Search - Life of Brian on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Mild Violence, Questionable for Children, Adult Humor Movie Release: 1979 DVD Release: 01/27/2004 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 33 mins Studio: Anchor Bay Members Wishing: 0 Genres: Comedy, Parody/Spoof, Absurd Comedy, Religious Comedy See Also: Life of Brian [Criterion Collection], Life of Brian [Collector's Edition] [Widescreen], Life of Brian [Blu-ray]

On a midnight clear 2,000 years ago, three wise men enter a manger where a babe is wrapped in swaddling clothes. It is an infant called Brian...and the three wise men are in the wrong manger. For the rest of his life, Brian (Graham Chapman) finds himself regarded as something of a messiah -- yet he's always in the shadow of this other guy from Galilee. Brian is witness to the Sermon of the Mount, but his seat is in such a bad location that he can't hear any of it ("Blessed are the cheesemakers?"). Ultimately, he is brought before Pontius Pilate and sentenced to crucifixion, which takes place at that crowded, nonexclusive execution site a few blocks shy of Calvary. Rather than utter the Last Six Words, Brian leads his fellow crucifixees in a spirited rendition of a British music-hall cheer-up song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." The whole Monty Python gang (Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, and Terry Gilliam) are on hand in multiple roles, playing such sacred characters as Stan Called Loretta, Biggus Dickus, Deadly Dirk, Casts the First Stone, and Intensely Dull Youth; also showing up are Goon Show veteran Spike Milligan and a Liverpool musician named George Harrison. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Graham Chapman - Brian Called Brian
Terry Jones - Mandy
Michael Palin - Wise Man
John Cleese - Wise Man
Eric Idle - Stan
Terry Gilliam - Person

The Monty Python troupe's irreverent religious comedy Life of Brian comes to DVD with a widescreen transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Stereo. Neither subtitles nor closed captions are accessible on this release. Supplemental materials are limited to a theatrical trailer and biographies of the Monty Python members. This is a decent disc from Anchor Bay, but true Python enthusiasts should seek out the Criterion release of the film that is loaded with extras. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide