Customer Reviews

The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus 16-Ton Megaset (16 Discs)

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Six comic delights -- five British guys, and one American. Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.

These six guys created "Monty Python's Flying Circus," a groundbreaking comedy series made of skits. They were sometimes gross, naughty, and they were always strange. And their bizarre humour has influenced everything from "Saturday Night Live" to Jasper Fforde.

For dozens of episodes, these guys served up skits on every insane subject you can think of: defense against fresh fruit, the Ministry of Funny Walks, sitcoms based on the family life of Attila the Hun, lupin bandit Dennis Moore, obscene children's books, semaphores, racing twits, village idiots, goats, psychotic barbers, Vikings, "ALBATROSS!", killer sheep, lobotomies, pantomime horses, Tudor pornography, Royal Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things, the dirty vicar, and giant alien blancmanges who are turning people into Scotsmen.

Certain sketches have reached the point of immortality, especially John Cleese's "dead parrot" sketch, in which he plays an increasingly peeved guy who is trying to return a parrot that was "nailed to its perch." Also Eric Idle playing the obnoxious guy who constantly thinks of sex, and refers to it as "wink wink, nudge nudge... say no MORE!" And of course, THE SPANISH INQUISTION, whose chief weapons are fear, surprise...

There are also some running jokes, like the pantomime Princess Margaret, and a mysterious knight who walks through hitting people with a dead chicken. And of course, Terry Gilliam's cartoons interspersing the skits -- goofy, surreal, sort of like Saturday morning cartoons if Dali were doing the animating.

Okay, not every skit is funny -- the "Mouse Problem" sketch takes a great idea and stretches it thin. But more often than not, they ARE quite funny. They also mock just about anything, from government officials to art to censorship to the military ("It's DANGEROUS, sir!").

There are also a pair of live discs, in which the guys also do their best little skits and songs onstage, and they're almost as funny onstage as they are on a soundstage. They make a nice bonus for Python fans, and are fun viewing after you've seen all fourteen discs of the TV show.

And all of this by men who often dress up as the world's most unattractive girls, with only a tiny budget and minimal cast. The 70s production values are omnipresent, and they are decidedly unpolitically correct. But in a weird way, these only make it even funnier than it would have been otherwise -- the writing and acting are pure, raw, unrefined comedy.

Probably the most memorable actors here are Cleese and Idle. Cleese does his psychotic shrieks better than anyone, as well as having that rubbery lanky body that twists itself into Silly Walks. And Idle not only has amazing comic timing, but he can adjust his voice and body language to... anything, from domestic goddesses to sleazy TV hosts. But the other actors are quite good too, especially Michael Palin, especially when he's playing someone timid or crazy.

This classic comedy series not only became a pop culture staple, but it's still fresh and funny more than thirty years after it was made. The full series is definitely a must-have.

And now for something completely different...

Take the best of material and it can still be wrecked by the incompetence of those charged with the license to put it on DVD.

Why is it that there needs to be DVD releases that just do not measure up to the original material?

Given that there are edits that remove or censor the content of the original series and thus make it incomplete - why would anyone spend the kind of money they are asking for on this pile of discs?

If I or anyone is expected to plunk down that level of cash, I would expect the DVD, as one should from any DVD release, that it be COMPLETE, it must include every second of every sketch as they aired in the tv series. If my ancient VHS recordings of the show provide a more complete library of the sketches than the DVD's then we have a failed series. Others have already pointed out some of the failures.

To anyone who wants a definitive DVD collection of the entire Monty Python's Flying Circus, I recommend NOT buying this but waiting, maybe another 5 or 10 years. Maybe, if the BBC releases their own version , they will get it right and not bungle the job like A&E has done.

SHAME ON YOU, A&E!

