"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was, and possibly still is, on the list of top ten non-religious songs people requested to be sung at their own funeral.
They didn't manage to talk executives into it. EMI backed out when they found out what the movie was about, and George Harrison (of the Beatles) remortgaged his house and formed a production company to get the film made because he "wanted to see it".
This was one of the last films banned in Norway based on blasphemy. After that, film was marketed in Sweden with slogan: “so funny it was banned in Norway.”
I was cycle touring through Berkshire (England) and because of all the foxes being run over on the county roads the council had put up road warning signs saying, "Drive slowly, for fox sake".
Either they were trying to be progressive, or they saw how ridiculous it would be for someone to act or believe that way and put it in an absurd movie as something that could never happen, little knowing that someday people would actually take ideas like that seriously.
@@DavidvsFilm of course there's been transgender people all throughout history (even though that wasn't the term for it), and people have been medically transitioning since the 1930s. This film is only a year or three since Renée Richards transitioned. The purpose of the scene is part of the larger running gag of commentary on progressive groups in the 1970s who get bogged down in each and every individual issue that they lose focus on the larger goals. Now, as for transgender people specifically, it is a surprisingly accurate depiction. On the one hand, the character is written as a 'joke' (this is before transgender people were written as villains), on the other hand, her friends may have trouble understanding, but they're still friends and make an effort to support her.
So glad that you watched it. My second favorite (behind Holy Grail). Fun fact - when the MP boys couldn't get financing for this film - George Harrison funded almost all of the budget because he wanted them to be able to make it.
Oh sweet fluffy lord, I LOVE this one! Got my whiskey cocktail ready ❤ Sorry I’ve been a bit absent, having a health issue at the moment, but sending you both so much love!
5:30 You're one of the only reactors who gets that line/includes it in the edit. You also included my other favorite line, "What Jesus fails to realize is it's the meek who are the problem!" 🤣 So I already love this reaction, and I'm only a few minutes in.
Right wing Christian broflakes were offended by this movie when it was released. Ireland and Norway banned it, and many local councils in the UK were hit by the "cancel culture" bug, too. Luckily, us lefties supported it, and still love it today. One of the great British things us lefties are proud of. 👍
This has always been my fave MP movie. Holy Grail is awesome, and it really played to their origins in sketch comedy, but Life of Brian having a more cohesive plot while still maintaining the high level of smart comedy and quotables just edges it to the top for me. I also devilishly enjoy how much knee-jerk "moral outcry" backlash it got when it came out from people who hadn't even seen it, going so far as it being banned in some cities.
Yes!! Totally agree. And like I said, it's a 51/49 kind of thing for me- very close. And oh how I love me some public drama! All about any kind of public outcry. In fact, CNN hasn't been the same since they removed their comments section. That used to be my source for true entertainment lol.
@@fxbear Love me some Ghibli and this one is astounding. xxx By the way have you seen Hobson's Choice? Did you like it? Are you British? If not did it all make sense to you cos my German friend needed quite a lot explaining to her! xxx
The scene with the UFO and the aliens was due to the fact that "Star Wars" had just been put out two years earlier and was still hot in the public's mind. It was a great moment in the movie, IMVHO. And the scene at the end "I'm Brian", "No I'm Brian", was a total riff on the Kirk Douglas movie "Spartacus", with all the slaves saying "I'm Spartacus" to confuse the Romans, once again. LOL. "The Meaning Of Life" is interesting, but MUCH more graphic than "Brian".
It's so funny how people either love Monty Python or hate them. And then some people love Holy Grail more than Life of Brian and visa versa. But usually the agreement lies in that The Meaning of Life is the worst of the 3. (I personally still find it entertaining, but it's just the most disjointed one of the 3.)
The sets were created for the big budget Franco Zeffirelli mini-series Jesus of Nazareth and Monty Python managed to have use of them once that production had finished.
The whole Palin ripping up the guards about the Biggus Dickus scene, was really them trying not to laugh. They were ordered not to laugh, the moment Pailin noticed the guards with his cheeks sucked in to stop himself from laughing, he went for him as seen in the movie, tried everything he could to make him laugh.
I got into Monty Python in high school, I was introduced by my friend Robert (the self described World's Most Exciting Bass Player) who had all series of the show on VHS tapes. Robert's parents were weirdos who collected Crusader tomb rubbings. His Dad was an Antarctic scientist who most years spent about 6 months at Scott Base. This movie continued my move to atheism (which was completed by the Pythons in Meaning Of Life.) Back then, the world was divided between those worthy people who could quote all the movies and sketches perfectly, and those who couldn't.
So much to unpack from this comment!! It's automatically one of my favorites of yours ever, especially the part about " The World's Most Exciting Bass Player" haha. That's amazing, and I'm sure Robert really is. Yeah I LOVED this movie. Honestly I sometimes feel like these are the worst reactions of mine in the sense that I get so into the movie, and I just laugh like a fool and don't make many useful comments. Also, I'm fully aware that it's probably nostalgia talking, but VHS tapes just hit different :)
Professor Quirrell had me in stitches :D I'm sure somebody's already told you that George Harrison financed the film. I just love that fact so much. The Pythons' humour is not only the top of the absurd, it's extremely intelligent, they have a historian major (or two) in their midst. The group is basically divided in Cambridge and Oxford graduates, with the exception of the creative visual genius of Terry Gilliam. Life of Brian caused a great deal of controversy back in the day, I remember watching their TV discussion (it used to be here on RUclips) with a bishop accusing them of blasphemy. It was a hard watch, but really interesting. They basically said it wasn't blasphemy because it wasn't about Jesus (Brian is in the centre, after all), but rather about the cult mindset of some people, blindly following someone they chose to follow. Satire.
Haha thank you!! And EXACTLY! I personally didn't take offense at all. I thought it was brilliantly done. I'm so glad you gave me this background also- thank you!
Lore of when this was filmed is: in Tunisia, 1976, the epic TV "Jesus of Nazareth" was filmed, landscape, old city, and a lot of Biblical costumes and props were arranged to be left behind, so the Python's got to use clothing, props, sets from that pristige series. At the same time, in Tunisia, in 1976, a little film called "Star Wars" was also being filmed. Tales, at least from Mark Hammil and some of the British crew of meeting some Phython's.
@@DavidvsFilm To correct -I checked: The film was released in 1979. "Jesus" and SW were filmed in 1976-'77. Yet, with pre-production, writing, finding that "Jesus" was filming in Tunisia, and negotiating for costumes, sets, props -that when some Pythons were in region for the SW crew. Most of the SW film crew were British. MP-FC had been broadcast in the early 70's in Canada, NBC tried a few episodes, with editing in 1974, then PBS took up the series after.
Actually, their First ‘Big Film’ was: ‘And Now For Something Completely Different’. This was basically a Movie version of some of their popular sketches from their TV series. Still funny though!
S'up David! Great reaction 🍿 💜 I once had the honour of meetings John Cleese many years ago whilst assisting his book launch. A complete legend! If someone hasn't already commented, the last song is one of the most popular songs played at funerals here in the UK 🤷🏾♀️ -x-
Oh that's awesome!! He's one of those unpredictable personalities to me- on one hand, I could see him being the nicest, loveliest man, but I could also totally see him being a jerk. (But I hope nice guy!) And no! I have not heard that yet about the song being a funeral song- that's perfect!
