Monty Python's and Now for Something Completely Different (1971) User Reviews

Dynamic team of comedy geniuses!

[lost-in-limbo · 8/10 · 27 December 2005]

Their first film 'And Now for Something Completely Different' was intended to introduce the group and their humour to the American market. It was nothing but their best and most silliest skits from their first two seasons of their British TV sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus from BBC television. By that there's no real systematic narrative here, unlike in their later efforts in 'The Holy Grail' and 'Life of Brian'. It's made up of a selection of individual skits, which were mostly hilarious, even though two or three fall short, but it moves along swiftly that you get caught up in the comically cheeky and downright nonsensical humour that had me mostly in stitches. There appealing ludicrousness bellows stupidity, but its done in a straight face, which makes it more the merrier. A lot of it makes fun at its own expense, but also mocks that of political correctness and Americanism. They were so clever in the way structured it and it stills stands up rather well today. But a quick warning their humour is an acquired taste that's for sure.

Some of these ambitious skits and segments are real ball, ranging from the lumberjack song, The dead parrot, The upper class twit of the year, Killer cars, Blackmail, Hungarian in the cigarette shop, the lion tamer and so much more. My favourite of the lot would be the Mountaineer expedition sign up. Going on throughout the film is Terry Gilliam's stunning and ultimately inventive cartoons which catch the eye and imagination. The animation is that of high standards and adds a whole new dimension to the silliness! You could see this eye for detail when he directed such flicks like 'Brazil' and 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'. The boys involved John Cleese, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam are nothing but entertaining in whatever they decide to come up with, by giving us a real good laugh.

This landmark comedy team is always a delight to behold. A must see for any fan, though I doubt they haven't seen it already.

Contractual Obligation

[knightout · 8/10 · 8 February 2002]

This film really didn't need to be made - but at the time, after two excellent TV series, the Pythons were under pressure to produce a big-screen version for wider distribution.

Thus a number of sketches from the first two series were rewritten, tightened up, and re-enacted, entirely on film. The actual new material is probably around 2% of the script, and I hold the view that many of the sketches were inferior to their TV versions, and much of the better series 1 and 2 stuff (Spanish Inquisition, Silly Walks etc.) didn't even make it to ANFSCD for some reason.

It's interesting to watch the differences in production and compare this material to how it was originally done, and the new devices for linking one sketch to the next keep you on your toes.

But ultimately if you want to watch early python sketches, the TV versions are more rewarding.

Strictly for Python neophytes

[magic_marker · 8/10 · 8 September 2002]

To most hardcore Python fans, this film will be irrellevant, as they probably have every single sketch on DVD already, and this is essentially a "greatest hits album."

So I am going to direct this review at those who have never heard of Python before.

The film opens with a sketch called "How not to be seen," during which the narrator shoots several people in cold blood, blows people up, and then finally breaks down into hysterical laughter when he bombs a children's hospital.

This sketch is hillariously, gut bustingly funny. Why? That is the great mystery of Python. Is it the impeccable timing, the wonderful acting, or the peerless gags? Could be. But I think it is more the brilliant sense of anarchy and loony logic that makes them so brilliant. It was, after all, those people's own bloody fault they were shot; they could be seen!

Beyond this, there are the sketches that are so well known they have become cliches: the Dead Parrot sketch ("Listen mate, this parrot is dead! It's a stiff! Bereft of life it rests in peace; if you hadn't nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies! This is an ex-parrot!") the Lumberjack Song ("I chop down trees, I wear high heels suspenders and a bra!/I wish I'd been a girlie, just like my dear Mama!"), the Dirty Fork sketch ("A dirty, ugly smelly piece of cultlery!!") and so on.

There is still no substitute for watching the show. Indeed many of their best sketches aren't on here; the Cheese sketch, the Adventure Holiday sketch, and my personal favourite, the Eric the Fish sketch ("Why should I be TARRED with the epithet "loony" simply because I have a pet 'alibut?"). Still this is a fairly safe introduction to their unique (That's putting it mildly) brand of humour.

supremely silly skits

[didi-5 · 2 March 2004]

Monty Python used this collection of sketches from their first and second TV series (re-packaged and staged again) to break into the American market. A gamble, but a successful one.

