Critic Reviews
Life of Brian (1979) Rank 3 Reviews
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filmcritic.com
The year was 1979 and the world was threatened by fundamentalism. Following the end of a prosperous period, people had begun to become mistrustful again. Right-wingers were beginning to weed their way into the political landscape, and the hearts of men ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at filmcritic.com
Movie Gazette (Andrea Chee)
Graham Chapman takes the title role of Brian Cohen, a first-century Jew who is apparently born in the stable next door to Jesus on the same day, and is mistaken for a messiah for the rest of his life. Brian is apparently the offspring of his mother's ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Movie Gazette (Andrea Chee)
The Digital Bits
Let me confess it right up front - I'm a big fan of the chaps from Monty Python. There is nothing that gets me laughing faster than an old episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Anyone else remember the Ministry of Silly Walks, the years-long game of ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at The Digital Bits
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)
Better than most Biblical epics, if only because its characters don't speak as if they just know people will be quoting and misquoting them a couple of thousand years later. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)
DVD Review e-zine
You either love them or you hate them, there is simply nothing in between! Monty Python are synonymous with a dark, subversive humor that defies comparison to anything else in the market. Although often attempted, no-one since this legendary British ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at DVD Review e-zine
DVDnett.no
Dersom du har en Bibel liggende i nattbordskuffen og pleier å be for maten, så er kanskje ikke dette akkurat filmen for deg. Life of Brian er et eneste langt studium i blasfemi, faktisk i så stor grad at den lenge var forbudt her i Norge, til Monthy ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at DVDnett.no
Hollywood Jesus Movie Review
The entire film is a comedy of misunderstandings, and fluctuates rapidly between the ridiculous and the absurd in human nature. I can't say it's a veritable lesson in piety or profundity, and it doesn't need to be. After all, it is Monty Python... ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Hollywood Jesus Movie Review
DVD Authority.com ("Fusion3600")
Following a brilliant star, three wise men come upon a small, humble manger, where a child was just born. Bearing gifts, they praise the child, and proclaim him to be the son of God. Then they realize their mistake, take back their gifts, and go to the ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at DVD Authority.com ("Fusion3600")
TheCritic.info DVD review (Les Linyard)
The Python stalwarts, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones and Eric Idle came together in 1979 to perform their movie masterpiece, The Life of Brian. Slated by religious fanatics at the time despite several clear moments ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at TheCritic.info DVD review (Les Linyard)
Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
Monty Python's Life of Brian, re-released on its 25th anniversary as an antidote to The Passion of the Christ, is a single-joke satire of organized religion, including Hollywood's. Set in Jerusalem A.D. 33, Terry Jones's Sunday-school travesty follows ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
Boston Herald (David Brudnoy)
Doug Pratt's DVD Review
The harmlessly irreverent 1979 Monty Python comedy set during biblical times isn’t a perfect comedy--the movie has some slow and unfocused passages--but it is an excellent blend of humor and philosophy, providing a piercingly witty and instinctively ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Doug Pratt's DVD Review
DVD Talk (Chuck Arrington)
Monty Python lampoons like no other! These geniuses provide non stop comedy in this irreverent yet awesomely funny tale. Next to Mel Brooks, these guys are the kings of comedy! Definately ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at DVD Talk (Chuck Arrington)
The New Yorker (Anthony Lane)
To make a romantic comedy about lawyers is, if not a contradiction in terms, certainly something of a challenge, like trying to set a slasher movie in a petting zoo. Peter Howitt, who gave us “Sliding Doors,” is the latest director to attempt the ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at The New Yorker (Anthony Lane)
Doug Pratt's Laserdisc Review
Contrary to the knee-jerk reactions against it, the 1979 Monty Python film is respectful of established religions. It is a witty satire of the common conceptions about politics and culture in the Middle East at the time that Christianity began. Much of ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Doug Pratt's Laserdisc Review
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
'Monty Python's Life of Brian" has been re-released, I suspect, because of the enormous box office of "The Passion of the Christ." This is a classic bait-and-switch, because Brian, of course, is not Christ, but was born in the next stable. In cinema as ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Stanley Kauffmann argues in the latest New Republic that Christ might have enjoyed Monty Python's "Life of Brian" because he had a sense of humor, manifested by his occasional puns in the Bible. That's more than can be said for those representatives of ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
A cheeky, irreverent parallel to the life of Jesus by the last great comedy troupe to make movies. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Duane Dudek)
This 1979 comedy remains one of the group's enduring efforts. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Duane Dudek)
FireBlade Coffeehouse DVD Reviews
This movie was banned in a number of places, and the original backing left, because of its blasphemous nature. Honestly, I don’t see it. Jesus barely even shows up. The only thing that might be construed as “dangerous” religion-wise, is the idea ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at FireBlade Coffeehouse DVD Reviews
Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
The Pythons take satirical aim at the dangers of blind religious fervor -- which makes Brian ... the perfect complement to [Mel] Gibson's blood-soaked film. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
Doug Pratt's Laserdisc Review
Although they were interviewed separately, all five surviving members of the Monty Python comedy troupe, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Eric Idle and Michael Palin, provide two sets of commentary tracks on the new Voyager Company Criterion ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Doug Pratt's Laserdisc Review
DVD Times
If anything, Monty Python's Life Of Brian is a film that could act as an indicator of one's own ignorance. Outrageously demonised in its day (1979) as a blasphemous piece of nonsense, the film stands more than twenty years after its release as arguably ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at DVD Times
BBC Films (Almar Haflidason)
Anyone remember my review of the 2001 Paramount DVD release of "Life of Brian"? Hopefully, you read it before deciding whether or not to buy the disc. If you held off, clever you, as you can now enjoy this vastly superior DVD from Columbia Tristar. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at BBC Films (Almar Haflidason)
DVD Review
You either love them or you hate them, there is simply nothing in between! Monty Python are synonymous with a dark, subversive humor that defies comparison to anything else in the market. Although often attempted, no-one since this legendary British ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at DVD Review
Teen Movie Critic (Roger Davidson)
Without a doubt Monty Python's most hysterical motion picture by far, this spoof of the life of Christ is bound to offend somebody, somewhere, at some time. People shouldn't take it too seriously. It is a comedy! Graham Chapman plays the title character, ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Teen Movie Critic (Roger Davidson)
FilmHead.com - Video Pick
The first film this week comes from Israel, where film is thriving despite the country's endless political turmoil. Kadosh (Hebrew for "sacred") tells the story of two Hasidic sisters: Rivka (Yaël Abecassis) and Malka (Meital Barda). Rivka has had a ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at FilmHead.com - Video Pick
DVD Verdict (Sean McGinnis)
The film and disc are easily acquitted. The few drawbacks of the disc are the result of the original material. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at DVD Verdict (Sean McGinnis)
Reviews on the Side (Steven Lekowicz)
Thank God (not literally, of course) for Monty Python. They had the guts and the intelligence to craft a hilarious skewering of Christianity, which is something, we all well know, is just not done. I haven't seen Life of Brian in many years, and so ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Reviews on the Side (Steven Lekowicz)
DVD MovieGuide
Hey, hey! It's officially been decreed Blasphemy Week here at the DVD Movie Guide! Between South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut and now Monty Python's Life of Brian - not to mention the screening of Dogma I attended - I may have some explaining to do ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at DVD MovieGuide
Edinburgh U Film Society (Ben Stephens)
If you’ve seen Monty Python before (and loved it obviously) but not this particular film then imagine a multi-scened Python sketch, so many scenes in fact that they span over an hour and a half, add in a lot of sand, some Romans, some manic peasants, a ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Edinburgh U Film Society (Ben Stephens)
LowComDom Online Film Reviews
No this isn't a sequel. But it is natural to compare Life of Brian to its predecessor, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. And if this were a sequel, it would be one of the most unusual films of all time. This movie is far better than Holy Grail, which in ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at LowComDom Online Film Reviews
Roger Crow's Bosting Reviews
In common with most English comprehensive schools and workplaces during the early Eighties, Highfields School’s classroom would resound to relentless barrages of dialogue from Monty Python’s Life Of Brian. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Roger Crow's Bosting Reviews
filethirteen.com
Ahhh... Monty Python. The mere mention of the name brings joy to the hearts of millions of Americans, most of us males in out thirties and forties, who were lucky enough to discover the absurdist comedy troupe's insane BBC-TV series on PBS stations in ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at filethirteen.com
CultureDose.net (John Nesbit)
Michael D's Region 4 DVD Info Page
When I first saw this film on initial release, I have to admit to being a little disappointed. I had watched some of the original series on television when it was first screened here, and had seen Holy Grail at the cinemas several times. Because Brian ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Michael D's Region 4 DVD Info Page
DVD Town (John J. Puccio)
Those mischievous merrymakers, Monty Python, caused quite a stir with their 1979 release, "Life of Brian." It raised the ire of practically every Christian group in the world, and probably a few non-Christian denominations as well. The movie was picketed ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at DVD Town (John J. Puccio)
Reel.com
For those who think that Kevin Smith and Dogma are the cutting edge in sacrilegious humor, think again. Smith was but a schoolboy in 1979, when Monty Python's Life of Brian, a not-quite-Biblical satire raised a firestorm of protest. Now out on DVD in a ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Reel.com
Mondo Digital
One of the first major films to send the modern American religious right into fits, Monty Python's Life of Brian marked the British comedy troupe's follow up to their spectacular Monty Python and the Holy Grail. While Holy Grail was shot for virtually ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Mondo Digital
DVD Net (Anthony Clarke)
This movie was made in 1979, several years after the Monty Python team had broken up to go their separate ways. John Cleese, for instance, teamed up with Connie Booth to create the classic Fawlty Towers -- and married her for a short while as well. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at DVD Net (Anthony Clarke)
The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
That bit of snarkiness, courtesy of the always profane The Simpsons, highlights why we cannot talk about Mel Gibson's piece of cinematic insanity as "just a movie." We have not, as a culture, come to our senses. There is nothing "just a movie" about this ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
DVDAnswers.com - region 2 review (Warwick Gaetjens)
There's an age-old premise in the western world about how the ultimate geek is one who can spout out a complete sketch from the non-sensical annals of the Monty Python crew. Worse still is someone who recites word-for-word one of their movies in its ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at DVDAnswers.com - region 2 review (Warwick Gaetjens)
Images (Gary Johnson)
As described by John Cleese on the audio commentary for The Criterion Collection's new DVD release of Monty Python's Life of Brian, it's hard to make jokes about Christ: "I don't really know what we'd find funny about him. I think you can only laugh at ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Images (Gary Johnson)
Film as Art
Monty Python’s Life of Brian is not a parody of the life of Christ. It is a parody of the life of Christ according to Hollywood. The British comedy troupe is not interesting in mocking religion or Christ, but mocking the clichés that Hollywood has ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Film as Art
Edinburgh U Film Society (Ben Stephens)
Probably the best of the Pythons' four films, this opens with the three wise men arriving at the wrong manger and worshipping the baby whilst bestowing gifts on a rather confused mother, Terry Jones ("Well weren't they nice, Brian! Out of their bloody ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Edinburgh U Film Society (Ben Stephens)
PopMatters (Bill Gibron)
Religion may be comedy's last taboo. Over the last several decades, some films have tried to treat the Good Book as farce. But juvenile affairs like Wholly Moses (1980) and ...And God Spoke (1994) didn't cause even the most passionate genuflector a ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at PopMatters (Bill Gibron)
Dallas Observer (Gregory Weinkauf)
In 2004 A.D., as the five remaining members of the legendary Monty Python comedy troupe lie in coffins in a Vanity Fair spread to jeer at their own deaths, it's really nice to have them back together commanding the big screen. Behold anew their ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Dallas Observer (Gregory Weinkauf)
Mutant Reviewers From Hell
Whilst Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail (henceforth referred to as "MPatSftHG" in the rest of this review, or "contract") is forever installed into the lexicon of famous collegiate cinema treats, this comedy troupe's further filmatic ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Mutant Reviewers From Hell
Philadelphia City Paper (Sam Adams)
Funded in full by George Harrison after the original funders got cold feet, Monty Python’s freeform biblical satire was attacked on its 1979 release by Catholic, Protestant and Jewish organizations. Though, in time-honored tradition, none of the ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Philadelphia City Paper (Sam Adams)
CineScene.com (Ed Owens)
Four years after striking a chord with Monty Python and the Holy Grail , the British comedy troupe struck a nerve with this tale of a man constantly mistaken for the Messiah. Edgy and controversial even today, the film is also very funny, showcasing the ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at CineScene.com (Ed Owens)
Images Movie Journal
During a promotional tour for Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the Pythons were asked what their next project would be. Eric Idle blurted out, "Jesus Christ -- Lust for Glory." Of course, the Pythons never made that movie. But the idea of a movie based ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Images Movie Journal
Audio Revolution
When this wise and funny movie was first released in the United States, it created a mini-furor that prefigured the much noisier one that surrounded Scorsese's Last Temptation of Christ a few years later. The religiously inflexible regarded Life of Brian ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Audio Revolution
Cineclub-Filmkritik
Der junge Brian wird in einem Stall in Jerusalem geboren und kaum ist er auf der Welt, kreuzen drei eigenartige Gestalten auf, um ihn zu huldigen. Seine Mutter ist gar nicht erfreut über die Frage nach ihrer Jungfräulichkeit, dafür um so mehr über ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Cineclub-Filmkritik
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