Monty Python's Life Of Brian (DVD)

The first time I ever saw Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) was when Channel 4 showed it as part of their banned season when I was at school (it would have been late 80s/early 90s). I sneaked a video tape in to the machine to record it as coming from a very Christian family I didn't want to upset anyone but I really wanted to see what all the fuss was about and if this film really did contain all the blasphemous content that had earned it a ban. Imagine my surprise when a couple of nights later I came in to the living room having finished my homework to find my parents laughing away at the film I had recorded and my Dad saying to me "oh I'm glad you ...  Read the complete review

The Monty Python team were pioneers of British Comedy, and took the country by storm in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1979, they released this feature film, The Life of Brian, their third film, with hilarious and shocking consequences. The Plot In Judea 33 AD, a series of bizarre occurrences and a combination of mad events lead everyone to believe that normal, average Brian Cohen is the messiah! Thus follows a series of even more strange and incomprehensible events leading to a hilarious finale. The Python team are left wide open to explore the realms of the Roman empire, making a hilarious mockery of everything from religion to politics, lepers to ...  Read the complete review

Well well well where can I possibly start? Another of "Monty Python's" greatest achievements! This comedy is set back in the day of well no other than Jesus but the story is not actually about Jesus but very similar. Unlike Jesus, Brian is a rather insignificant, illiterate and naive young man who is born to a rather mouthy old dear or at least maybe old Cow may be more appropriate. The story starts off and we see Brian's mother sat beside a manger as three Magi's (wise men) are entering they obviously mistake Brian for Jesus who is in the stable across the way! As Brian ventures into manhood he encounters the ...  Read the complete review

Life of Brian is generally held to be Monty Python's finest hour - at least amongst their film offerings. Released after Holy Grail, it's clear that the Python team had learned a thing or two about the film world and adapted their style accordingly. Like some of the prophets shown in the film, though, I stand alone in the wilderness, preferring the inspired, anarchic lunacy of Holy Grail to the more polished Brian. Of course, I'm not trying to say Life of Brian is rubbish - it makes me laugh out loud every time I watch it, but if you put me up against a wall with a gun to my head, Holy Grail would just edge it for me. Fans argue that it has a better ...  Read the complete review

Over the years there have been many controversial movies that have been considered out of the ordinary for lots of different reasons. “The Exorcist (1973)” was banned for many years due to its psychological impact on teenage girls whilst “Evil Dead (1981)” fell foul of the censors due to a rape scene involving a tree root. Never banned, at least not in this country wholesale, but controversial for different reasons was the 1979 movie “Life of Brian”. A parody of the life of Jesus, the film was panned by the Church and accused of blasphemy in religious circles. Ironically, it was one of the funniest movies of all time. “Life of Brian” follows the story of ...  Read the complete review