All the greats are here – Parrot Sketch, Dirty Fork, Hell's Grannies, Fresh Fruit Self Defence, Marriage Guidance – and more besides. The animated links, specially created for the movie, are funny and well put-together: and new versions of Killer Cars and the story of the Spot are excellent. In many cases the film versions of the sketches outshine those in the TV series and are more memorable, particularly those which first appeared in series 1.

This is a very good introduction to the team and a strong reminder of their early work for the BBC.

Pure Python Madness

[EmperorNortonII · 9/10 · 27 June 2003]

"And Now For Something Completely Different" is a showcase of the kind of comedy that defines Monty Python's Flying Circus. The BBC comedy classic has a huge following worldwide, owing to its unique use of surreal humor. This movie is a collection of some of the Pythons' best from their first two seasons, including classics like "The Lumberjack Song" and "The Dead Parrot Sketch." One of the best factors of "Monty Python" was the eye-catching animations of Terry Gilliam. This movie is rich with his art, which includes the wacky B-movie spoof "The Killer Cars." This is a movie all Python fans should see, and one Python neophytes should use as an introduction.

This is the best Python film for novices

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 12 June 2005]

Although I like Monty Python and the Holy Grail better, this is still a wonderful film and it is the best one to show the uninitiated. Showing a "normal" person the Holy Grail is sort of like giving a first-time drinker a fifth of vodka! Too much, too quickly! Many of these rookies MIGHT run away in terror or suffer massive headaches when they see the Holy Grail. Instead, this film is intended for American audiences unfamiliar with the Pythons. Many of their best skits from the TV show are reproduced with better production values as well as easier to understand accents. You can really tell that they are trying to be understandable to the average American.

Now all this does NOT mean the film is normal by any stretch of the imagination! It features such classics as the Parrot Sketch, the Marriage Counselor, and my personal favorite, the couple who go to the fancy restaurant and have a piece of dirty silverware. I'm sure to the uninitiated, these skits DON'T sound funny--well watch them and see for yourself. If they make your brain hurt or the desire to flee sets in, turn off the TV briefly, take a few deep breaths and resume watching.

Meet The Monty Python's Troupe

[xyzkozak · 6/10 · 9 January 2015]

Released in 1971, this first feature presentation by the zany Monty Python's troupe is very much like a "greatest hits" album where we have these very funny guys from the UK showcasing some of their most hilariously popular sketches and bizarre animated segments from their long-running TV series of the late 1960s.

For anyone who enjoys outrageously odd comedy, this film's compilation is really a fine introduction to Monty Python's peculiar and unique brand of humour.

Filled with all sorts of surreal slapstick and supreme silliness, this film includes such unforgettable, comic gems as - The World's Deadliest Joke, Upper-Class Twit Of The Year, Hells Grannies, Dead Parrot, and Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink, to name but a few.

For some guaranteed giggles and outright laughs, you can always rely on the Monty Python's gang to deliver the goods..... Check it out!

well, you know Monty Python...

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 16 July 2005]

Containing various skits from the first two years of their famous wacky show, "And Now for Something Completely Different" was Monty Python's Flying Circus' first movie. Everyone knows the Dead Parrot, the Lumberjack Song, and such things. They must have just cracked up writing this stuff.

If absolutely nothing else, this movie (or their show) reminds us what humor should entail. If you've never seen any of Monty Python's work, this should explain it all to you, although you ought to be prepared to die laughing.

So remember, always use Crelm toothpaste!

Good Fun...But Don't Expect The Spanish Inquisition

[slokes · 6/10 · 5 October 2015]

It's an adjustment seeing classic bits of television comedy being repurposed for the cinema. The first-ever film by TV's Monty Python troupe offers an enjoyable, if rather restrained, showcase of reshot series excerpts.

What "And Now For Something Completely Different" lacks in originality, it makes up for in zaniness and wit. Meet a group of elderly ladies who terrorize city streets: "We like pulling the heads off sheep...and tea cakes."

