Monty Python's Life of Brian (Criterion Collection)

Cast View all

	Graham Chapman	Wise Man #2
	John Cleese	Wise Man #1
	Terry Gilliam	Man Even Further Forward
	Eric Idle	Mr. Cheeky
	Terry Jones	Mandy Cohen
	Michael Palin	Wise Man #3
	Terence Bayler	Gregory
	Carol Cleveland	Mrs. Gregory
	Kenneth Colley	Jesus
	Neil Innes	A Weedy Samaritan
	Charles McKeown	False Prophet
	John Young	Matthias / Son of Deuteronomy of Gath
	Gwen Taylor	Mrs. Big Nose
	Sue Jones-Davies	Judith
	Peter Brett
	John Case	Pilate's Wife
	Chris Langham	Alfonso
	Andrew Maclachlan	Another Official Stoners Helper
	Bernard McKenna	Parvus
	Spike Milligan	Spike
	Randy Feelgood	Man
	George Harrison	Mr. Papadopolous
	Charles Knode	Passer-by
	Monty Python	Themselves

Crew View all

Director	Terry Jones
Writer	Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin
Producer	Tarak Ben Ammar, John Goldstone, Tim Hampton, George Harrison, Denis O'Brien
Musician	Geoffrey Burgon
Photography	Peter Biziou

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Notes

Disc Features
Beautiful widescreen digital transfer, approved by director Terry Jones and enhanced for widescreen televisions
Two exclusive audio commentaries: One by Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, and Terry Jones; the second by John Cleese and Michael Palin
Original theatrical trailer
Five rarely seen deleted scenes with audio commentary by the Pythons
Four original British radio ads
Documentary film The Pythons, shot on location during the making of Life of Brian
English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Cover based on a theatrical poster


Story Synopsis:
As with their previous productions, Monty Python’s Life Of Brian begins by showcasing Terry Gilliam’s flair for wild animation and design (but pity the poor soul who tries to read the credits). Originally called Brian Of Nazareth, this outrageous comedy has probably offended every religious denomination on Earth. It follows the life of a Canaanite named Brian (Chapman), born near and at about the same time as Jesus Christ, and through a series of misunderstandings is mistaken for the promised Messiah. (Laurie Sevano)

DVD Picture:
In Issue 35, we reviewed the non-anamorphic Life Of Brian released by Anchor Bay. This 1.78:1 DVD is anamorphically enhanced and, while it has to be the best the film has ever looked, it still doesn’t look very good. The picture is dated, with a washed out, hazy appearance, but sharpness and resolution are improved. Amazingly, some scenes exhibit decent color balance and fair blacks. Though unavoidable, film grain can be excessive at times, and source element artifacts mar the picture in some scenes.

Soundtrack:
The Dolby® Digital 2.0 matrixed soundtrack, like the Anchor Bay DVD release, features compromised fidelity as well as distortion throughout. The sonic character is typically muffled. The soundfield is active in all dimensions, though often there is limited spatial coherence. Dialogue intelligibility ranges from acceptable to just passable, and isn’t “tightly” anchored toward center channel. Additionally, the sound can be rather loud and bright at reference level. This is basically dated, flawed film sound that delivers feeble Dolby Surround stereo.

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