You mentioned early on that the Pythons would have to be pretty good salesmen to be able to sell the idea of this movie to potential producers/financiers. Not surprisingly, they had a hard time with that. Despite being maybe the best known comedy troupe of the seventies, not one studio would back them on it. When friend of the Pythons George Harrison of the Beatles heard about it, he decided to finance it for them, and thus it got made. Harrison actually appears in a cameo as a member of the crowd when Brian is being led through the mob who all want his attention.
Thank you! Just crazy. Can you imagine how much money they've made at this point?? I imagine a lot of the players tragically have passed at this point, but I'm sure Cleese has no problem paying his electric bill, so to speak. The studios could have made a fortune!
@@DavidvsFilm That's largely true, but Cleese has had a couple of very ugly and expensive divorces that he claims have forced him to go on speaking tours for income even into old age. He called one of his speaking/comedy tours "The Alimony Tour." And two of the six Python members have died: Graham Chapman, who played Brian and King Arthur, died of cancer in the late eighties. Terry Jones, who played Brian's mother and Sir Bedevere, died in the early 2020s of dementia. All members have done very impressive work in a variety of areas before, during, and since Monty Python.
@@DavidvsFilm I live in hope that someone recorded the whole production because I really really really want to see Tim Curry as Arthur, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, and Frank Azaria as Lancelot. I'm so upset that I learned about it after the original cast was done.
For me it is difficult to place this over Holy Grail as I like them both evenly but this one has slipped into my routine holiday movie schedule. Glad you enjoyed this one as well, John Cleese and Eric Idle are my favorite out of the troop as well and they really deliver here.
My Grandfather (Dad's) taught Latin and Greek at University level (1950's-80's) -I showed him the graffiti scene, where Brian is "corrected" by the Centurian. He found it hilarious, and correct! He also liked the TV skit of "the Philosopher's Soccer Game" 😆
Sadly, the story about the roman soldiers being told not to laugh during the Biggus Dickus scene isn't true, but there's an even better bit of trivia... For a long time the film was prohibited in Aberystwyth, Wales, because of Sue Jones-Davies' nude scene (Judith talking with Brian's mother.) In 2008, the prohibition was lifted and a charity screening of the film arranged, by the newly elected mayor of Aberystwyth, one Sue Jones-Davies.
Personally I prefer Life of Brian as a movie, because it's a lot better put together in that sense, but I do think I laugh more at Holy Grail... I probably still rate Brian a bit higher, but yeah, they're both so much fun... It's not an easy choice to make and people's preferences could easily sway it one way or the other... Either way, it's impressive (or depressing) as to how relevant a lot of this movie is today lol. ... But yeah, I think my favourite joke is probably the "You're all individuals!" "We're all individuals!" "You're all Different!" "We're all Different!".... "I'm not..." lol, it's too good.
hey ho and hi!! Just catching up, How's about trying to become the first American to pronounce Python correctly? Coz for a Brit who grew up with Python the American pronunciation is just terrible It should rhyme with hyphen. We just call them Python. There is even an adjective 'Pythonesque'
This movie seriously triggered the Catholic church of England, you can even find debates with John Cleese vs. high priests or whatever they call themselves these days. Monty Python even had to point out that the film wasn't about Jesus but Brian, but the church just kept screaming "blasphemy... Sadly it wouldn't ever be produced by today's woke standards, and may in fact even be deemed illegal in Scandinavia countries like Denmark (says the sad dane) Great reaction, glad it can still be experienced.
I'm so glad you enjoyed this movie so much! Truly the best of all Monty Python films, in my opinion. I remember finding the depiction of those 2 jailors pretty upsetting. That is until that punchline blew my mind. They're now some of my favorite characters, and I think it's clear how much thought they put into setting up audience expectations.
This movie was extremely controversial at the time. The church hated it. If you can find it there's an excellent segment from a skit show with Rowen Atkinson that addresses it. It's a wonderful companion piece to this movie.
I heard a story Graham Chapman was invited to a conference about Nuclear Disarmament he dressed up as some kind of vegetable crawled on stage shouting stood there and said nothing. During the whole time he stood there he said nothing and left stage and went home, because there no point in talking about Nuclear disarmament it's pointless.
These scenes are so full of smart references and satire to all historical/cultural/political facts and ideas - it's just genius. Like the whole story behind those PFJ and JPF is like a short caricature summary of how Judea tried to resist roman occupation and collapsed because of the different factions fightning each other after initial success in that resistance. Or how the stoning scene is a great reference to how words been taken out of context can make one a scapegoat for all the sins of humanity.
There was no corporate board to sell this film to. They tried but George Harrison funded it almost all himself. He is in the movie for a few seconds too.
Thank you Keith! They're just so brilliant. I didn't say this in the reaction or commentary, but I wonder if they had any idea at the time that their movies would go on to be so well-respected and institutionalized? I mean obviously as the years went on and they became more famous, they would have realized the impact of their work, but I feel like in these early movies, they were just a group of friends making fun movies together.
OK, it's not GoT, but at least it's something truly GREAT like Monty Python. (BTW, it has been about a MONTH since you dropped any new GoT content, Mr. Man.)
Ahhh I know.. it's coming I promise. We have eps. 1-4 of Season 6 up on Patreon now, and we're watching eps. 5 & 6 tomorrow. I'm going to start cycling them in soon ;) Once Young Royals is done, I plan to alternate them with movies on Fridays.
Halfway, your comment that this was sold to "movie executives" -No! They Python's were rejected by many film studios. (It will be controversial!!) Yet, George Harrison, knew a few Python's socially. George read the script - and agreed to provide a few million, and start to co-finance other movies into the 80's. George has a cameo, as a man introduced with a Greek name, after the "morning window" with Brian and his Mum, and the crowd. :)
A few non-obvious things: 1. The Free Galilee people were Welsh... in 33 AD lol 2. The gourd lady is American... also in 33 AD 3. The only person equally famous as the Pythons at the time was Spike Milligan - he is the guy in the dark outfit that stops back and walks off to the side Brilliant fun all round! The puns, dialogue, and the physical actions are just so great!
I totally agree, I love Holy Grail, but this is way more cohesive, better paced. It's funny, the only thing that annoys me is the same thing that was annoying you: the two stutterers.....and then the payoff is so great! The satire. This movie you can differentiate the guys more, and definitely my favorite member, Michael Palin, has so many classic scenes: he's the guy chained to the wall, then he's Pilate, then he's the crucifixion co-ordinator, one of the prophet preachers, etc etc. Terry Jones, who directed, he plays the mother, the nude hermit with the vow of silence, etc etc. Graham Chapman, of course, brilliant as Brian (and Biggus Dikkus!). They're all brilliant. Cleese and Chapman would write together, Palin and Jones would write together and Eric Idle worked on his own. (And Gilliam did the animation). The TV series is fantastic, especially the first two seasons. (the second season is particularly great, you could just start with that one, then do season one). (off the channel, or on!). Their last movie, "Meaning Of Life" isn't as cohesive as "Grail" or "Brian".....but it's still got some super great stuff in it.