Thrill to a fight to the death for the title "Upper-Class Twit of the Year:" "He doesn't know when he's beaten...He doesn't know when he's winning, either. He has no sort of sensory apparatus known to man."

Learn why British film directors don't like being called "Eddie Baby," "Angel Drawers," or "Frank," even if President Nixon has a hedgehog by that name.

It's also a chance to see the stars of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" with longer hair and shaggier sideburns, except for Terry Gilliam who makes just a couple of token appearances while sticking to animation. John Cleese steals much of the show with his delicious overacting, yet Eric Idle makes the strongest impression as everything from a randy marriage counselor to one of Hell's Grannies. Meanwhile, Terry Jones squints, Michael Palin smirks, and Graham Chapman disapproves of everything. None are as sensational as they would become, but all make impressions.

For all that it has going for it, "And Now" connects only about half the time. Gilliam's animation seems slower and more ponderous here than it did on television, and the one-joke nature of his cartoons gets exposed in a way they didn't as television interstitials. A kind of pokiness cuts into the live-action material as well, like bits involving mice that squeal on key when hit with a hammer and men with tape recorders up their noses. Each of these may be only a minute or so, but they feel much longer.

Several of Python's best-loved sketches don't appear here, like the Ministry of Silly Walks, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Crunchy Frog. The best-known sketch that does appear, the Dead Parrot, is actually a little dead itself for some reason. Director Ian MacNaughton was Python's usual director for television, and if anything shoots things in an even flatter manner here than he did for the BBC. Perhaps it's because television was Python's medium, for the way it offered a kind of subversive platform for their entertainments.

Other sketches do shine. The Funniest Joke in the World is a great laugh unless you're German, in which case view with caution. Even better is the Milkman sketch, which demonstrates the pitfall of falling for the wrong woman.

Overall, "And Now" makes for a fine Python primer, a starter course as another reviewer suggests. It's not a landmark film, or even that major a milestone by Python standards, but it delivers some laughs along with a sense of what these guys were about.

Ah the genius of Monty Python

[KimAC5 · 10/10 · 30 March 2001]

I'm very sad when people don't GET Monty Python, and I believe that the measley 7.2 rating this great movie got is a reflection of this, that's such a tragedy. Everybody who has a good sense of humor must rent this movie, because it is a film classic. The only catch is, you have to be in the right mood where totally random things are funny. Hey--you can't be in a goofy mood and GET a drama, like American History X, for example. So get in a goofy mood, watch this movie, go buy a parrot, and I only have one more thing to say--and now for something completely different.

Landmark Comedy Compilation That Has Dated Badly

[l_rawjalaurence · 6/10 · 21 January 2015]

To criticize AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT on the grounds of obsolescence would seem an heretical thing to do. Monty Python had such a profound influence on the development of British comedy in the late Sixties and Seventies that their place in history is perpetually assured. And yet looking at the film nearly forty-five years later, it has to be said that much of the humor is puerile, the kind of thing that might be expected in a student production performed at the end of the spring semester. Some of the sketches go on far too long, while the more surreal moments - such as the opening sequence, involving a series of people trying not to be seen and getting blown up - are highly reminiscent of THE GOON SHOW, the groundbreaking radio program of the Fifties that provide much of Python's antecedents.

Nonetheless, for those that grew up with Python on television, film and the theater (as well as those fortunate enough to attend their series of concerts last year), AND NOW ... contains several immortal moments, such as the Parrot sketch, the upper-class twit of the year and the Lumberjack song. It's also interesting to reflect on what happened to the performers: Michael Palin, the singer in the last-named of these sketches, would eventually go on to become an established television documentary presenter and all-round celebrity appearing on innumerable tribute programs; while John Cleese would end up carving out a career as a film actor and (latterly) an autobiographer.

Some of the sketches could now be considered both sexist and racist; there are at least two occasions where viewers are encouraged to look at half-naked women and ogle them in a spirit more reminiscent of THE BENNY HILL SHOW than Monty Python. There is also one moment of dialog - obviously meant parodically - where Eric Idle talks about not wanting to live next door to "those kind of people" i.e. African-Caribbeans. Nonetheless, we should bear in mind that AND NOW ... is very much a product of its time; in the early Seventies such attitudes were still considered permissible (the ITV sitcom LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR had the white protagonist continually insulting his African-Caribbean neighbor). The location filming (such as it is) conjured up a now-vanished world of inner London, with traffic-free streets and a predominantly white population.