Monty Python was a very talented and smart group of six mostly university educated individuals who took established British humour and molded it into their very own creation.They took aim at anything that was stale and staid in then English
Society,shot it up,turned it upside down,flattened it and called it Mr.Gumby!!
What on the surface seems a simple enough point about the troupe but usually goes unnoticed today is their original appeal and impact.Python came out of the 60s rebellious era and while that trait alone wasn't surprising what was was their own nationality(British,of course!) and their feigned attempts at portraying themselves as part of that staid and stuffy society all the while taking stabs at every English sacred cow and then some such as the police,the armed forces,the BBC,war vets,religion,etc. which made it definitely "something completely different"! There has never been a program like it before or since.
Each program was filled with several sketches tied together more or less with animated segments by Terry Gilliam,the only Yank in the group.
Having watched the entire set with it's 16 DVDs I was favourably impressed by the quality of the transfers.They are pretty sharp and crisp.The only disappointment is the "Live at the Hollywood Bowl" film.The film is not in good condition and the colour is quite washed out.It is a full screen version and I wonder since some of the credits disappear off the screen that there isn't a widescreen version out there,hopefully in better condition than this.Time will tell.
I also noted that the sketches "Proust","Bruce" and "Biggles" have some quick moments that have slight cuts/jumps in them.I know the BBC is responsible for the first one but the other two I'm not sure of the who or why.There may be others but those are the three I noticed off hand.One will also notice that there are some film glitches and other various defects.From what I can determine these are things that are inherent in the original film and there's nothing that really can be done to excise them.
All 16 discs come in their own thin slip cases and are one sided(less chance of scratching!).Each DVD interactive menu if quite neat and each has its' own trivia spot about the particular ep you're watching and some neat special features including trivia question contests and more.There are alas no interviews with the cast mano a'mano but the 'Live at Aspen' DVD makes up a little for this.
Overall this is a set every Monty Python fan should own or a lover of good comedy.If you're one of the politically correct crowd I wouldn't advise you to buy this set as the guys leave NO stones unturned in their comedic efforts to offend and delight us all at the same time.It's a set I will certainly be watching again and again and you will too.

My only criticism is the one edit that I noticed from the original BBC re-masters.

Certain words are silenced from the "Summarize Proust" competition with respect to the contestant's hobbies. real fans will know . everyone else may simply wonder why there is a delay in laughter from the audience. This is not the fault of the presenter A&E, but rather the that of the BBC who were ahead of their time in the 60's, but who got nervous later.

One might think this decision should have been reversed for the private home use of the box set.

for the record the man's hobbies include "strangling animals, golf and masturbation"

I contemplated buying this set due to the hefty price. But hey, how much is it worth to you to relive all those hilarious memories over & over again! I just watched the parrot sketch with my 11 year old daughter (I'm now pushin' Rolling Stone age) and we had a great laugh together. Plus, if you first saw these shows in your early teens, like I did, you'll pick up on a lot more of the subtle & adult humor presented here; humor you may have missed the first time around. So......you can't take it with you so you might as well spend it wisely. Buy this set and I guarantee you will not regret your decision. Add to cart and don't look back!

A&E made more than their share of sloppy and easily preventable mistakes when mastering this collection. Aside from the unwanted edits that were mentioned by a previous reviewer, I have found this set to have a relatively alarming (if not totally pervasive) quantity of momentary digital glitches, particularly in the audio. These are NOT problems with the source tapes, as can be verified by watching earlier releases of the same episodes on VHS or even on PBS. Since my career is in digital audio, I can tell that they were "generated" during the process of transferring to the digital medium.

A&E didn't bother to restore any of these episodes, and I can't blame them, but I do have to object to the fact that they apparently just threw these onto DVD so hastily without pre-screening the results of the conversion process. One almost suspects that this conversion process was performed largely unattended.

In addition, there are other confusing and ridiculous errata-- such as the episode "Intermission" showing up as "It's the Arts" when the DVD is stuck in the deck, even though the back of the case is labeled correctly.