Thank you so much! And DEFINITELY thank you for the actor/character key! I really appreciate that because I wasn't sure in some parts. I didn't realize that Terry Jones was the mother or the nude hermit, for example. Awesome
You should definitely check out the sketch comedy show that started it all, Monty Python's Flying Circus. John Cleese's later show, Fawlty Towers, is also absolutely worth a watch.
Thank you!! Yeah, I love the sketch show concept anyway, so I bet you are right. And I've heard nothing but good about Fawlty Towers. I had a drama teacher in high school who'd lived in England for many years, and that was her favorite show.
I don't know if I should judge your reaction because of the words of Brian that is Brian, don't pass judgement on other people or else you might get judged too! I'll risk it, I enjoyed your reaction. Cheers!
OMG I havent seen this movie in forever!!!! Love it soooooo much. I also saw this movie first 😂 then had to go check out other earlier film & any other acts from these guys. So much fun😂❤💞❤️
hahahahaha I can barely lift the remote! what are you talking about pole vaulting... lol You know what though? After reading this, it will always be in the back of my mind now whenever I say those words again.
I saw Life of Brian at Grauman's Chinese Theater when it was first released. A local rabbi denounced the movie in the Los Angeles Times and John Cleese wrote a rebuttal thanking him for making the movie more popular. I believe that exchange can be found on line.
Haha I'll see if I can find it. I love that kind of public drama ;) What an amazing experience to see this at Grauman's btw! I've had the opportunity to take some great vacations over the years, but I've never made it to L.A./Hollywood. I really want to get out there some day.
I absolutely 2nd the idea of watching A Fish Called Wanda. It's a real gem of a movie. You won't be disappointed. As always...sending love from the lush, green,smells fresh...home of the Ducks...Sasquatch lovin' Oregon.😂💚Say Hola to Marc for me for favor.😊
Hello my bestie out Westie! Yeah, I honestly am looking more and more forward to it because I don't know anything about it at all really (except most of the cast). No idea on plot or story, but JLC + this crazy crew should made for a wonderful movie!
@@DavidvsFilm I wanted to share who the cast consisted of yet I was afraid of spoiling something. Yay! It's a different kind of comedy but have you considered some of Arnie's classics like Twins and/or Junior? Of course Kindergarten Cop is another gem...and...filmed in Oregon...hint hint travel movie show! I'd love to be your Oregon tv show/movie it was filmed here guide!😄😄😄💚💚
The random space ship with the aliens scene is not as random as it seems. It was an acerbic shoutout to all the idiot suits in Hollywood who refused to finance Life of Brian because of the controversial subject matter, and instead, cluelessly encouraged the Pythons to make a sci-fi space themed film because Star Wars had made so much money a few years earlier. That, they would happily back with open wallets. George Harrison ended up digging up some Beatle money he had gathering dust, and financed the whole film after hearing of the Pythons’ inability to get financial backing from a studio. Harrison was good friends with Eric Idle. I have heard, it can be rather convenient, to have very rich friends in times of crisis... Thanks for making videos eh.
Hahaha I love that- "I have heard, it can be rather convenient.." True. I believe that I read in the comments for Grail about Harrison and the financial backing, but I didn't know that he and Eric Idle were good friends. That's cool. And THANK YOU for telling me the part about the spaceship! That's hilarious, and makes me love that scene even more now.
George Harrison appears in the movie as an extra in the rowdy, tight crowd scene behind John Cleese as Centurion Cleese tries to escort Brian through the rowdy rabble.
Fyi, David i have that exact shirt u are wearing, but as a set of pj's. I love that my older kids are in on the joke, but my twins are like oh mommy u got ur cute fox jammies on tonight lol😂😂😂❤💞❤️
@DavidvsFilm true story, my elderly mother bought them for me as a Christmas gift one year literally not realizing what it said & just thinking the pants are so cute cause look at all the cute foxes on them. That was an amazing Christmas party that year w my oldest son seeing them first & being jealous he didn't buy them for me 😂. We let mom in on the joke. Now they my fav pj's ❤️💞❤️
Hey thank you for saying that! My really good friend has been recommending Last Kingdom to me for 2 years now haha. It's one of her favorite shows, and she doesn't even particularly like "Dragons and Moats" types of stories.
@@DavidvsFilm the guys are hot and it's about Vikings which I also found I liked more than the actual Vikings show. Has a good balance of comedy and serious content. If you like horror Slasher is a good show for that.
I don't know if it's still the case but at least pre corona we had this movie in our huge cinema (Cinemaxx) in our City every year on the 23.12. it's amazing
One of my all-time favorite movies. Holy Grail was my first experience and I love it but I think the structure and pacing is perfected in this one and the plot is so ridiculously perfect.
14:37 they actually couldn't get enough funding from studios but George Harrison (guitarist for The Beatles) funded it because it just because he personally wanted to see it.
@@DavidvsFilm at the very very end of the movie we hear: "Some of us got to live as well, you know Who do you think pays for all this rubbish They're not gonna make their money back, you know. I told them, I said to him, Bernie, I said they'll never make their money back" Considering it cost like $4 million and made $20 million at the box office (not accounting for inflation) there's a fair chance he did.
Oops also I copied the quote because I wanted to get it right but I'm pretty sure it was messed up. I think "Bernie he said" was supposed to be "burn it he said" but I could be wrong.
Ok I'm glad you said this because I suspected as much, and I really wanted to brush up ahead of watching, but ultimately decided against it in case of possible spoilers.
@@DavidvsFilm I have a bit of love of history. And because my family wanted me to become a preacher I actually learned a bit about this era of history. Monty Python actually took a lot of inspiration from history for this.
I was just a tad young to catch them live at the time, but I remember watching all of the Monty Python Flying Circus episodes as reruns on PBS as a young teen. They were exquisitely original, always, with a skewed viewpoint that spoke so strongly with all of us who were a little bit out of the mainstream. Plus, you know, weed. As I always say, because it’s always true, I loved watching this with you! Peace …
I am thrilled to see you checking out Monty Python. Oddly enough, I watched the series and movies when I was a kid. 😉 I love the Monty Python crew so much!!! Did you notice that John Cleese who plays Sir Nearly Headless Nick in Harry Potter is one of these crazy fellas??? He also stars in a show called Fawlty Towers. If you have never seen it, you should check it out. I think you would love it!!! 😁
Thank you!! Oh yes, for sure, and I also know him from roles in Will & Grace and the movie The Out of Towners (although I know he's done a TON of stuff over the years). I only vaguely know about Fawlty Towers, so thank you for the heads-up!
Great reaction! 😊 Happy Movie Sunday, David! Glad to see another Monty Python reaction. This is another one of my favorite Monty Python films along with "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". Another really good Monty Python movie that I recommend is "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life" from 1983. Looking forward to the next reaction. 😊
Hey Randee!! Thank you! It's funny because Meaning of Life is the only Monty Python movie that I actually remember seeing in the video store when I was a kid. I'm sure it probably caught my eye because the illustrated cover made me think it was a cartoon, but the heads being screwed into the ground freaked me out. lol. Clearly I was a very sheltered child.
