Anyone recommend Life of Brian?

[half71511]

i havent seen this one yet, but loved the holy grail, and i am not overly crazy about all the religious stuff, would you recommend this title?

[buckshot]

its hilarious. the documentaries alone made this worth my money. i usually hate docs and special features in general, but these guys were geniuses. and the movie is really funny. much less appreciated than holy grail but i say its almost as good.

"those are my juniper bushes"

[turboedguy]

If you liked Holy Grail, youll like this one.

[davidPS3]

I agree with buckshot. If you like these guys, this is a classic and the picture and sound are amazing!

[meckel]

If you can laugh at religious stuff you will find it very funny as you liked Holy Grail. If you are bothered by that kind of humor skip it it will just piss you off. I love this movie, Pythons' best IMHO

[half71511]

ok so another question, is it worth for $15

[meckel]

Originally Posted by half71511

ok so another question, is it worth for $15

I thought so (paid $20)

[buckshot]

Originally Posted by half71511

ok so another question, is it worth for $15

i bought it when it was in the b1g1 as a pre order. best deal ever

$15 i'd say ya. as long as there's no shipping too.

[half71511]

yea it is $15 shipped, i am probably going to pick it up, thanks for all the comments!

[Heart&Soul]

I even love the Wikipedia quotes from the movie.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Life_of_brian

[Petra_Kalbrain]

"Behold! The Holy Gourd of Jerusalem!"

[Kirsty_Mc]

Great film... silly but very funny.

WARNING - ANORAK MOMENT FOLLOWS

I don't know if they have been exported outside of the UK, but this film has inspired whole series of documentaries by the BBC (SD only AKAIK) on the premise of the "What have the Romans ever done for us scene".

They were:-

• What have the Romans ever done for us.
• What have the Ancients ever done for us.
• What have the Stewarts ever done for us.
• What have the Victorians ever done for us.

... and probably one or two others that I have missed. So if anyone ever says it's a stupid / rubbish / blasphemous / retarded film... justr tell them it has inspired many factual TV series.

END OF ANORAK MOMENT

[doctorsteve]

Originally Posted by half71511

i am not overly crazy about all the religious stuff, would you recommend this title?

Don't think of it as "religious stuff". It's not a movie of the life of Jesus or making fun of Christianity. It's the life of Brian, and making fun of Briananity. It's bold and irreverent enough to make fun of just how wacky and laughable zealotry can be. Brian is an unlikely (and unwilling) savior ("Well I say he IS the Messiah - and I should know, I've followed a few..."). He doesn't even WANT people to follow him (but only the TRUE Messiah would deny his Divinity, right? What's a guy to do?)

Follow the Gourd! Follow the Shoe! Collect Shoes! Be like the Gourd! Blessed are the Cheesemakers! (Although it's not meant to be taken literally, but rather means the manufacturers and distributors of dairy products in general...)

I haven't laughed like this since the Spanish Inquisition (I didn't expect it, either...)

All right, seriously - it's funny. Get it.

[Kirsty_Mc]

Well it is a religious satire... but then again it also satirises liberation movements, beaurocracy and a whole host of other things besides. It does not insult any specific deity which is an accusation often laid against the movie. The film skirts around events, and the hapless Brain and his Mother are at first mistaken for the particular deity in question. Brian is then later taken as prophet by a crowd and is pursued and the comical events of the film ensue to a surreal climax.

It is an historical fact that Prophets in Judea at that time were manifold, probably as a reaction to the vassal King Herod and the Roman occupation, so there was plenty of scope for the script to have a bit of fun.

PS. If my sympathies lie anywhere, it is with the Romans. (I'm a bit of a classicist at heart).

[jubaiweaponx]

15$ is a good deal ,I still need to pick this up as well

[gumpaholic]

Originally Posted by davidPS3

I agree with buckshot. If you like these guys, this is a classic and the picture and sound are amazing!

Same here! The Pythons are the BEST !

[reginaroadie]

I personally put this movie in the top 5 best comedies ever made. And it's true that the movie does not make fun of Jesus. It makes fun of the people who misinterpret what he says and fight over whose interpretation is the right one. The political humor in how it gets bogged down in bureaucracy is also top notch as well.

"We The People's Front of Judea, brackets officials end brackets, do hereby convey our fraternal and sisterly greetings to you, Brian. On this, the occasion of your martyrdom."
"What?"
"Your death will stand as a landmark in the continuing struggle to liberate the parent land from the hands of the Roman imperialist aggressors, excluding those concerned with drainage, medicine, roads, housing, education, viniculture, and any other Romans contributing to the welfare of Jews, of both sexes and hermaphrodites. Signed, on behalf of the PFJ, etc. And I just want to add on a personal note my own admiration for what you're doing for us Brian, and what must be after all for you, a very difficult time."

