BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

mellowinman It was just awful in every possible way. We have a bunch of people who look vaguely like some of the Pythons doing jokes that would have never made the cut on the real show, in an attempt to stylize the story of the Life of Brian into a Python piece. Why would anyone do that? Their portrayals were not good at all, and made it so it was impossible to view the actual story without violently throwing up every few minutes, although that could have been the flu. Scene 10, where the monkeys come out and re-write the Magna Carta, while swimming in a large bowl of Chicken Aspic, was simply in poor taste, and was not an accurate depiction of the Amish who dwell along the French Riviera. Please do not watch this.

Alec West I've been a Python fan for a very long time - buying their comedy albums on vinyl before their "Flying Circus" show ever aired in the U.S. I have the entire "Flying Circus" series and every one of their films on DVD. And when I heard "Holy Flying Circus" was coming out, I anticipated a totally different film than what I ended up seeing.When "Life of Brian" premiered, I was managing a theater in Portland, Oregon. Two of my snack bar workers (sisters) were members of a fundamentalist Christian sect. And before the film had even been released (so they could personally judge its worth), they both refused to work as long as the theater was showing the film. I tried very hard to explain to them that this film was NOT meant as a satire on Jesus Christ himself - but was, instead, meant as a satire on the times in which Jesus lived. But, their minds were already made up.Out of respect for their feelings on the matter (though I disagreed with them), I did not fire them - choosing instead to hire temporary replacement workers until the film ended its run.To sum this film up in a word, it was "unfunny." But it was an unfunny film that was trying to be funny. As it happens, I was hoping for an unfunny film that was unfunny on purpose - a film that seriously explored the ordeal the Pythons had to go through as a result of the film's reception by fundamentalist Christians.Now ... I suspect the actors in this film were trying to offer a tribute to the Pythons by imitating their style. And as the old saying goes, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." But I found it unsettling considering the real-life pressure (ie., death threats, effigy burnings, etc.) the Pythons were under during this time (not to mention certain theater managers).

ehintz They really did get the Flying Circus feel. Even to the point of occasionally overdoing it and getting monotonous. How they managed to find actors who so well resembled the Pythons in their youth, and even managed to generally sound like them, is beyond me. About the only one I didn't think they quite got right was Gilliam; he seemed a tad over the top with the dopey thing. But a small gripe. Darryn Boyd does a great Basil Fawlty Cleese. And Stephen Fry is a hoot as The Lord Almighty. This is a total must see for us Python fans starved for new material (Eric Idle exploiting Python is only good for so long, y'know?).

castaway666 I'll keep this relatively short.Probably one of the best written comic scripts I've seen for many years.The acting was absolutely superb especially Darren Boyd's turn as John Cleese. It perfectly shows the absurdity of the censorship battles comedy had to endure thanks to groups including Mary Whitehouse and shows how far we've come in a short period of time.Most fans of MP know the outcome of this film and the problems with local council's bans with a recent lift of a ban only recently occurring.Recommend this to anyone who's a fan of well written comedy.