Yay! My fave hot smart funny reactor doing one of my favourite movies. Great reaction. 👏😄 One bit of trivia I heard was about the Biggus Dickus scene. Apparently the stifled laughter from the guards was real. They weren't told what "Pontius Pilate" would be saying. Just to do their best to not react. And when they filmed it, Michael Palin did his absolute best to break them while he was delivering the lines. To be honest I don't recall where I heard that. 😂
(Justin Timberlake meme) Oh stopppppp...... lol Yeah I think that's hilarious about the guards, btw. And hey even if it's not true, you know what we always say: "I don't know if this is true or not, but it's a rumor, and that's good enough for me."
I saw this when it first came out and then again years later with someone who, like yourself, had no idea about it other than being MPFC. Better and better everytime you watch it.
I could TOTALLY see where it would be. I've watched Grail a couple of more times since I saw it for the channel, and I've started to get favorite lines. So I could see the same happening with this.
I like this one better than Holy Grail too. For me it's maybe 60/40 in favor of Life of Brian. This and Blazing Saddles are probably my two favorite comedy movies.
Oh good call on Blazing Saddles. It is just incredible. And yeah, after a little more time thinking about this and Holy Grail, specifically I feel like I'd watch Life of Brian again before Grail because I really enjoyed the story and the pacing, but I feel like Grail has more iconic lines.
This is definitely my favorite Python movie!! I was a practicing Christian back in 1979, and so was the friend that I went to see it with. She was the one who introduced me to MP but I also knew she was more uptight about her beliefs so I wasn't surprised that I laughed my butt off, and she was offended that they would poke fun at Jesus. (which, they didn't, by the way) All these years later and I am an agnostic and she is a pastor's wife. Guess we could have predicted that, eh? But we are still friends and we still quote Holy Grail and Star Wars lines at each other, lol.
What a great story! Thank you :) Yeah I have a friend that is VERRRRRY religious, but we've always been able to carve out a space where we can joke appreciate each other without any friction. I personally didn't take any offense to this movie whatsoever. As you obviously saw, I thought it was hilarious and a great commentary/satire that hit its mark flawlessly.
I think Holy Grail have funnier and more memorable jokes (except Biggus Dickus) but this is clearly the superior movie. Its more cohesive and not just a string of sketches.
My favourite Monty Python film! Thank you for the great review David. I was always wondering how the alien scene fit it and ran across an article in the March 2020 edition of the Journal of Religion & Film titled Skyfall: The "Aliens Sequence" in Monty Python's Life of Brian. At the time Star Wars was a huge phenomenon so adding the scene was fun. Also, before the film came out there was a best seller book written by Erich von Daniken called "Chariots of the Gods?" that suggested the possibility of aliens coming to ancient Earth with new technologies. Who knows, eh?
Thank you!!! And I'm glad you said that about the aliens - I didn't want to open my mouth and sound (even more) like a fool, but I thought I had heard that about aliens visiting ancient Earth. I mean, I feel like we generally just assume that the little green men we think of now came on the scene in the 40s/50s, but they've probably been cruising the galaxy with more advanced gadgetry than us for millennia.
@@DavidvsFilm If you get a chance, the book is an interesting read. I also remember a TV series on the History channel called "Ancient Aliens". I don't if I'm thoroughly convinced about extraterrestrials but I do feel it would be pretty arrogant for we humans to think we're the only ones in this universe. So what's next? A Fish Called Wanda is fantastic!
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was, and possibly still is, on the list of top ten non-religious songs people requested to be sung at their own funeral.
To this day, Iron Maiden always play it over the PA system at the end of their concerts as everyone is filing out.
They didn't manage to talk executives into it. EMI backed out when they found out what the movie was about, and George Harrison (of the Beatles) remortgaged his house and formed a production company to get the film made because he "wanted to see it".
Crazy! But glad he did. :)
This was one of the last films banned in Norway based on blasphemy. After that, film was marketed in Sweden with slogan: “so funny it was banned in Norway.”
I love that!
yep we swedes always take chance poke fun at our neighbours
I was cycle touring through Berkshire (England) and because of all the foxes being run over on the county roads the council had put up road warning signs saying, "Drive slowly, for fox sake".
OMG that's amazing. Hahahahaha
A Fish Called Wanda is worth a look. It was written by John Cleese and has both him and Michael Palin in the cast.
I was so close to watching that one- it was neck and neck with Brian, but Brian just hit me in the right mood the day I decided to watch it :)
@@DavidvsFilm There's plenty of time to get to them all.
@@DavidvsFilm Also starring Jamie Leigh Curtis in one of her sexiest funniest devilish roles.
as much as it's just a funny gag in the movie, the whole ''Loretta'' sequence is surprisingly progressive for a movie set in the 70's
Right?? I know 79 has "only" been 40 years, but that's a big 40 years from now back to 1979.
Either they were trying to be progressive, or they saw how ridiculous it would be for someone to act or believe that way and put it in an absurd movie as something that could never happen, little knowing that someday people would actually take ideas like that seriously.
@@MusicalJackknife I may just favour this interpretation.
@@DavidvsFilm of course there's been transgender people all throughout history (even though that wasn't the term for it), and people have been medically transitioning since the 1930s. This film is only a year or three since Renée Richards transitioned. The purpose of the scene is part of the larger running gag of commentary on progressive groups in the 1970s who get bogged down in each and every individual issue that they lose focus on the larger goals. Now, as for transgender people specifically, it is a surprisingly accurate depiction. On the one hand, the character is written as a 'joke' (this is before transgender people were written as villains), on the other hand, her friends may have trouble understanding, but they're still friends and make an effort to support her.
I think it just shows how little we really progressed as a society.
So glad that you watched it. My second favorite (behind Holy Grail).
Fun fact - when the MP boys couldn't get financing for this film - George Harrison funded almost all of the budget because he wanted them to be able to make it.
That is so great. Friends in high places!
this movie is such an excellent commentary on religion, and surprisingly progressive. AND hilarious!
Oh sweet fluffy lord, I LOVE this one! Got my whiskey cocktail ready ❤
Sorry I’ve been a bit absent, having a health issue at the moment, but sending you both so much love!
Hey there! I'm so sorry to hear this :( Sending you much love back, and I hope that you are on the mend for a quick recovery!
5:30 You're one of the only reactors who gets that line/includes it in the edit. You also included my other favorite line, "What Jesus fails to realize is it's the meek who are the problem!" 🤣 So I already love this reaction, and I'm only a few minutes in.
Awesome!!! I'm so glad to hear it. This movie was so great. Thank you for commenting!
My high school Latin teacher and my dad got me watching this regularly...probably THE film I have seen over 100 times, and still makes me laugh.
That's awesome. I mean how could it not, right?? And I'm sure it's one of those where you catch things each time you watch.
@@DavidvsFilm Totally. It's been 35 years since I first saw it, and still brings me comfort with laughter.
Right wing Christian broflakes were offended by this movie when it was released. Ireland and Norway banned it, and many local councils in the UK were hit by the "cancel culture" bug, too.