Also, for all it's verbal humor it has one of the best visual gags ever. At the children's matinée at the coliseum, you see the slave thrown out twice into the arena. He sees the gladiator, then tosses the net and triton down, and then starts running along the perimeter of the arena. Gladiator chases him through the whole scene, then has a heart attack and keels over. The Romans are displeased, but everyone else is cheering for the salve who's now free. It's funny, because that's what any normal person would do. You'd never see Russell Crowe do that.

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by reginaroadie

And it's true that the movie does not make fun of Jesus. It makes fun of the people who misinterpret what he says and fight over whose interpretation is the right one. The political humor in how it gets bogged down in bureaucracy is also top notch as well.

I disagree with this statement. I believe that it brings the complete ludicrous nature of the organized religions to the forefront and uses them as a giant pinata! It clearly shows how religion, by its very nature, in whatever form, is founded around the mental incapabilities of the masses... especially as they gather in large groups when all become followers at the slightest utterance of an idea, which eventually gets blown WAY out of proportion. Then, in turn, gets manipulated by the political powers to help subdue the masses and maintain order within the civilization.

That is why this movie makes me cry from laughter every time I watch it. I think of all the bible thumping idiots I had to deal with in High School Science and History classes arguing with the teacher by using quotes from the bible in an attempt to countermand the lesson being taught through scientific analysis and data.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Petra_Kalbrain

I disagree with this statement. I believe that it brings the complete ludicrous nature of the organized religions to the forefront and uses them as a giant pinata! It clearly shows how religion, by its very nature, in whatever form, is founded around the mental incapabilities of the masses... especially as they gather in large groups when all become followers at the slightest utterance of an idea, which eventually gets blown WAY out of proportion. Then, in turn, gets manipulated by the political powers to help subdue the masses and maintain order within the civilization.

That's just it:
Graham Chapman, being gay and CoE, felt he just HAD to pick on Religious Dogma, Authority Figures, and other such easy targets that British CoE gays pat themselves on the back for imagining they're "tumbling the Empire" with for social-shock comedy...

Uh, yeah, whatever (which's why only US athies think the movie deserves Nobel prizes, since they obsess over the same cheap targets themselves)--
But the mission to give the story Too Much Moral sends the movie into a quicksand pit of Pompousness by the second half--almost bordering on the Lisa Simpson--compared to the "purer" silliness of Holy Grail.
(And be glad the deleted scenes spared us ANOTHER entire subplot about deluded followers of Jewish liberation armies--As if the script wasn't already crammed to the gills with variations on the theme...Where we also learn that Eric Idle can't do silly-voice roles to save his life, since that was Michael Palin's specialty, and he was already doing three others in the movie.)
And where Graham did a perfect befuddled-straight-man as King Arthur, here he'd cleaned up his offstage act and now puts so much into the Brian character, it comes off as he's Pleading for Message. (And nothing kills comedy faster.)

Originally Posted by Kirsty_Mc

Well it is a religious satire... but then again it also satirises liberation movements, beaurocracy and a whole host of other things besides. It does not insult any specific deity which is an accusation often laid against the movie. The film skirts around events, and the hapless Brain and his Mother are at first mistaken for the particular deity in question. Brian is then later taken as prophet by a crowd and is pursued and the comical events of the film ensue to a surreal climax.
It is an historical fact that Prophets in Judea at that time were manifold, probably as a reaction to the vassal King Herod and the Roman occupation, so there was plenty of scope for the script to have a bit of fun.

Well, there's a good example of the comedy they got right:
We see a streetcorner full of prophets, proclaiming fire and brimstone--and one less successful one at the end predicting "In such time, a man shall not knoweth where he left his tea cozy"...
Brian, passing himself off, gives the crowd "Consider the lilies", only to have the crowd nitpick arguments over flowers and sparrows.
It's a perfect set of Python bits, but then five minutes later, the crowd suddenly proclaims him a "true" prophet, and Message stomps all over the script again. -_-

But again, that's more the second half of the movie--
The first half gets all the silly Pythonesque bits in, and approaches the sketch-comedy silliness of "Grail", and pure "sketch" moments do pop in from time to time once the plot thickens...It may not be as funny, but it's still up there with the two Python movies.

(What?--Whaddya mean "three"? There was no such thing! "Meaning of Life" never existed, and you can't tell us it did, lalala... )

[FC4L]

/\/\/\/\/\ FAR to much thought put into disecting this comedic masterpiece. If you don't like the message, to bad.


Did someone ask if they should pick this up for $15? Seriously? I paid $27 and would do so again in a heartbeat. It's worth it just to see Biggus Dickuss give his speach.

Where Holy Grail failed at the end, Brian triumphs. "Always look on the bright side of life" (Don't click if you don't want it spoiled)