The Complete Monty Pythons Flying Circus - Collectors Edition Megaset | 
| Director: Terry Hughes;ian Macnaughton
Actors: Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Carol Cleveland, Terry Jones
Studio: A&E HOME VIDEO
Category: DVD
List Price: $159.95
Buy New: $78.49
You Save: $81.46 (51%)
New (24) Used (7) from $78.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 2563
Format: Box Set, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 21
Running Time: 1869
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.8
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 6.1 x 3.9
MPN: 145540
UPC: 733961145540
EAN: 0733961145540
ASIN: B001E77XNA
Release Date: November 18, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Studio: A&e Home Video Release Date: 11/18/2008
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Come on A&E!!! The five stars is for the Python stuff,not the set!!! November 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Enough is enough A&E,here we go again with another Monty Python Megaset,add a some personal best DVD's + the 16 ton set DVD's and few more small extras and there you go,another Monty Megaset(w/high price tag!),this IS the 3rd to date!!! For the $,the 16 ton megaset IS the way to go,and much chaeper to boot!!! Love Monty Python,sick of A&E,such a nice thing to do to us in these economic times!
Dead Parrot, Silly Walks, Cheese Shop and More... November 15, 2008
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
"Monty Python's Flying Circus" was created in 1969 by the BBC as Britain's response to "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," the NBC show that was enjoying huge ratings at the time. The Monty Python troupe consisted of Cambridge and Oxford graduates John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. American-born Terry Gilliam provided the show's surreal animated sequences, which were interspersed among the skits.
"The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus Collector's Edition" is a massive, 21-disc box set containing every episode of the show's four-season run. The series is uneven and has its share of misfires, but when the comedy lands, the skits are hilarious. The "Ministry of Silly Walks" hangs on the long-legged Cleese's unbridled lunacy in high-stepping around the office, making methodical turns with precisely looney leg contortions and never skipping a beat delivering the dialogue. The skit is slapstick performed magnificently, and it's hard not to break up watching it.
"The Cheese Shop" also features Cleese, this time as a customer trying to order a bit of cheese from proprietor Jones only to be told, after requesting by name every type of cheese on the face of the earth, that it is either sold out, no longer available, not carried, or on order. Watching Cleese go from mild annoyance to apoplexy is a riot. Other highlights include the "Dead Parrot," the lumberjack song, and "The Spanish Inquisition."
The set also contains "Monty Python Live," a collection bringing together nearly 30 years of live performances, including the vintage 1972 "Live at the Hollywood Bowl," the 1998 reunion "Live at Aspen, 20 Years of Python," and the original 1972 "Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus #1" rare German episode. In addition, there are are six mini-documentaries in the "Monty Python's Personal Best Collection," with songs and sketches from the entire series. There are two new documentaries chronicling how the Monty Python team was born that feature interviews with the Pythons, rare vintage photos, and home movies. The set is also chock full of bonus features that take the viewer behind the scenes, offering insight into how comedy routines are created and developed.
This parrot is no more! September 14, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Six comic delights -- five British guys, and one American. Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.
These six guys created "Monty Python's Flying Circus," a groundbreaking comedy series made of skits. They were sometimes gross, naughty, and always bizarre, and their bizarre humour has influenced everything from "Saturday Night Live" to Jasper Fforde. "The Complete Monty Pythons Flying Circus - Collectors Edition Megaset" brings together the entire series plus some extra performances, but pads it out substantially.
For dozens of episodes, these guys served up skits on every insane subject you can think of: defense against fresh fruit, the Ministry of Funny Walks, sitcoms based on the family life of Attila the Hun, spam, lupin bandit Dennis Moore, obscene children's books, semaphores, racing twits, spam, village idiots, goats, psychotic barbers who moonlight as sexually addled lumberjacks, spam, Vikings, "ALBATROSS!", killer sheep, lobotomies, pantomime horses, Tudor pornography, spamspamspamspam, Royal Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things, the dirty vicar, and giant alien blancmanges who are turning people into Scotsmen.