Luckily, us lefties supported it, and still love it today. One of the great British things us lefties are proud of. 👍
"broflakes" haha. I don't think I've heard this one yet. And ohhhh yes, I would imagine that it would stir up some trouble.
This has always been my fave MP movie. Holy Grail is awesome, and it really played to their origins in sketch comedy, but Life of Brian having a more cohesive plot while still maintaining the high level of smart comedy and quotables just edges it to the top for me. I also devilishly enjoy how much knee-jerk "moral outcry" backlash it got when it came out from people who hadn't even seen it, going so far as it being banned in some cities.
Yes!! Totally agree. And like I said, it's a 51/49 kind of thing for me- very close.
And oh how I love me some public drama! All about any kind of public outcry. In fact, CNN hasn't been the same since they removed their comments section. That used to be my source for true entertainment lol.
When this came out I saw it 3 times in one week. It is one of my favourite films along with Hobson's Choice and Grave of Fireflies. xxx
Wow. Grave of the fireflies wasn’t what I was expecting in that list but I agree.
@@fxbear Love me some Ghibli and this one is astounding. xxx By the way have you seen Hobson's Choice? Did you like it? Are you British? If not did it all make sense to you cos my German friend needed quite a lot explaining to her! xxx
The scene with the UFO and the aliens was due to the fact that "Star Wars" had just been put out two years earlier and was still hot in the public's mind. It was a great moment in the movie, IMVHO. And the scene at the end "I'm Brian", "No I'm Brian", was a total riff on the Kirk Douglas movie "Spartacus", with all the slaves saying "I'm Spartacus" to confuse the Romans, once again. LOL. "The Meaning Of Life" is interesting, but MUCH more graphic than "Brian".
Ahhh awesome, thank you!! And good to know about Meaning of Life, btw. I'm very intrigued about that one because I know virtually nothing about it.
It's so funny how people either love Monty Python or hate them. And then some people love Holy Grail more than Life of Brian and visa versa. But usually the agreement lies in that The Meaning of Life is the worst of the 3. (I personally still find it entertaining, but it's just the most disjointed one of the 3.)
The sets were created for the big budget Franco Zeffirelli mini-series Jesus of Nazareth and Monty Python managed to have use of them once that production had finished.
I LOVE info like this! Thank you so much. Lucky for them on this one!
Have you done the Cornetto Trilogy yet?
Oh hell yes, and LOVED it. Reactions are up on the channel, and I'm also very interested to watch Paul.
The whole Palin ripping up the guards about the Biggus Dickus scene, was really them trying not to laugh. They were ordered not to laugh, the moment Pailin noticed the guards with his cheeks sucked in to stop himself from laughing, he went for him as seen in the movie, tried everything he could to make him laugh.
Hahaha that's awesome.
Oh man it’s high time 😂 good to see you! And thanks for this mornings laughs! Always look on the bright side of life! 🎉
Hey there!! :) Thank you! Yeah, exactly.. song has been stuck in my head for days
I'm the same. I love Holy Grail, but this one is definitely my favorite Monty Python.
Hey buddy!!! Oh yeah right?? So good. Hope you guys are doing great!
I love the T-shirt.
Thank you!! I saw a version of it on the coffee mug Benedict Cumberbatch was holding in Spiderman No Way Home and instantly fell in love lol
I got into Monty Python in high school, I was introduced by my friend Robert (the self described World's Most Exciting Bass Player) who had all series of the show on VHS tapes. Robert's parents were weirdos who collected Crusader tomb rubbings. His Dad was an Antarctic scientist who most years spent about 6 months at Scott Base. This movie continued my move to atheism (which was completed by the Pythons in Meaning Of Life.) Back then, the world was divided between those worthy people who could quote all the movies and sketches perfectly, and those who couldn't.
So much to unpack from this comment!! It's automatically one of my favorites of yours ever, especially the part about " The World's Most Exciting Bass Player" haha. That's amazing, and I'm sure Robert really is.
Yeah I LOVED this movie. Honestly I sometimes feel like these are the worst reactions of mine in the sense that I get so into the movie, and I just laugh like a fool and don't make many useful comments. Also, I'm fully aware that it's probably nostalgia talking, but VHS tapes just hit different :)
Professor Quirrell had me in stitches :D I'm sure somebody's already told you that George Harrison financed the film. I just love that fact so much. The Pythons' humour is not only the top of the absurd, it's extremely intelligent, they have a historian major (or two) in their midst. The group is basically divided in Cambridge and Oxford graduates, with the exception of the creative visual genius of Terry Gilliam. Life of Brian caused a great deal of controversy back in the day, I remember watching their TV discussion (it used to be here on RUclips) with a bishop accusing them of blasphemy. It was a hard watch, but really interesting. They basically said it wasn't blasphemy because it wasn't about Jesus (Brian is in the centre, after all), but rather about the cult mindset of some people, blindly following someone they chose to follow. Satire.
Haha thank you!! And EXACTLY! I personally didn't take offense at all. I thought it was brilliantly done. I'm so glad you gave me this background also- thank you!
"I have a gweat fwiend in Wome, called Bigus Dickus" love this film
So great.
28:45 _Brian_ was so well executed (see what I did there?) but I prefer _Grail._ Glad you loved both.
lol well-played sir. Thanks!!
Lore of when this was filmed is: in Tunisia, 1976, the epic TV "Jesus of Nazareth" was filmed, landscape, old city, and a lot of Biblical costumes and props were arranged to be left behind, so the Python's got to use clothing, props, sets from that pristige series. At the same time, in Tunisia, in 1976, a little film called "Star Wars" was also being filmed. Tales, at least from Mark Hammil and some of the British crew of meeting some Phython's.
Oh that's cool, thank you!!! This is the kind of behind the scenes info that I love.
@@DavidvsFilm To correct -I checked: The film was released in 1979. "Jesus" and SW were filmed in 1976-'77. Yet, with pre-production, writing, finding that "Jesus" was filming in Tunisia, and negotiating for costumes, sets, props -that when some Pythons were in region for the SW crew. Most of the SW film crew were British.
MP-FC had been broadcast in the early 70's in Canada, NBC tried a few episodes, with editing in 1974, then PBS took up the series after.
Actually, their First ‘Big Film’ was: ‘And Now For Something Completely Different’. This was basically a Movie version of some of their popular sketches from their TV series. Still funny though!
Every time David said “Oh, Jesus Christ” did anyone else say “No, Brian”?
Hahhahahaha
Yes, me exactly!
S'up David! Great reaction 🍿 💜
I once had the honour of meetings John Cleese many years ago whilst assisting his book launch. A complete legend!
If someone hasn't already commented, the last song is one of the most popular songs played at funerals here in the UK 🤷🏾♀️ -x-
Oh that's awesome!! He's one of those unpredictable personalities to me- on one hand, I could see him being the nicest, loveliest man, but I could also totally see him being a jerk. (But I hope nice guy!)
And no! I have not heard that yet about the song being a funeral song- that's perfect!
@@DavidvsFilm Thankfully he was the former. A complete gentleman. I look forward to your John Cleese on Graham Norton reactions -x-
@@AishaIsFabulous-x- I love hearing that! That was my hope :)
Same! I need to do a new Graham Norton video to throw in the mix.
