Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36744 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-11-01
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Black & White, Colour, Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The coming together of the influential Python team is regarded as a milestone for modern absurdist comedy, though each of the six members had been doing similar sketch work prior to this first 1969 series, of whose highlights this video consists. The most revolutionary aspect of Python was its eschewal of punch lines, preferring as they did bizarre, surreal links and quantum leaps into the imagination of animator Terry Gilliam. Inevitably, Python has dated. Sketches such as "The Upper Class Twit of the Year" and the "Wink-wink, nudge nudge" man are worn down by familiarity. There's some clunky stereotyping and "Oo, ducky"-style gay references. That said, much of this still stands up. "Hells Grannies" and the race to find the world's funniest joke are fine, the Eric Idle-driven documentary spoofs are witty while the Batley Townswomen's Guild's re-enactment of Pearl Harbour is intelligently ridiculous. John Cleese, however, stands literally and metaphorically head and shoulders above the rest. His and Chapman's sketches, involving a mountaineering expedition leader with double vision and an arts TV interviewer who can't get past the etiquette of how to refer to his guest ("Eddie baby...") are pursued to their absurd non-conclusions with the remorseless logic of a top-drawer barrister. --David Stubbs

Special Features
4:3 Full Frame
DVD 5
English
Region 2
Mono English
Mono
Biographies
Photo Gallery
Scene Selection
Paindromes
Radio Times
Sing Along Song

Synopsis
Python's trademark wit and silliness is on full display in this collection of classic episodes that includes: "The 127th Upperclass Twit of the Year Competition from Hurlingham Park," "Bicycle Repair Man," "Vicious Gangs of Old Ladies," "The Layabouts in Lace," "Embarking on Random Acts of Violence Fit Young Men," "The Man with Three Buttocks," "The Lumberjack Song," "Vocational Guidance Councillor," "The Joke That Kills People (Used to Great Military Effect Against the Enemy at Ardennes on 8th July 1944)" and much, much more...and still more than that.

Customer Reviews

Monty Python's flying circus vol. 1
This DVD is hilarious from start to finish. All the sketches are great, but my personal favourites are: 'Hell's grannies', 'Storytime', 'Kilimanjaro', 'Dirty fork', and of course, the famous 'Parrot sketch'! It will be interesting to see how the other series of 'Flying circus' compare to this one.

My only criticisms of this DVD would be that the special features are somewhat limited (though I think the sing-a-long version of the 'Lumberjack song' is a good addition!), and also I think it's a shame that you don't get the full 1st series- it would have been nice to see the full selection of sketches in the first series. However, these are only minor criticisms, and all in all I thoroughly enjoyed this DVD.

Monty Python in your Face!
This DVD is one of the best DVD's that i have watched in a long time. It features all the best Monty Python Sketches from the first and best series. My favourites are 'The Upper Class Twit of the Year Competition', 'Hells Grannies' and the popular 'The Dead Parrot sketch' featuring the Norweigen blue and the dum pet store owner. It also features the lumberjack song with the words so that you can sing-along at home!

The Funniest Show In The World
Brilliant in every sense of the word. From the dirty fork to the Albatros this is one hundred per-cent non-stop hilarity. Every sketch still rocks today and influences so many of today's modern comedies such as The Fast Show and The Simpsons. Brilliant no one with a sense of humour should be without. Warning: You may die laughing!