I rewatched Holy Grail, Life Of Brian and Meaning Of Life in the last two days and, as I have long believed, The Meaning Of Life is by far the best of the Python films.
As a film, it's an artistic work of genius - Long takes, steadicam shots, great editing, interesting themes, outstanding animation. It's very reminiscint of Luis Bunuel's later films.
Calvin Candie: You sir are a sore loser
Dr. King Schultz:And you are an abysmal winner
I agree completely. Not to take anything away from the other films, but this film was a work of genius. This film was much more involved than the other films. I think this is the reason that there is so much of a discrepancy in the general opinion of this film.
shareYou are right. The Meaning Of Life is the best Python film by miles. Other people may disagree (and Cleese is one of them), but they are simply wrong and need to accept that fact and be quiet.
shareStill think Brian wins the watch but this film is a massive underrated piece of pure genius.
shareLOL... that last sentence, was that serious or satire?
shareI agree. Holy Grail, in my opinion, is OK. It has its funny moments, fantastic lines, and Michael Palin is at his most attractive as Sir Galahad. (Must be the 70s style hair lol.) But it just falls into the "meh" category. Life of Brian is better than Grail, I love the story, sets/environment, and the infamous song kept my rather dark, "personal" thoughts at bay for a very long time. But it's still just OK overall. The Meaning of Life, though, is the most memorable and funniest. I don't know why. I guess it's because people say that Life of Brian is the funniest film ever, while I think it's just really, really overrated.
sharethey are all crap, but i love "and now for something completely different" which is nothing but their original tv show. i wish they stayed on tv away from movies like south park did. they are coming back together now!
shareI think it's by far their worst - too often lazy, vulgar, or misfired - but it has some wonderful moments (the Sperm number probably being the best).
shareI like it.
The birth scene
Every sperm is sacred
Teaching sex to bored schoolboys
Marching up and down the square
Mister Creosote
I am death
These are off the top of my head.
I'm going to sound elitist but their two most popular comedies appeal to the lowest common denominators. The artistic craftmanship behind this one is way above the previous two. And the satire is top notch.
People hate the opening short and I thought it was brilliant! A hint of what was to come 2 years later (Brazil)
Nah. A perfectly enjoyable comedy with some good laughs but inferior to Life Of Brian and Holy Grail.
shareSame. All their films are very different experiences, but the most consistently funny/well-crafted from of theirs is obviously LIFE OF BRIAN.
HOLY GRAIL is much more insane with some bigger laughs but the film is extremely uneven with some long dry stretches here and there.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT I believe is their funniest "film" though it's just a collection of sketches with no overall plot. The same can be said for this film as well however which puts them into direct competition, and AND NOW totally blows this out of the water. It has far cheaper production values but it moves at a much faster pace, has way more laughs, and an overall air of freshness.
MEANING conversely feels tired and out of gas comparatively. The one thing I really love about it is the opening 10 minute Crimson Permanent Assurance sketch, which isn't even really that "funny" per-se, but it's just so entertaining and fun that I could have sat through a full feature film of it. Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones I think were the creative heart of the group and the perfect foils for each other - Jones because he had a great sense of setting up and milking sketch comedy and Gilliam because he had this childlike sense of adventurism and didn't feel the need to follow any conventions at all.