You mentioned early on that the Pythons would have to be pretty good salesmen to be able to sell the idea of this movie to potential producers/financiers. Not surprisingly, they had a hard time with that. Despite being maybe the best known comedy troupe of the seventies, not one studio would back them on it. When friend of the Pythons George Harrison of the Beatles heard about it, he decided to finance it for them, and thus it got made. Harrison actually appears in a cameo as a member of the crowd when Brian is being led through the mob who all want his attention.
Thank you! Just crazy. Can you imagine how much money they've made at this point?? I imagine a lot of the players tragically have passed at this point, but I'm sure Cleese has no problem paying his electric bill, so to speak. The studios could have made a fortune!
@@DavidvsFilm That's largely true, but Cleese has had a couple of very ugly and expensive divorces that he claims have forced him to go on speaking tours for income even into old age. He called one of his speaking/comedy tours "The Alimony Tour." And two of the six Python members have died: Graham Chapman, who played Brian and King Arthur, died of cancer in the late eighties. Terry Jones, who played Brian's mother and Sir Bedevere, died in the early 2020s of dementia. All members have done very impressive work in a variety of areas before, during, and since Monty Python.
My opinion differs daily as to which is better. It also helps that Spamalot was created and they added Always Look on the Bright Side of Life in it...
Spamalot! I have never seen that show, but I've heard great things, of course.
@@DavidvsFilm I live in hope that someone recorded the whole production because I really really really want to see Tim Curry as Arthur, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, and Frank Azaria as Lancelot. I'm so upset that I learned about it after the original cast was done.
For me it is difficult to place this over Holy Grail as I like them both evenly but this one has slipped into my routine holiday movie schedule. Glad you enjoyed this one as well, John Cleese and Eric Idle are my favorite out of the troop as well and they really deliver here.
My Grandfather (Dad's) taught Latin and Greek at University level (1950's-80's) -I showed him the graffiti scene, where Brian is "corrected" by the Centurian. He found it hilarious, and correct!
He also liked the TV skit of "the Philosopher's Soccer Game" 😆
49 years now i got the Judith /Judas thing
Haha right?? Plus it just now hit me reading your comment that Judith is how Pilate would have pronounced Judas. ;)
Sadly, the story about the roman soldiers being told not to laugh during the Biggus Dickus scene isn't true, but there's an even better bit of trivia...
For a long time the film was prohibited in Aberystwyth, Wales, because of Sue Jones-Davies' nude scene (Judith talking with Brian's mother.) In 2008, the prohibition was lifted and a charity screening of the film arranged, by the newly elected mayor of Aberystwyth, one Sue Jones-Davies.
Personally I prefer Life of Brian as a movie, because it's a lot better put together in that sense, but I do think I laugh more at Holy Grail... I probably still rate Brian a bit higher, but yeah, they're both so much fun... It's not an easy choice to make and people's preferences could easily sway it one way or the other...
Either way, it's impressive (or depressing) as to how relevant a lot of this movie is today lol.
... But yeah, I think my favourite joke is probably the
"You're all individuals!"
"We're all individuals!"
"You're all Different!"
"We're all Different!".... "I'm not..."
lol, it's too good.
hey ho and hi!! Just catching up, How's about trying to become the first American to pronounce Python correctly? Coz for a Brit who grew up with Python the American pronunciation is just terrible
It should rhyme with hyphen. We just call them Python. There is even an adjective 'Pythonesque'
This movie seriously triggered the Catholic church of England, you can even find debates with John Cleese vs. high priests or whatever they call themselves these days. Monty Python even had to point out that the film wasn't about Jesus but Brian, but the church just kept screaming "blasphemy...
Sadly it wouldn't ever be produced by today's woke standards, and may in fact even be deemed illegal in Scandinavia countries like Denmark (says the sad dane)
Great reaction, glad it can still be experienced.
I'm so glad you enjoyed this movie so much! Truly the best of all Monty Python films, in my opinion.
I remember finding the depiction of those 2 jailors pretty upsetting. That is until that punchline blew my mind. They're now some of my favorite characters, and I think it's clear how much thought they put into setting up audience expectations.
You meant Bigguth Dickuth, of course.
Haha, of courth.
This movie was extremely controversial at the time. The church hated it. If you can find it there's an excellent segment from a skit show with Rowen Atkinson that addresses it. It's a wonderful companion piece to this movie.
I heard a story Graham Chapman was invited to a conference about Nuclear Disarmament he dressed up as some kind of vegetable crawled on stage shouting stood there and said nothing. During the whole time he stood there he said nothing and left stage and went home, because there no point in talking about Nuclear disarmament it's pointless.
These scenes are so full of smart references and satire to all historical/cultural/political facts and ideas - it's just genius. Like the whole story behind those PFJ and JPF is like a short caricature summary of how Judea tried to resist roman occupation and collapsed because of the different factions fightning each other after initial success in that resistance. Or how the stoning scene is a great reference to how words been taken out of context can make one a scapegoat for all the sins of humanity.
There was no corporate board to sell this film to. They tried but George Harrison funded it almost all himself. He is in the movie for a few seconds too.
The Loretta scene isn't AT ALL supporting that insanity btw 😂
S'up! great review as always, my favourite monty python film. Love your t-shirt btw
Thank you Keith! They're just so brilliant. I didn't say this in the reaction or commentary, but I wonder if they had any idea at the time that their movies would go on to be so well-respected and institutionalized? I mean obviously as the years went on and they became more famous, they would have realized the impact of their work, but I feel like in these early movies, they were just a group of friends making fun movies together.
"I'm Brian and so is my wife"... gets me every time😂
Midnight movie staple back in the day!
The story of how this got financed is worth looking up.
John used to teach Latin as well as English, geography, and history, before he went to Cambridge University.
Oh wow! That's really interesting.
What have the settlers ever done for us? Welllll......
OK, it's not GoT, but at least it's something truly GREAT like Monty Python. (BTW, it has been about a MONTH since you dropped any new GoT content, Mr. Man.)
Ahhh I know.. it's coming I promise. We have eps. 1-4 of Season 6 up on Patreon now, and we're watching eps. 5 & 6 tomorrow. I'm going to start cycling them in soon ;) Once Young Royals is done, I plan to alternate them with movies on Fridays.
Halfway, your comment that this was sold to "movie executives" -No! They Python's were rejected by many film studios. (It will be controversial!!) Yet, George Harrison, knew a few Python's socially. George read the script - and agreed to provide a few million, and start to co-finance other movies into the 80's. George has a cameo, as a man introduced with a Greek name, after the "morning window" with Brian and his Mum, and the crowd. :)
Oh cool!! I'll have to go back to that scene and take a look. I like how you describe that one scene as the "morning window" scene. lol.
A few non-obvious things:
1. The Free Galilee people were Welsh... in 33 AD lol
2. The gourd lady is American... also in 33 AD
3. The only person equally famous as the Pythons at the time was Spike Milligan - he is the guy in the dark outfit that stops back and walks off to the side
Brilliant fun all round! The puns, dialogue, and the physical actions are just so great!
