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View Full Version : Monty Python- Life Of Brian (The Immaculate Edition) 2 DVD/Blu Ray Hi Def Jan. 29


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Mike Dow
01-17-2008, 12:23 PM
http://immaculatebrian.co.uk/

Available stateside on January 29th. Apparently, this was issued late last year in the UK. Has anyone picked it up yet? If so, how does it look and sound compared to the Criterion version?

This one includes a new one hour documentary which by itself makes it must-have for me. I'd be interested to find out if the commentary was newly recorded or if it uses the 1997 commentary.

Hard Panner
01-17-2008, 12:54 PM
http://immaculatebrian.co.uk/

Available stateside on January 29th. Apparently, this was issued late last year in the UK. Has anyone picked it up yet? If so, how does it look and sound compared to the Criterion version?

This one includes a new one hour documentary which by itself makes it must-have for me. I'd be interested to find out if the commentary was newly recorded or if it uses the 1997 commentary.

Well, I hope it is better than the Criterion version I have (the packaging says 1999). I recently re-watched this DVD and was reminded how terrible the picture and sound are on this disc. It was a BIG let down for me as it's one of my fave movies.

Is there another version?

Mike Dow
01-17-2008, 01:06 PM
I've seen another version (released before the Criterion?) and the picture and sound are worse than The Criterion version. I had nearly resigned myself to accepting that the Criterion disc was as good we were going to get as the negatives and outtakes (if I recall) were tossed. Very sad to think that.

Apparently, there was another version issued four years ago (Starz/Anchor) but I have not seen it.

Lets hope for a "miraculous" remastering. I'll bet some of our UK members have already seen the new version and, hopefully, they will check in here and let us know what to expect.

Rachael Bee
01-17-2008, 07:17 PM
I have the U.K. BD and it looks way better than the Criterion DVD which I also have. I didn't listen to the commentary, I seldom do that. The making of documentary was new and quite intresting. It documents how the movie almost never got made.

I'm just suprised how good the BD looks. It looks beyond what I thought possible for it. There's a few shots that stick out because they're not well enough shot to ever look righteous but that's just a few.

I can't imagine why anybody would repurchase it again on DVD when the best you could hope for would be that it might look a few percent better.

Laservampire
01-17-2008, 09:58 PM
Can't wait for this one! :goodie:

NOTHING compares to the old Aussie DVD by Rainbow in terms of crappy quality. A cheap DVD transfer of a VHS master :sigh:

Sckott
01-17-2008, 10:00 PM
Love the movie, a classic.

But why must we have the Blue Ray? No technology in the world will make that movie look better....

Rachael Bee
01-17-2008, 10:23 PM
But why must we have the Blue Ray? No technology in the world will make that movie look better....

Oh, yes it has (in unison folks). DVD is VHS nouveau these days. With one sixth the number of pixels of Blu-ray, it's no contest. A poorly done HD disc will nearly always beat the DVD's. You can bet that studios are not gonna put much effort into DVD's from here on out. DVD's days of wine and roses are over.

I've have the Criterion LD and DVD and this BD is a big step up. I was totally prepared to be underwhelmed by this BD. Sony done goode, IMO. The weak shots are stille the weak shots but they and everything else are improved. It doesn't look like they did any funny stuff to lessen the grain. It looks natural to me.

I'm unacustomed to sayin' nice things about Sony but I've little choice here...:laugh:

Mike Dow
01-18-2008, 12:45 AM
Here is a brief review of the new version. As Sckott mentioned above, it doesn't appear that the Blu Ray version can give us much more than the DVD version...

http://www.denofgeek.com/Reviews/7493/monty_pythons_life_of_brian_bluray_revie w.html

Monty Python's Life of Brian Blu-ray review
Monty Python's Life of Brian, for some reason Simon can't quite wrap his head round, has hit Blu-ray. Great disc, though.
Simon Brew

Of the Monty Python television series, I can’t confess to being a huge fan. It’s a show I’ve a lot of admiration for, but simply didn’t spend as much time laughing at as many of my friends.

But Life Of Brian? If Britain has made many funnier films than this, I’d dearly like to see them.

There’s little to tell you about the movie that you don’t already know. So let’s just say that it’s a film that ignited religious protests when it first released, that it contains many gut-bustingly funny scenes, and that it still continues to hold up to repeated viewing after repeated viewing. Was it the peak of the Python phenomenon? For this reviewer, absolutely yes.

The film itself has appeared many times in differing formats, but this Blu-ray (and there’s a DVD release too) is billed as The Immaculate Edition, not least for gathering back together some classic extra features that have proven tricky to track down.

The highlight of the generous extra features package for me was the Python team’s recording of the script before they made the movie proper. Script read-throughs rarely make it to the extra features folder, and off the back of this, they really should. Illustrated with preparatory drawings and storyboards, it justifies the disc cost alone.

Coming close behind it is a lengthy, and equally interesting, documentary on the making of the film, and how it was received when released. The interviews are up to date, which means it’s the surviving members of the Python team who are included. It’s retrospective - and as a result more honest - documentaries such as these that have regularly proven to be the finest extras on discs, and this one upholds the tradition.

