Yellowbeard (Widescreen)

 

 

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I watched Yellowbeard recently and well it was basically a funny movie though there were some hits and misses with the humor and the rape jokes got tiresome after awhile!

this movie made me laugh when i saw it years ago and have wanted a copy in my collection for years !! but it's be outta print so long ? well i have a dvd version now that i burned from a recent cable broadcast and it looks and sounds awesome with the only flaw being the station banner across the the lower 1/8 of screen during final credits e-mail me about copies!!!!!

Graham Chapman was a member of the classic comedy gang Monty Python, so it's not too surprising that "Yellowbeard" plays out like the world's longest Python skit -- tasteless, hilarious, and full of clinically insane characters. It doesn't have much of a plot, but the A-grade comedy actors make up for that much of the time.

Raping/pillaging pirate Yellowbeard (Chapman) has been in prison for twenty years for tax evasion. But since he's never even hinted where his treasure is, Navy Commander Clement (Eric Idle) pretends to add a hundred-forty years onto his sentence, hoping that he'll escape and lead them to the treasure. He does escape, but discovers that his tarty wife (Madeleine Kahn) has transferred his treasure map onto the head of her (and probably his) son Dan (Martin Hewitt).

After trying to decapitate Dan, Yellowbeard agrees to go on an adventure for the treasure, along with a scholarly doctor and an absentminded peer. Only the three of them get kidnapped by a press gang, and so Yellowbeard follows them on board, intent on raping, pillaging, mutiny, and getting back the treasure he took from the Spaniards (Cheech and Chong).

Yeah, it's a pretty thin plot -- the second half has basically no plot at all. But somehow it doesn't really interfere with the enjoyment of the story, especially since the cast is pure comic gold. Heck, it contains half of Monty Python --really, what higher compliment can you pay it than that?

The whole hijinks-on-the-way-to-treasure gets kind of muddled, as does the revenge of Yellowbeard's ex-first-mate. So Chapman and David Sherlock load on the mildly offensive comedy, including a bunch of sailors trying to smuggle prostitutes on board, and kindly Lord Lambourn constantly forgetting who other people are and what they're doing.

The dialogue is even better -- wonderfully weird, sometimes sick ("Look, if you cut my head off it'll start to putrify!" "Do what?" "Putrify, go rotten!" "Yeah, it would ooze a bit, heads do. But I could live with it!"). Sometimes the humor is outright groanworthy, such as one exchange between Idle and John Cleese: "I may be blind, but I have acute 'earing." "I don't care about your jewelry!"

Unsurprisingly, Chapman rules this with his wild-eyed, bloodthirsty, bawdy pirate -- it seems like a a Python character who never made it to the screen. Yellowbeard is great fun, and Chapman has two of his Python pals as well -- Idle as a perpetually frustrated Navy commander, and Cleese as a blind beggar with hearing that should count as a superpower.

Cheech and Chong make some cameos as greedy Spaniards as well, and Peter Cook has an endearing turn as the absentminded Lambourn. As if that wasn't enough, two of Mel Brooks' favorites are on here -- Madeleine Kahn as Yellowbeard's tarty, untruthful wife ("The afterplay was on the rough side, but not fatal, dear"), and Marty Feldman as a creepy little pirate spy. Sadly Feldman died on the last day of this shoot.

"Yellowbeard" is kinda lacking in plot, but it almost makes up for that with a hilarious, slightly demented cast of classic comedy actors, and plenty of quotables. Definitely worth seeing.

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3.0 out of 5 stars A Wild and Crazy Spoof of Pirate Movies!
I like Monty Python and I also like pirate movies so when this movie was shown commercial free and unedited on cable I taped it and watched it the other day and though it's not my... Read more

Published on April 19 2004 by Thebookwoman

4.0 out of 5 stars Monty Python Meet Cheech and Chong
"Now I am the richessst perssson in the world!" A wacky pirate comedy combining the talents of Cheech and Chong with the Monty Python. Read more

Published on Jan 7 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Why isn't it on DVD?!?!?
I concur with all but one of the reviewers; this is one of the best comedies I have ever seen. It's Monty Python meets Mel Brooks.......... Read more

Published on Dec 13 2003 by dvachon1

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a MUST HAVE CLASSIC
Seeing the one review that said this movies was horrible prompted a response from me. If you have even a hint of a sense of humor you will enjoy this movie. Read more

Published on Nov 5 2003 by William Bartholomew

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic British Comedy
This movie totally rocks! You will laugh from start to finish. Definitely one of the funniest movies ever made. I wish they would release it on DVD!!!

Published on Oct 20 2003

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