Thank you so much! I love this kind of info.
I totally agree, I love Holy Grail, but this is way more cohesive, better paced. It's funny, the only thing that annoys me is the same thing that was annoying you: the two stutterers.....and then the payoff is so great! The satire. This movie you can differentiate the guys more, and definitely my favorite member, Michael Palin, has so many classic scenes: he's the guy chained to the wall, then he's Pilate, then he's the crucifixion co-ordinator, one of the prophet preachers, etc etc. Terry Jones, who directed, he plays the mother, the nude hermit with the vow of silence, etc etc. Graham Chapman, of course, brilliant as Brian (and Biggus Dikkus!). They're all brilliant. Cleese and Chapman would write together, Palin and Jones would write together and Eric Idle worked on his own. (And Gilliam did the animation). The TV series is fantastic, especially the first two seasons. (the second season is particularly great, you could just start with that one, then do season one). (off the channel, or on!). Their last movie, "Meaning Of Life" isn't as cohesive as "Grail" or "Brian".....but it's still got some super great stuff in it.
Thank you so much! And DEFINITELY thank you for the actor/character key! I really appreciate that because I wasn't sure in some parts. I didn't realize that Terry Jones was the mother or the nude hermit, for example. Awesome
You should definitely check out the sketch comedy show that started it all, Monty Python's Flying Circus. John Cleese's later show, Fawlty Towers, is also absolutely worth a watch.
Thank you!! Yeah, I love the sketch show concept anyway, so I bet you are right. And I've heard nothing but good about Fawlty Towers. I had a drama teacher in high school who'd lived in England for many years, and that was her favorite show.
I don't know if I should judge your reaction because of the words of Brian that is Brian, don't pass judgement on other people or else you might get judged too!
I'll risk it, I enjoyed your reaction. Cheers!
Haha you had me there for a minute. 😁
I haven't watch this in so long. I feel like it's considered better than Holy Grail, but I find Grail just a bit more enjoyable
Totally could see that.
I read that this was filmed on a lot of the old sets from Jesus of Nazareth in 1977, hence the higher looking budget.
Thank you!!
Hot Fuzz great film
No Beatles no film.
I love Life Of Brian
OMG I havent seen this movie in forever!!!! Love it soooooo much. I also saw this movie first 😂 then had to go check out other earlier film & any other acts from these guys. So much fun😂❤💞❤️
Yesss!!! Awesome right??
I thought you said you had pole vaulting on Patreon. :-)
hahahahaha I can barely lift the remote! what are you talking about pole vaulting... lol
You know what though? After reading this, it will always be in the back of my mind now whenever I say those words again.
I saw Life of Brian at Grauman's Chinese Theater when it was first released. A local rabbi denounced the movie in the Los Angeles Times and John Cleese wrote a rebuttal thanking him for making the movie more popular. I believe that exchange can be found on line.
Haha I'll see if I can find it. I love that kind of public drama ;) What an amazing experience to see this at Grauman's btw! I've had the opportunity to take some great vacations over the years, but I've never made it to L.A./Hollywood. I really want to get out there some day.
been a while, glad you're still kickin' : )
Hey! Haha yeah, I’m still shaking my tin cup over here on RUclips Avenue. Lol. Hope you’re doing well
14:41 They got George Harrison and Pink Floyd to fund a good chunk of the film.
I've heard about George H by now, but not Pink Floyd! Wow, that's cool. Thanks-
This reaction was good enough for Jehovah
Hahaha JEHOVAH! JEHOVAH!!!
Great reaction sir , the humour and social commentary was not lost on you
Thank you so much!! I really appreciate that. This was a great movie.
Love your shirt!!! It cook minute!
Hahaha thank you!
I absolutely 2nd the idea of watching A Fish Called Wanda. It's a real gem of a movie. You won't be disappointed.
As always...sending love from the lush, green,smells fresh...home of the Ducks...Sasquatch lovin' Oregon.😂💚Say Hola to Marc for me for favor.😊
Hello my bestie out Westie! Yeah, I honestly am looking more and more forward to it because I don't know anything about it at all really (except most of the cast). No idea on plot or story, but JLC + this crazy crew should made for a wonderful movie!
@@DavidvsFilm I wanted to share who the cast consisted of yet I was afraid of spoiling something. Yay!
It's a different kind of comedy but have you considered some of Arnie's classics like Twins and/or Junior? Of course Kindergarten Cop is another gem...and...filmed in Oregon...hint hint travel movie show! I'd love to be your Oregon tv show/movie it was filmed here guide!😄😄😄💚💚
The random space ship with the aliens scene is not as random as it seems. It was an acerbic shoutout to all the idiot suits in Hollywood who refused to finance Life of Brian because of the controversial subject matter, and instead, cluelessly encouraged the Pythons to make a sci-fi space themed film because Star Wars had made so much money a few years earlier. That, they would happily back with open wallets.
George Harrison ended up digging up some Beatle money he had gathering dust, and financed the whole film after hearing of the Pythons’ inability to get financial backing from a studio. Harrison was good friends with Eric Idle. I have heard, it can be rather convenient, to have very rich friends in times of crisis...
Thanks for making videos eh.
Hahaha I love that- "I have heard, it can be rather convenient.." True. I believe that I read in the comments for Grail about Harrison and the financial backing, but I didn't know that he and Eric Idle were good friends. That's cool.
And THANK YOU for telling me the part about the spaceship! That's hilarious, and makes me love that scene even more now.
George Harrison appears in the movie as an extra in the rowdy, tight crowd scene behind John Cleese as Centurion Cleese tries to escort Brian through the rowdy rabble.
Fyi, David i have that exact shirt u are wearing, but as a set of pj's. I love that my older kids are in on the joke, but my twins are like oh mommy u got ur cute fox jammies on tonight lol😂😂😂❤💞❤️
Hahahaha see? We both have good taste ;)
@DavidvsFilm true story, my elderly mother bought them for me as a Christmas gift one year literally not realizing what it said & just thinking the pants are so cute cause look at all the cute foxes on them. That was an amazing Christmas party that year w my oldest son seeing them first & being jealous he didn't buy them for me 😂. We let mom in on the joke. Now they my fav pj's ❤️💞❤️
This movie is hilarious 😂 btw i saw you have watching game of thrones, you should try the last kingdom. I actually like it better than GOT.
Hey thank you for saying that! My really good friend has been recommending Last Kingdom to me for 2 years now haha. It's one of her favorite shows, and she doesn't even particularly like "Dragons and Moats" types of stories.
@@DavidvsFilm the guys are hot and it's about Vikings which I also found I liked more than the actual Vikings show. Has a good balance of comedy and serious content. If you like horror Slasher is a good show for that.
Hi, can you watch freak show 2017? Its a cute movie❤
Thank you! I didn't even know about it.
@@DavidvsFilm Hi, it's a very underrated movie
This whole movie is the best part I think
Dammmmnnnn so well-said! As always, Aaron. I need to remember to say that the next I'm doing a review of a movie I really like.
21:57 It gets worse.
hahahaha yep. pretty much.
Great reaction!
Thank you so much!!