Dear Sirs: I also feel I should complain about the patronizing and extraordinarily annoying menu titles ("Main Bloody Menu," etc.) and, along similar lines, the totally worthless "extras."

I'm glad these are out on DVD, and I'm glad to have the "entire" set at my digital disposal after wearing out my ten-year-old VHS tapes... but I can't help but suspect that A&E or the Pythons themselves are hoping to cash in on this series yet one more time at some later date, when they do a full restoration and fix their first set of grievous errors. Call me picky, but when I plop down close to 2 bills for a set of "historically significant" DVDs, I expect perfection... especially when this set was the only reason I purchased a DVD player in the first place.

Yours truly, Sgt. R.B. Knickers (Mrs.) (Deceased)

Six comic delights -- five British guys, and one American. Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.

These six guys created "Monty Python's Flying Circus," a groundbreaking comedy series made of skits. They were sometimes gross, naughty, and always bizarre, and their bizarre humour has influenced everything from "Saturday Night Live" to Jasper Fforde. "The Complete Monty Pythons Flying Circus - Collectors Edition Megaset" brings together the entire series plus some extra performances, but pads it out substantially.

For dozens of episodes, these guys served up skits on every insane subject you can think of: defense against fresh fruit, the Ministry of Funny Walks, sitcoms based on the family life of Attila the Hun, spam, lupin bandit Dennis Moore, obscene children's books, semaphores, racing twits, spam, village idiots, goats, psychotic barbers who moonlight as sexually addled lumberjacks, spam, Vikings, "ALBATROSS!", killer sheep, lobotomies, pantomime horses, Tudor pornography, spamspamspamspam, Royal Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things, the dirty vicar, and giant alien blancmanges who are turning people into Scotsmen.

Certain sketches have reached the point of immortality, especially John Cleese's "dead parrot" sketch, in which he plays an increasingly peeved guy who is trying to return a parrot that was "nailed to its perch" to disguise the fact that it was dead. Also Eric Idle playing the obnoxious guy who constantly thinks of sex, and refers to it as "wink wink, nudge nudge... say no MORE!" And of course, THE SPANISH INQUISTION, whose chief weapons are fear, surprise...

There are also some running jokes, like the pantomime Princess Margaret, and a mysterious knight who walks through hitting people with a dead chicken for no real reason. And of course, Terry Gilliam's cartoons interspersing the skits -- goofy, surreal, interlocked with the skits. Sort of like Saturday morning cartoons if Dali were doing the animating.

Okay, not every skit is funny -- the "Mouse Problem" sketch takes a great idea and stretches it thin. But more often than not, the sketches ARE quite funny, sly and even subversive at times. They also mock just about anything, from government officials to art ("Watteau, dear?" "What a terrible joke!") to censorship to the military ("It's DANGEROUS, sir!").

There are also a pair of live discs, in which the guys also do their best little skits and songs onstage, and they're almost as funny onstage as they are on a soundstage. It's not new or unique, but it's still fun.

The big problem is that the "Personal Best" DVDs are also included, which means that there's a massive load of utterly redundant material on here -- the same sketches in the full-length series, but rearranged by "favorite" status. There are a few fun original nuggets in here -- including Eric Idle playing his own mom and Cleese playing a dirty older version of himself -- but most of it is recycled skits and interviews. Come on, why not bundle the movies in with the series instead?

That said, the whole Monty Python phenomenon is utterly astoundingly -- the entire classic production was put on by men who often dressed up as the world's most unattractive girls, with only a tiny budget and minimal cast. The 70s production values are omnipresent, and they are decidedly un-politically correct. But in a weird way, these only make it even funnier than it would have been otherwise -- the writing and acting are pure, raw, unrefined comedy.

Probably the most memorable actors here are Cleese and Idle. Cleese does his psychotic shrieks better than anyone, as well as having that rubbery lanky body that twists itself into Silly Walks. And Idle not only has amazing comic timing, but he can adjust his voice and body language to... anything, from domestic goddesses to sleazy TV hosts. But the other actors are quite good too, especially Michael Palin, especially when he's playing someone timid or crazy.

