing days.Live?...It looked dead to me!

In my opinion, Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip, is the funniest and best example of the genius at work. It is doubly interesting when you consider that it was made not long after Pryor's "Burn Up" accident, to use his way of speaking. Despite this, Pryor hasn't at this point lost any of the inventiveness and imagination wich made him one of the most original, freshest and warm comedians, and perhaps, when in top gear, the best comedian in the world. The audience really responds to him here, hanging on his every word and wanting him to do well. They are with him all the way, as you will be too when you watch it. Pryor opens up the monologues and hysterical stories at machine gun pace, and belly laughs are gauranted. Pryor doesn't dodge anything, retelling side acing tales of his run ins with the mafia, the making of Stir Crazy, his discovery of Masturbation, and most interestingly and humorous his exploding incident : "Of all the brothers who have free based how many do you know who have blew up? Why Me? I started to burn up and i was so high, i didn't even know what was happening. I looked at my hand on fire and thought, hey thats a pretty blue. I was all bandaged up in Hospital and came on the news, Richard Pryor died five minutes ago, i shouted noooooooooooo! wait on a minute jack"It is equally interesting to take note of how many other comedians have "Borrowed" drom Pryor over the years. For instance, Billy Connoly has quite often used the self mocking humour that Pryor uses to full swing here, and Eddie Murphy is on a much stronger level prone to using the black angst in his performance. Richard Pryor does it better than both here, and Live at the Sunset Strip is an absolute Stand Up Cinema Comedy classic.