Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6177 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-04-19
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 104 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The King of Comedy, which flopped at the box office, is actually a gem waiting to be rediscovered. Like A Face in the Crowd (a not-so-distant cousin to this film), Network, and The Truman Show, its target is show business--specifically the burning desire to become famous or be near the famous, no matter what. Robert De Niro plays the emotionally unstable, horrendously untalented Rupert Pupkin, a wannabe Vegas-style comedian. His fantasies are egged-on by Marsha, a talk-show groupie (brilliantly played by Sandra Bernhard) who hatches a devious, sure-to-backfire plan. Jerry Lewis is terrific in the straight role as the Johnny Carson-like talk-show host Jerry Langford. De Niro's performance as the obsessive Pupkin is among his finest (which is saying a lot) and he never tries to make the character likable in any way. Because there's no hero and no-one to root for, and because at times the film insists we get a little too close and personal with Pupkin, some will be put off. Yet it's one of Scorsese's most original and fascinating films, giving viewers much to consider on the subject of celebrity. Its inevitable climax is clever and quietly horrific. --Christopher J Jarmick

Special Features

• Deleted scenes
  
• A Shot At The Top: The Making Of "The King Of Comedy" featurette
  
• Stills gallery
  
• Canadian TV spot
  
• Theatrical trailer
  
• Interactive menu
  
• Scene access

DVD Technical Information:

• Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 16:9 Anamorphic
  
• Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
  
• Language: English
  
• Subtitles: Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, English for the hearing impaired
  
• Running Time: 1 hour and 38 minutes approx.
  
• Region Code: 2

Synopsis
Martin Scorsese's THE KING OF COMEDY is a brutally funny depiction of the dangers of celebrity fandom. Robert De Niro plays the ridiculously inept Rupert Pupkin, an aspiring comic who idolises talk-show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis). Still living at home with his mother, Rupert spends his days trying to arrange a meeting with his hero. When he isn't doing that, he's at home talking to cardboard cutouts in his makeshift television studio. After Rupert convinces Rita (Diahnne Abbot), a pretty bartender, that Langford has invited them to his house outside the city, the reality of the situation makes itself painfully apparent upon arriving at the star's front door. Trouble is, Rupert's too delusional to take the hint. He eventually hatches a plan with an equally obsessed fan, Masha (a scene-stealing Sandra Bernhard), to kidnap Langford in exchange for a chance to let him deliver his routine on the air. De Niro and Lewis deliver scorching performances that are at once tragic and hysterical, making for an unsettling yet highly stimulating viewing experience. Paul D. Zimmerman's script takes the time to truly crawl inside the mind of a lunatic, exposing celebrity worship as the ludicrous problem that it is. THE KING OF COMEDY stands firmly as one of Scorsese's most terrifying films.

Customer Reviews

the king of black comedy
This has to be one of the sharpest, darkest and most subtle comedies ever made. It is hilarious, it has brilliant performances all round and has a great satirical statement to make.
Robert De Niro brilliantly portrays the delusional slightly creepy (but curiously loveable) loser Rupert Pupkin with dreams of becoming the 'king of comedy'. He badgers his hero, chatshow host Jerry Langford incessantly after a chance meeting believing that he and the celebrity have a friendship. His delusions are eventually shattered when he realises that Langford isn't the funnyman and the hero he thought he was, but a miserable and aggravated man who hates his fans. What results is a kidnapping where he holds Langford and demands a small slot on langford's chatshow as ransom.
The film cleverly shows us societies pathetic obsession with the media and the celebrity and strips it down and condemns it to fallacy. Rupert Pupkin is hilarious at times- as a comedian and in real life- in his appearence, his bumbling harmlessness and not so convincing act as a threatening kidnapper, whilst at other times he seems quite unnerving- his obsessions and his fantasy world we are left to construe are slightly discomforting. Jerry Lewis is dynamite as the old crettenous chatshow host who hates the world around him.
Scorsese has created a first rate, highly intelligent comedy which depicts obsession, delusion, and the whole fallacy of the media in a little, unpretentious gem of a movie. It is also a great 'New York' film, some of the shots of the streets of NYC really give the film its gloomy, brooding and serious tone. This is easily one of De Niro's greatest films, it shows he can be very funny and gives him another chance to play the 'antihero' again (like in Taxi Driver). One of my all time favourite films- check out the comedy routine at the end, it's hilarious!

Ahead of it's time
When the King of Comedy was released in the early 80's reality TV had yet to be concieved. Which is precisely why it bombed at the box office. Only now, in an era when you can't switch channels without seeing another group of talentless, dysfunctional losers selling their dignity in the pursuit of fame, does the character of Rupert Pupkin strike such a resonant chord. DeNiro, plays Pupkin - a delusional wannabe comic who believes that his is a talent that deserves primetime exposure, and to that end kidnaps talkshow host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis) in order to gain his fifteen minutes of fame. The darkness and subtlety of the movie was lost on audiences at the time - unsure of how to take a film whose title suggests a comedy when in fact it was anything but. As the film closes, Rupert does become famous in the Z list sense of the word, a damning indictment that paved the way for the Big Brother losers who would follow nearly two decades later. A very under-rated film and one which would be critically acclaimed were it released to day.

Scorsese's overlooked masterpiece
While this film hasn't got as much attention in the past as Taxi Driver or Goodfellas, it is just as good; only Kundun has been more unjustly overlooked.

Autograph hunter and wannabe celebrity Rupert Pupkin (De Niro)idolises the network television chat show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis, in fine sober form). When an incident leads to a chance encounter with Langford, Rupert tells him he is an aspiring comedian, as much to get rid of him as anything else, Langford tells him to call his secretary. The reality of the situation is lost on Rupert who sees himself as a close friend of Langford and, when his attempts to get his material onto the Langford show fails, leads him to go to desperate measures.

King of Comedy is a scathing attack on the celebrity system that probably plays better in today's reality show climate than it did 20 years ago; it is one of those very rare movies that deserve the term "visionary".

This is one of those rare movies which make you laugh as well as make you uncomfortable; in its own way it is probably a more unsettling film than Taxi Driver because you never know how you are meant to react as a viewer; various parts of the film blur the line between reality and fantasy, and the ending is extremely ambiguous.

If you like black comedies, masterful direction, and want to know why De Niro is considered one of the greatest actors then this is definitely a film for you.