This classic comedy series not only became a pop culture staple, but it's still fresh and funny more than thirty years after it was made. The full series is definitely a must-have, but "Complete Monty Pythons Flying Circus - Collectors Edition Megaset" is for those who don't mind paying for some recycled material.

And now for something completely different...

Hi. I am 19-years old and I have been a Monty Python fan for the past 9 years.
When I heard that this collection was released, It took about seven members of my familiy to stop me from jumping up-and-down and yelling "Happy Happy Happy - Joy Joy Joy"...

I would be the first person to tell you to buy this right now without giving it a seconed thought, but then I read the reviews. Now (and you really have no idea how sad it makes me to say this), now I have to say STOP! Do Not Buy this item!
Read the reviews and think it over before you'r sure you want buy this SO-CALLED "Complete Collection", because for the time being, this may be the only way of seeing Monty Python's Flying Circuse on DVD. However, to entitle this collection "Complete" is very very far from the truth...

There are two very important things that you must take into consideration if you indeed consider yourself to be true Monty Python fan. One of the two is unforgivable and the other is even worse.

First of all (and this is the unfogivable thing) this collection DONT NOT include "Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus' - Between 1971-72 the Pythons went to Germany and recorded two 45 min. programs of the Flying Circuse Series. Programme 1 features the Pythons in German dialogue (Yes, the actually spoke German) and Program 2 was in English. Both programs featured old & new Sketches (including a German version of "The Lumberjack Song" called "The Holzfeller Song". This is also the origin of "The Silly Olympiad" and "Little Red-Riding Hood" filmed sketches seen on "Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl"). Both programs are an initial part of the "complete" series - and are supposed to be between Series 3 - to Series 4.

The Second thing, which is even worse, I read in the review entitled "DON'T BLAME A&E" by A viewer from new jersey -

"In response to Keith Meisel's review, A&E didn't edit the Monty Python masters. Most people don't know that when Monty Python aired in the UK, the BBC made a few edits before broadcast. When these episodes were aired in the US, they were shown uncut. Unfortunately, when A&E got the master tapes from the BBC to transfer to DVD, they got the edited BBC version. This may be unforgiveably sloppy on the part of A&E, but they did not do the editing".

I knew about the BBC editing the programs before broadcasting them - because the Pythons discussed this and even gave the example of 'All England Summarize Proust' sketcs in their Live 1998 reunion In Aspen.

I never imagined that a company like A&E, or any other DVD producing company for that matter, could be so thoughtless, careless, unprofessional and I dare say stupid when it comes to making DVDs (and especially when it coms to Monty Python DVDs!).

Therefore, I would advise you to save your money and wait for a "New" / an "Altenate" Complte Collection. Not that anyone knows there will be such a thing. Even if there woun't, the worst thing that can happen is that you'll have to wait and then maybe get it for a cheaper price.

This is NOT a Complete collection. Appart from that, it seems very nice. Think it over.

I would definitely recommend this to true Pythonites, but I found the set for a whole lot cheaper at Costco. Only 89.99. It's the cheapest I've seen it anywhere. With 14 DVDs, that's about 6.50 per DVD. And there's no shipping or handling costs.

Of course I am not criticizing Monthy Python but only the the quality of the recordings, including the menus and sub-menus. Sometimes you press "Play" in the menu, there is an animation from Gilliam, then it comes back to the menu. You sometimes have to press 2 or 3 times before it starts. There are 3 episodes on each discs so it can be a little painful when that starts... My third disc does not work at all (well, maybe some bits of sound) because of the poor quality of the recording. So I can't say that I regret buying it because there are no really other options if you want to see the complete Flying Circus but the bad quality of the product affects the pleasure of the experience.