You’ll also find some deleted scenes, and a pair of commentaries, which time constraints meant I only had time for a brief listen to. John Cleese and Michael Palin feature on one, and Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Eric Idle are on the other. I plan to revisit these in due course, but early signs on them are promising.

The film itself is presented well on Blu-ray, but there’s little compelling reason here to opt for the high definition disc over the DVD. Given the low shooting budget, the original picture and audio materials weren’t brilliant to start with, and while the Blu-ray makes a good fist of bringing them to life, the old adage of only being able to work with the tools you’ve got very much stands here. It’s a 1080p picture, for instance, but this manages to enhance one or two of the flaws with the picture. And while it’s a 5.1 audio mix presented on the disc, it’s still a stereo track at heart.

Yet this is still a cracking disc, and with a collection of extras that could shame 95% of disc releases. Well worth picking up, even if you’ll be just as well with the DVD.


From that review, I'm guessing the commentaries are the same as the Criterion version as the two tracks feature the same assembly of Python members.

prognastycator
01-18-2008, 11:18 AM
I am mostly interested in how the new DVD sounds because I find the soundtrack to be awful on my DVD and VHS. Often you can barely hear the dialog.

I am also curious to see if they have an extra scene included that I remember watching in the theater on openning night where Otto introduces himself to Brian and has his crack suicide squad do a demonstration for him. I have never seen this scene on tape or VHS and wonder what happenned to it.

Mike Dow
01-18-2008, 12:01 PM
I am mostly interested in how the new DVD sounds because I find the soundtrack to be awful on my DVD and VHS. Often you can barely hear the dialog.

I am also curious to see if they have an extra scene included that I remember watching in the theater on openning night where Otto introduces himself to Brian and has his crack suicide squad do a demonstration for him. I have never seen this scene on tape or VHS and wonder what happenned to it.

I agree that the sound has always been somewhat muddled but the Criterion edition cleaned it up fairly well. Also, the soundtrack remaster released on CD in 2006 sounds quite good.

I'm sure the Otto scene will be on the DVD. It's on the Criterion as a bonus scene and at the very least, it should be included in the "extras" on the new version. That scene was featured in several early edits of the film but like most Python productions, Brian went through several cuts until it reached the state we've known for the last 29 years. Some members felt that the film was funnier and tighter without the scene, others wanted it.

By the way, the soundtrack CD also includes the Otto scene among its many bonus cuts.

Here is a decent summary of 'the lost scenes.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python's_Life_of_Brian

Lost scenes

A number of scenes were cut from the movie after filming. Most of these were lost in 1998 when they were destroyed by the company that bought Handmade Films. However, a number of lost scenes (of varying quality) were shown in 1999 on Paramount Comedy Channel in the UK; it has not been disclosed how these scenes were saved or where they came from, presenter Jonathan Ross merely claiming they had been found "in a black bin bag". [11] The scenes shown included the shepherds' gathering, which would have been at the very start of the movie; a segment showing the kidnap of Pilate's wife (a huge mountain of a woman played by John Case); a scene introducing Otto, leader of the Judean People's Front (played by Eric Idle); and a scene in which Pilate's wife alerts Otto to Brian's capture. The shepherds' scene has badly distorted sound, and the kidnap scene has poor colour quality.[12] All can now be found on the Criterion Collection DVD.....

.... Eric Idle was said to have been uncomfortable with the character;

....Otto's scenes, and those with Pilate's wife, were cut from the film after the script had gone to the publishers, and so they can be found in the published version of the script. Also present is a scene where, after Brian has led the Fifth Legion to the headquarters of the People's Front of Judea, Reg (John Cleese) says "You ****!! You stupid, bird brained, flat headed..."[13] The profanity was overdubbed to "you klutz" before the film was released. Cleese approved of this editing as he felt the reaction to the four-letter word would 'get in the way of the comedy'.[5]

prognastycator
01-18-2008, 12:45 PM
Thanks Mike, that is some great info to share.

I personally thought that the Otto scene was very funny and did not slow the story at all. I can see Eric's point about it being uncomfortable and viewed as offensive, but it was funny. I don't remember seeing the scenes with Pilot's wife, they may have been chopped from the print I saw in 1979.

blind_melon1
01-19-2008, 03:57 AM
Can't wait for this one! :goodie:

NOTHING compares to the old Aussie DVD by Rainbow in terms of crappy quality. A cheap DVD transfer of a VHS master :sigh:

It also had no copy protection at all.....when I first got my dvd burner, I burned it with nero (hahah)... It wasnt until I tried another movie to burn that I realised that my burner wasnt some magic macrovision evader!

Did that same company do "Magical Mystery Tour" too? They have about the same level of cheapness!

Rachael Bee
01-19-2008, 10:14 AM
I got my BD back out and it's all on one disc unlike the planned U.S. release. It has the Otto scene in the deleted scenes. I can see why they pulled it from the movie. It's just not as funny as most of the other scenes. I'd say the same for the Pilot's wife scene also which is included. I may get the U.S. release too...?

His Masters Vice
01-19-2008, 05:38 PM
From that review, I'm guessing the commentaries are the same as the Criterion version as the two tracks feature the same assembly of Python members.