Definitely worth a look, but don't expect anything too humorous, especially if viewers are unfamiliar with the Pythons.

"I'm a lumberjack, and I'm O.K...."

[ShadeGrenade · 9/10 · 6 June 2008]

This was the Pythons' first attempt at a movie - made when the series was still in production - and, while in no way comparable to later classics such as 'Holy Grail' and 'Life Of Brian', its good fun, and a lot better than many of the films-based-on-T.V. sitcoms made around at that time.

Playboy club boss Victor Lownes put up the money, thinking the film had the potential to be a cult hit in the U.S.A. But it was not. For one thing, it was badly promoted ( John Cleese remembers seeing a strange poster of a grinning snake with a hat on. Just the sort of thing calculated to set box-office tills ringing, of course ) and anyway the Americans were hardly likely to go and see a film based on a show which ( at that point ) they had not seen.

'And Now' is an anthology of sketches from the first two 'Monty Python' series. Unlike 'The Best Of Benny Hill' ( which reused original television material ) these were remakes. They included 'Crunchy Frog', 'Upper Class Twit Of The Year Show', 'Marriage Guidance Councillor', 'The Lumberjack Song', 'Sir George Head', 'Hungarian Phrase Book' 'Blackmail', 'Self-Defence Class', 'Nudge Nudge' and 'Hell's Grannies'.

Some of the items benefited from the move to film, such as 'Funniest Joke In The World', while others fell flat, most notably 'The Parrot Sketch'. Michael Palin was to have reprised his role as the disgusting 'Ken Shabby', but Lownes insisted that the sequence be dropped.

Terry Jones' Nude Organist is seen for the first time, he went on to become a regular feature of the series.

The Pythons came to regard the film as an embarrassment as it was basically a rehash of old material, but it was successful in establishing that Python humour could work on the big screen. When they made 'Holy Grail' three years later, they were much more confidant and self-assured.

In the days before the availability of Python on video and D.V.D. this film was the only reminder of the group's genius. Now its somewhat redundant, but still worth viewing.

Funniest moment - tough one, this. I'll go for Palin's rendition of 'The Lumberjack Song' mainly because I love the shocked looks on the faces of the mounties as the full meaning of the lyrics hits home. Oh, and Connie Booth is sexy too! One complaint though - how on Earth did they manage to leave out the 'Ministry Of Silly Walks'?

A different mix of Norwegian Blue.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 23 November 2012]

Talking to a friend recently about Comedy TV shows/movies that they had either never seen or heard of before,I was surprised to find out that she had never seen any footage of a Comedy group called Monty Python.Deciding to go for a Python DVD that would hopefully act as a good intro to their work,I was pleased to discover,that a boxset had been brought out,which along with containing the Python's most well know titles, (the classic Holy Grail,and Life of Brian-which I still need to see!) also contained two movies of the Python's that I have hardly heard ever get mentioned.

The outline of the film:

Designed as a film to introduce "Monty Python" to the US,the movie features re-staged and re-filmed sketches from the first two seasons of Monty Python's Flying Circus,with a loose,over lapping theme of a character appearing in the end of one sketch and then in the beginning of the next,and also a breaking of the sketches into pieces,by having an announcer appear on the screen every 15-20 minutes to say "And now for something completely different".

View on the film:

Joining with the Python's for their big screen debut (which despite being aimed for America,ended up making more money at the UK box office than at the US box office!),director Ian MacNaughton smartly uses the film's small $80,000 budget (from Playboy magazine) to burst the sketches out of there original studio confines,with one of the movies best sketches about a "deadly joke" being used against the German's in WW II (?) being given a brilliant "fresh" feel thanks to MacNaughton giving the scene and misty look and also fully displaying the vast location.