I don't know if it's still the case but at least pre corona we had this movie in our huge cinema (Cinemaxx) in our City every year on the 23.12. it's amazing
One of my all-time favorite movies. Holy Grail was my first experience and I love it but I think the structure and pacing is perfected in this one and the plot is so ridiculously perfect.
YESSSSS ❤❤❤
Such a great movie!
14:37 they actually couldn't get enough funding from studios but George Harrison (guitarist for The Beatles) funded it because it just because he personally wanted to see it.
Also creating a film studio and spending like $4 million and remortgaging his home to pay for it. Most expensive film ticket ever.
Oh wow! Really?? Yeah, that's very generous. (and lol @ Most expensive ticket ever.. true)
@@DavidvsFilm at the very very end of the movie we hear: "Some of us got to live as well, you know
Who do you think pays for all this rubbish
They're not gonna make their money back, you know.
I told them, I said to him, Bernie, I said they'll never make their money back"
Considering it cost like $4 million and made $20 million at the box office (not accounting for inflation) there's a fair chance he did.
Oops also I copied the quote because I wanted to get it right but I'm pretty sure it was messed up.
I think "Bernie he said" was supposed to be "burn it he said" but I could be wrong.
If you know history this is even funnier.
Ok I'm glad you said this because I suspected as much, and I really wanted to brush up ahead of watching, but ultimately decided against it in case of possible spoilers.
@@DavidvsFilm I have a bit of love of history. And because my family wanted me to become a preacher I actually learned a bit about this era of history. Monty Python actually took a lot of inspiration from history for this.
I was just a tad young to catch them live at the time, but I remember watching all of the Monty Python Flying Circus episodes as reruns on PBS as a young teen. They were exquisitely original, always, with a skewed viewpoint that spoke so strongly with all of us who were a little bit out of the mainstream. Plus, you know, weed. As I always say, because it’s always true, I loved watching this with you! Peace …
Thank you so much!! And hahaha I love the way you said that, "Plus, you know, weed."
I am thrilled to see you checking out Monty Python. Oddly enough, I watched the series and movies when I was a kid. 😉 I love the Monty Python crew so much!!!
Did you notice that John Cleese who plays Sir Nearly Headless Nick in Harry Potter is one of these crazy fellas??? He also stars in a show called Fawlty Towers. If you have never seen it, you should check it out. I think you would love it!!! 😁
Thank you!! Oh yes, for sure, and I also know him from roles in Will & Grace and the movie The Out of Towners (although I know he's done a TON of stuff over the years). I only vaguely know about Fawlty Towers, so thank you for the heads-up!
Great reaction! 😊
Happy Movie Sunday, David!
Glad to see another Monty Python reaction. This is another one of my favorite Monty Python films along with "Monty Python and the Holy Grail".
Another really good Monty Python movie that I recommend is "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life" from 1983.
Looking forward to the next reaction. 😊
Hey Randee!! Thank you! It's funny because Meaning of Life is the only Monty Python movie that I actually remember seeing in the video store when I was a kid. I'm sure it probably caught my eye because the illustrated cover made me think it was a cartoon, but the heads being screwed into the ground freaked me out. lol. Clearly I was a very sheltered child.
Hi David the extras playing the roman soldiers in the biggus dickus scenes were told if they laughed they wouldnt be paid xxx
hahaha that's amazing. Thank you for the info! You know I love this kind of trivia ;)
Yay! My fave hot smart funny reactor doing one of my favourite movies. Great reaction. 👏😄
One bit of trivia I heard was about the Biggus Dickus scene. Apparently the stifled laughter from the guards was real. They weren't told what "Pontius Pilate" would be saying. Just to do their best to not react. And when they filmed it, Michael Palin did his absolute best to break them while he was delivering the lines. To be honest I don't recall where I heard that. 😂
(Justin Timberlake meme) Oh stopppppp...... lol
Yeah I think that's hilarious about the guards, btw. And hey even if it's not true, you know what we always say: "I don't know if this is true or not, but it's a rumor, and that's good enough for me."
I saw this when it first came out and then again years later with someone who, like yourself, had no idea about it other than being MPFC. Better and better everytime you watch it.
I could TOTALLY see where it would be. I've watched Grail a couple of more times since I saw it for the channel, and I've started to get favorite lines. So I could see the same happening with this.
Oh man it’s high time 😂 good to see you!
Hello!!! :) Thank you!! So glad to see your name pop up
"The burning bush." 😂😂😂
hehehe
I like this one better than Holy Grail too. For me it's maybe 60/40 in favor of Life of Brian. This and Blazing Saddles are probably my two favorite comedy movies.
Oh good call on Blazing Saddles. It is just incredible. And yeah, after a little more time thinking about this and Holy Grail, specifically I feel like I'd watch Life of Brian again before Grail because I really enjoyed the story and the pacing, but I feel like Grail has more iconic lines.
This is definitely my favorite Python movie!! I was a practicing Christian back in 1979, and so was the friend that I went to see it with. She was the one who introduced me to MP but I also knew she was more uptight about her beliefs so I wasn't surprised that I laughed my butt off, and she was offended that they would poke fun at Jesus. (which, they didn't, by the way) All these years later and I am an agnostic and she is a pastor's wife. Guess we could have predicted that, eh? But we are still friends and we still quote Holy Grail and Star Wars lines at each other, lol.
What a great story! Thank you :) Yeah I have a friend that is VERRRRRY religious, but we've always been able to carve out a space where we can joke appreciate each other without any friction. I personally didn't take any offense to this movie whatsoever. As you obviously saw, I thought it was hilarious and a great commentary/satire that hit its mark flawlessly.
Hooray! Glad you are finally watching this one.
Hello hello my buddy!!! I hope you are doing well. So glad to "see" you!
I think Holy Grail have funnier and more memorable jokes (except Biggus Dickus) but this is clearly the superior movie. Its more cohesive and not just a string of sketches.
Totally. And you're right- the lines from Grail are just so great. Also, if I'm drunk, I'm going straight for Grail haha
My favourite Monty Python film! Thank you for the great review David.
I was always wondering how the alien scene fit it and ran across an article in the March 2020 edition of the Journal of Religion & Film titled Skyfall: The "Aliens Sequence" in Monty Python's Life of Brian. At the time Star Wars was a huge phenomenon so adding the scene was fun. Also, before the film came out there was a best seller book written by Erich von Daniken called "Chariots of the Gods?" that suggested the possibility of aliens coming to ancient Earth with new technologies. Who knows, eh?
Thank you!!! And I'm glad you said that about the aliens - I didn't want to open my mouth and sound (even more) like a fool, but I thought I had heard that about aliens visiting ancient Earth. I mean, I feel like we generally just assume that the little green men we think of now came on the scene in the 40s/50s, but they've probably been cruising the galaxy with more advanced gadgetry than us for millennia.
@@DavidvsFilm If you get a chance, the book is an interesting read. I also remember a TV series on the History channel called "Ancient Aliens".
I don't if I'm thoroughly convinced about extraterrestrials but I do feel it would be pretty arrogant for we humans to think we're the only ones in this universe.
So what's next? A Fish Called Wanda is fantastic!