Certain sketches have reached the point of immortality, especially John Cleese's "dead parrot" sketch, in which he plays an increasingly peeved guy who is trying to return a parrot that was "nailed to its perch" to disguise the fact that it was dead. Also Eric Idle playing the obnoxious guy who constantly thinks of sex, and refers to it as "wink wink, nudge nudge... say no MORE!" And of course, THE SPANISH INQUISTION, whose chief weapons are fear, surprise...
There are also some running jokes, like the pantomime Princess Margaret, and a mysterious knight who walks through hitting people with a dead chicken for no real reason. And of course, Terry Gilliam's cartoons interspersing the skits -- goofy, surreal, interlocked with the skits. Sort of like Saturday morning cartoons if Dali were doing the animating.
Okay, not every skit is funny -- the "Mouse Problem" sketch takes a great idea and stretches it thin. But more often than not, the sketches ARE quite funny, sly and even subversive at times. They also mock just about anything, from government officials to art ("Watteau, dear?" "What a terrible joke!") to censorship to the military ("It's DANGEROUS, sir!").
There are also a pair of live discs, in which the guys also do their best little skits and songs onstage, and they're almost as funny onstage as they are on a soundstage. It's not new or unique, but it's still fun.
The big problem is that the "Personal Best" DVDs are also included, which means that there's a massive load of utterly redundant material on here -- the same sketches in the full-length series, but rearranged by "favorite" status. There are a few fun original nuggets in here -- including Eric Idle playing his own mom and Cleese playing a dirty older version of himself -- but most of it is recycled skits and interviews. Come on, why not bundle the movies in with the series instead?
That said, the whole Monty Python phenomenon is utterly astoundingly -- the entire classic production was put on by men who often dressed up as the world's most unattractive girls, with only a tiny budget and minimal cast. The 70s production values are omnipresent, and they are decidedly un-politically correct. But in a weird way, these only make it even funnier than it would have been otherwise -- the writing and acting are pure, raw, unrefined comedy.
Probably the most memorable actors here are Cleese and Idle. Cleese does his psychotic shrieks better than anyone, as well as having that rubbery lanky body that twists itself into Silly Walks. And Idle not only has amazing comic timing, but he can adjust his voice and body language to... anything, from domestic goddesses to sleazy TV hosts. But the other actors are quite good too, especially Michael Palin, especially when he's playing someone timid or crazy.
This classic comedy series not only became a pop culture staple, but it's still fresh and funny more than thirty years after it was made. The full series is definitely a must-have, but "Complete Monty Pythons Flying Circus - Collectors Edition Megaset" is for those who don't mind paying for some recycled material.
Superb collection September 13, 2008
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
I received two of the "Personal Best" series as gifts, so I won't mind that small bit of duplication to get the entire Python collection. I have some of the shows on VHS, so this set is perfect for us. Really looking forward to getting the collection!
 Give us a break A&E! September 12, 2008
50 out of 63 found this review helpful
Here we have yet *another* retread of the Monty Python set!
From the studio description of this set:
"Python is back and heavier than ever! This very special, limited-edition release features ultra-collectible packaging, and is jam-packed with the most side-splitting British comedy ever to cross the pond!
Included are 21 discs filled with THE COMPLETE MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS, and packed with every madcap moment from the program's four year run, the Personal Best DVDs featuring the Pythons' personal best sketch picks, plus 2 live DVDs and 2 can't miss, brand new Monty Documentaries, Before the Flying Circus and Monty Python Conquers America, detailing the Pythons' rise to the pinnacle of comedic greatness.
So, this holiday season, don't miss out on a must-have certain to thrill any comedy lover with this brand-new packaging of Britcom's finest!"
So... we get "The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus", the "personal best" DVDs.. (are these really needed if you have the full set?) and a couple of "new" documentaries for almost double the cost of the 16 ton megaset.
Hmmm... I recommend that you save your money and get this instead:
The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus 16-Ton Megaset
|
|
|