I've heard that the Palin and Cleese commentary is a new one and not the one included on the Criterion version. The other commentary track is the same old one.

Mike Dow
01-19-2008, 05:55 PM
I've heard that the Palin and Cleese commentary is a new one and not the one included on the Criterion version. The other commentary track is the same old one.

That's great! Thanks for posting this, Paul. I'm looking forward to hearing how they perceive the movie 10 years after their previous commentary.

Captain Groovy
01-19-2008, 06:05 PM
One of my first Blu-Ray purchases is going to be "The Meaning of Life" which is by far my favorite Python film.

Don't know if I need to see Graham's penis again (in even more vivid detail!) but it'll be on my list no doubt. Look forward to hearing comments about this edition.

Jeff

Mike Dow
01-19-2008, 06:19 PM
Don't know if I need to see Graham's penis again (in even more vivid detail!) but it'll be on my list no doubt. Look forward to hearing comments about this edition.

Jeff

:laugh: According to interviews with Graham (and commentary from the other Python's, if I recall) the crowd was more than a little shocked when that window opened and he appeared in all of his...glory. Apparently, the women were not allowed to see such things and immediately turned away which made Graham more than little self-conscious.

I love "Meaning Of Life", too and though it's really just a series of sketches, it is a wild and wonderful ride. Terry Gilliam's opening "Crimson Permanent Assurance" is often overlooked when talking about that movie and I think it's spectacular. Of course, John Cleese is free to disagree with me. :>)

His Masters Vice
01-19-2008, 07:10 PM
That's great! Thanks for posting this, Paul. I'm looking forward to hearing how they perceive the movie 10 years after their previous commentary.

You're welcome, Mike. I think just the script readthrough alone would make this worth the money, but the new documentary and new commentary are also both very welcome indeed.

Electric Bozo
01-19-2008, 07:43 PM
Re: the Otto and Pilate's wife scenes - I believe that the clips shown on the Criterion version (and probably also the new Sony release) were found on a U-Matic video tape early edit of the movie that was in Terry Jones' possession. As mentioned up thread, the original film elements have sadly been long trashed due to the mishandling of Handmade Films materials when they changed hands years ago.

hdsemaj
01-19-2008, 08:37 PM
Here's a review over at dvdfile.com for those still looking for opinions on AV quality.
http://www.dvdfile.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6494&Itemid=3

Derek Gee
01-21-2008, 05:45 PM
I've seen another version (released before the Criterion?) and the picture and sound are worse than The Criterion version. I had nearly resigned myself to accepting that the Criterion disc was as good we were going to get as the negatives and outtakes (if I recall) were tossed. Very sad to think that.

I don't think the original 35mm negative to the feature is gone. IIRC, it was used in 1999 to strike a new print for the Criterion DVD release. I might believe the original negatives to the outtakes might have been tossed though.

Derek

ffracer
01-21-2008, 05:52 PM
I am eagerly awaiting this one as it can only get better.

His Masters Vice
01-21-2008, 06:45 PM
I don't think the original 35mm negative to the feature is gone. IIRC, it was used in 1999 to strike a new print for the Criterion DVD release. I might believe the original negatives to the outtakes might have been tossed though.

I believe that you are correct. The outtakes for the Criterion version were taken mostly from Terry Jones' 3/4" videotape copy of an early workprint of Brian (which accounts for their poor quality). The same outtakes are used in the new DVD/Blu Ray release but I understand that they are presented in better quality. Although I doubt that the negatives were ever found it is possible that an actual workprint with the deleted scenes has been found. Or perhaps not; I haven't seen this version yet.

It wasn't just the "Life of Brian" footage that was tossed when Handmade Films was taken over, it was ALL the footage for all the films made by that company! "Too expensive to store it" was the new owners' excuse. Fairly absurd in the age of DVD that anyone would come to that conclusion, but there you are. :(

Mike Dow
01-22-2008, 12:08 AM
I don't think the original 35mm negative to the feature is gone. IIRC, it was used in 1999 to strike a new print for the Criterion DVD release. I might believe the original negatives to the outtakes might have been tossed though.

Derek

Derek, thankfully, I believe you are correct. A while back, while reading one of the many Python books taking up space on my shelf, I recall a particularly scathing interview with one of the Terrys railing against the Canadian company responsible for destroying the raw footage. He spoke about original negatives gone forever which morphed into my post above. Of course, it makes sense that the original 35mm negative print should still be with us as they would have had no reason to store it with the unused footage. Something to be thankful for!

Mike Dow
02-02-2008, 02:44 PM
I picked up the regular (non Blu Ray) version this week and happily report that it is well worth it if you are considering a replacement for your Criterion disc. Overall, the movie looks and sounds better than I thought possible. It's quite a quite a step up in resolution over the '97 disc though I'll be keeping the Criterion for it's exclusive tidbits.

The dialogue track is still a bit murky but they did manage a true 5.1 mix with the music in the front and rears and the dialogue in the center channel.

The extras are quite nice especially the new sixty minute documentary. While there are no major revelations, it's nice to see new interviews with the guys and get an updated perspective.