The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It

1977
6.2| 0h56m| en
Details

John Cleese is hilarious as the descendant of Sherlock Holmes in this modern detective drama of international power politics and intrigue. Unlike his illustrious grandfather however, he only succeeds in bungling every job he organizes. Also stars Arthur Lowe as the "bionic" grandson of Dr. Watson, Stratford Johns as the Commissioner of Police, and Connie Booth as Mrs. Hudson.

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Reviews

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined
Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
ksf-2 Possible Spoiler - In what is probably the world's longest movie title, The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It, someone is killing all the world famous figures and detectives. They call in Arthur Sherlock Holmes (Cleese) to get to the bottom of it. There are some great, funny scenes, like near the beginning, with those recognize-able folks around the conference table: Denholm Elliot (the butler from Trading Places) and Josephine Tewson (Elizabeth, the neighbor from Keeping up Appearances) who gets into arguments with the computer. Even the big reveal at the end is QUITE similar to Neil Simon's Murder By Death, which had just come out the year before. About halfway through, it gets quite silly, in a Stooges kind of way, but its all fun, and wraps up nicely at the end. There is another hilarious scene, where there are about 30 bullets in a six shooter pistol. It's much like a Python skit, but at under an hour, it's just mostly good fun that is over before it gets dragged out too long. Not bad if you keep those expectations low. Holly Palance (daughter of Jack Palance) plays the air hostess; looks like she did mostly TV stuff. Cleese's wife Connie Booth looking pretty hot in a tight black leather outfit. This film is part of the John Cleese DVD collection from White Star Kultur Productions.
Zapi Sisma John Cleese as Sherlock Holmes, actually his grandson, but all the same. The descendant of Professor Moriarty is threating to destroy civilization as we know it. And that's it I guess. John Cleese even irritated me, I was like "Hey pal, why you doing that, to me and to yourself, stop it!" Arthur Lowe as extremely unintelligent Dr. Watson is great. Considering it has not plot, the film should be funny. And it's not, and how it's not! Unbelievably unfunny, it gives the new meaning to unfunny. There's the unfunny so bad it's funny again, there's unfunny so bad that I feel embarrassment, there's unfunny that's irritating. This is weird, no emotion was awaken in me whatsoever. It's so unfunny I think it might be funny in the same unspecified way. There are a couple of racist jokes that are interesting to hear. Maybe a joke or two were regularly funny. The rest is weird. Poirot, James Bond i Columbo have some small screen time also, played by random actor of course. Only things that partially make this movie worthwhile are Arthur Lowe as Dr. Watson and Connie Booth in sexy leather black suit and with a gun.
caspian1978 For 1975, this was it! A typical John Cleese spoof that is meant for laughs. Connie Booth is added to the cast alongside her then husband Cleese. A surprise addition of the cast is late actor Arthur Lowe who has more laughs than Cleese. A strong supporting actor from other films such as IF... and The Ruling Class, Lowe is perfect as the stupid but love able side kick. For just a 55 minute feature, The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know it is a quick, yet fun ride that pokes fun at just about everything "detective like" in English and American media. Holmes, Bond, Columbo, etc.
craigjclark Not the most successful television project John Cleese ever did, "Strange Case" has the feel of a first draft that was rushed into production before any revisions could be made. There are some silly ideas throughout and even a few clever ones, but the story as a whole unfortunately doesn't add up to much.Arthur Lowe is a hoot, though, as Dr. Watson, bionic bits and all. "Good Lord."