Despite the group surprisingly not using the widescreen format to feature a number of background or side gags that could be picked up on repeat viewings,the Python's impressively keep away from making the sketches ever feel old & recycled,by using the overlapping character's as a way to include a wonderfully new,absurd element into each of the sketches,that leads to viewer being excited about what direction the next sketch will go in,the moment they hear the words "And now for something completely different.".

When Monty Python goes wrong

[educallejero · 3/10 · 22 February 2020]

There are more than a couple of peak Monty Python ultra funny sketches in there. But there is also a majority of trash and "worse I've ever seen" Monty Python also, filled with too much of that collage montage non-sense to fill the gaps and make the runtime big enough to be considered a film.

In the end, they didn't even tried to make a coherent movie but just an excuse to put unrelated sketches that they didn't know how to connect (apparently from the first two seasons of their show, but recreated for the movie).

It's just bad.

Yes, some are quite silly, but they know they are! Superb animations!

[KGB-Greece-Patras · 21 September 2004]

Do we really have to grade this among the other Pythons films, as best, worst or anything? Personally I don't feel like to. It's surely not my best, but its got some fine characteristics. It's pure early Pythons.

Actually it's no film, it's a non-stop trip of absurd humour, featuring shorts, lots of animations, silly commentary, politically incorrect, 100% English jokes, some of which are REALLY silly - the difference here is that we have a commentary within the film which blames of the film which really has taken a wrong turn and has become quite silly. Self parody, originality and sarcasm. And embarrassment, of course!

About the animations: Python animations (made by the masterman Terry Gilliam) are awesome. No insult here, I really enjoyed the film, even the silliest bits, but the animations are so good that they're the best in this one, as far as I am concerned. So the animations are mixed and edited within managing to create a genuine Python style.

Those not familiar with Pythons, I recommend to start over with LIFE OF BRYAN or HOLY GRAIL. Actually its quite 'difficult' humour but give it a try if you like something different!

A hilarious compilation tape.

[Arthur Pewty · 9/10 · 13 April 2001]

For me compilation tapes don't really work, but because each sketch included in this has been acted out again and edited it works really well. This is one of my favourite films. Although many great Python sketches were left out, the ones that were left in were truly some of the Pythons best work. It's a hilarious film thats full of really intelligent humour.

Funniest movie ever

[Megasaebel · 10/10 · 26 September 2021]

Every scene is godlike. I laughed for 80 minutes straight.

Nudge Nudge! How was it like watching this movie? It was demonic, disturbing, devious, delightful and just plain daffy! Monty Python indeed killed it.

[ironhorse_iv · 7/10 · 30 January 2020]

Broadcast by the BBC, 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' (1969-1974) was written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a live action sketch show aided by Gilliam's short moving Victorian era antique photographs cutout animation between skits. The show pushed the boundaries of comedy with its innovative over the top surrealism approach. It became a huge hit and by the early 1970s Hollywood was calling from a very surprising source Victor Lownes, an executive for Playboy who was looking for a film to save the magazine's fledgling movie production company. In 1971 he got his wish as this comedy was created by the group. However the movie directed by Ian MacNaughton bomb as the film offer nothing near completely different in its material. Instead the flick was mostly made up of compilation of reshoot sketches from the first two seasons of the television series edited together for an American audience. Don't get me wrong, in an era before internet & home recordings, seeing it in theater seem like a good idea. It was technically the only way to see foreign comedies besides moving to that country. Regardless the majority of the Americans viewers were so unfamiliar at the time with Python's humorous idiosyncrasies of British's citizen's lives that they weren't even aware of that the English comedy would be shown in theaters. Before then much of the other UK's television comedies would often be remade, gear to Americans and passes through the major 3 television networks without much notice. As for the diehard audiences, the film did not really offer anything unique, except the opportunity to see the sketches in better quality and in color since many UK viewers still had black and white sets. Regardless many of the fans were disappointed of the lack of an original concept. I don't blame them, the same can be said with those whom watch every episode of the show in today's media full world before seeing this movie. People would find the recycling highly annoying. Don't get me wrong, some of the risqué innuendo laden humor, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines material are still somewhat funny ever if it's been done to death. