Critic Reviews
Life of Brian (1979) Rank 5 Reviews
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BBC Films
In Judea, a mother tends her newborn child. Lo, from the east three wise men appear to pay tribute to the infant - but they want the stable next door: this is Brian Cohen not Jesus Christ! Rolling forward 33 years, Brian joins the People's Front of ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at BBC Films
Dallas Morning News (Chris Vognar)
A king-size cult comedy hit. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Dallas Morning News (Chris Vognar)
The Fresh Films Review (Norwegian)
En av de mest vellykede parodier som er laget, og utvilsomt en folk kan bli støtet av. Men denne lystige filmen har neppe til hensikt å fordømme kristendommen. De gale guttene fra Monty Python vil rett og slett more seg over å leke med den vestlige ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at The Fresh Films Review (Norwegian)
eFilmCritic
Back in 1978, the British-based comedy troupe put together a riotous spoof of Old Jerusalem life, and incited mass controversy and huge anti-Python protests, primarily in the southern United States. Some cities down there even banned "Brian" from their ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at eFilmCritic
SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
The Life of Brian was the third film from the Monty Python team. The Pythons – Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman, Michael Palin and Terry Jones – originally came together, writing and appearing in the cult tv series Monty ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
Three Movie Buffs (Scott Nash)
Although some consider Monty Python an acquired taste, anyone with a sense of humor and an open mind should find something in this movie to enjoy. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Three Movie Buffs (Scott Nash)
CinemaZone.dk
I 1979 vakte Monty Python’s Flying Circus furore med deres historie om Brian, der forveksles med Jesus, men filmen har for længst gået sin sejrsgang overalt, og er til stadighed at finde på top-5-lister over de sjoveste film nogensinde. Nu får vi ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at CinemaZone.dk
DVD Talk (Jeff Field)
For fans of Monty Python, there is no arguing that this disc is a requirement for any DVD collection. For everyone else, if you're looking for a funny movie with a lot of great extras, then Life of Brian Criterion is the way to go. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at DVD Talk (Jeff Field)
PreViewed DVD
The story starts off in a manner familiar to many. A woman is sitting in a barn next to her newborn son. Three men from the Orient enter, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. As they kneel to worship, they ask the mother the name of the child. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at PreViewed DVD
The Movie Chicks
In the year that Mel made it okay again to make biblical movies, the Monty Python gang decided to capitalize on the trend and re-release their own irreverent look at 33 A.D. (and celebrate the film's 25th anniversary). This isn't the story of ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at The Movie Chicks
Jersey Film Society - review
Roman occupied Judea, the early hours, 25 December 0000. A single-mother, Mandy, (Terry Jones) gives birth to a boy, Brian, in a stable in Bethlehem, just down the road from the site of another happy event. Three kings arrive, pay homage to the baby, ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Jersey Film Society - review
www.kcactive.com (Uri Lessing)
...targets...religious zealots who take Jesus’ simple messages of peace and love and use them...as cries for war and persecution. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at www.kcactive.com (Uri Lessing)
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
The more things change, the more we have to laugh if we are to have a prayer of remaining sane, and the Pythons are the best possible step in that direction. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Detroit Free Press (Terry Lawson)
Still has its rude, rowdy sting -- and it still speaks more truth about religion than nearly all serious movies on the subject. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Detroit Free Press (Terry Lawson)
iF Magazine
The thing about Monty Python movies is that they're not really movies at all as much as collections of hilarious sketches and skits built around a unifying idea. In the case of LIFE OF BRIAN, that central theme is the title character, an unfortunate ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at iF Magazine
DVDActive (Warwick Gaetjens)
there's a combination of useless memorisations! As fans already know (and will probably start arguing with me on the finer points), Life Of Brian (1979) was the third full cinematic movie produced by this crazy bunch of former university students ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at DVDActive (Warwick Gaetjens)
Richard A. Zwelling
small part to the success of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christjust a few months earlier. I can think of no more appropriate timefor this occasion, because I find it ironic that Gibson's film islabeled as the more "substantive" one. After all, Life ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Richard A. Zwelling
filmcritic.com (James Brundage)
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 (James Brundage)
Dragan Antulov
For me, LIFE OF BRIAN is the best Monty Python film because, unlike in all the rest, Monty Python jokes are held together with more or less coherent plot. But that doesn't mean that the film is conventional in any other sense. For example, all members ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Dragan Antulov
Movie Reviews UK
As one of those rare productions aimed squarely enough at a belief system to generate instant controversy, Life of Brian has a reputation. Around it, undimmed by the passage of decades, swarms an angry halo of fear, hatred and intolerance. Even now it ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Movie Reviews UK
Denver Rocky Mountain News (Robert Denerstein)
I can't say Life of Brian stands as a comic masterpiece, but it's an indelible part of impolite cinema history, and some of its asides remain priceless. ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Denver Rocky Mountain News (Robert Denerstein)
Boston Globe
"No God and no religion can survive ridicule," wrote Mark Twain, but for once the sage of Hannibal was wrong. How else could the church and decades of pompous Hollywood religious epics survive the thwacking given them in 1979 by "Monty ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Boston Globe
ToxicUniverse.com (John Nesbit)
It’s now hard to imagine the furor that surrounded the 1979 release of the Python’s Life of Brian, a film that ends with such a positive finishing song. But until Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ was released in 1988, no film received the ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at ToxicUniverse.com (John Nesbit)
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)
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)
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
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)
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)
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)
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
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
Boston Herald (David Brudnoy)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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
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)
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
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)
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)
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
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
El Criticon (Antonio Méndez Casanova)
La mejor pelÃcula de los Monty Python, fenomenal grupo de comediantes formado por Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Erid Idle, Graham Chapman y John Cleese, ingeniosos y sarcásticos fustigadores de las instituciones y costumbres británicas ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at El Criticon (Antonio Méndez Casanova)
Britmovie
This is the Python masterpiece. Probably easily getting into people's lists of top five comedy films of all time. A glorious cascade of Python moments, linked by the common theme of lampooning organised religion, this is the most sustained and film-like ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at Britmovie
25frames.org (Christoph Huber)
Irrwitz von der Monty Python-Truppe: die Geschichte des irrtümlich für den Messias gehaltenen Brian (Graham Chapman ) nutzen sie zur halsbrecherischen Parodie auf alle Monumentalfilmklischees in Sichtweite. Und natürlich für klassisch ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at 25frames.org (Christoph Huber)
DigitalVD.de (Christian Schmidtchen)
Brian wird im Jahre des Herren geboren, allerdings im Kuhstall nebenan. Und die Heiligen Drei Könige, die sich versehentlich zuerst in Brians Stall begeben, bemerken ihren Irrtum schnell, als sie von Brians Mutter angekeift werden: "Der echte Jesus ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at DigitalVD.de (Christian Schmidtchen)
BBC Films (Almar Haflidason)
As this review is written, sales figures reveal plenty of you are snapping up this DVD release of "Monty Python's Life of Brian". Stop! Mysteriously, review copies were not eagerly given out for this title. Why? Because suddenly we seem to be right back ...read the complete Life of Brian movie review at BBC Films (Almar Haflidason)
from $28.49 (19 sellers)
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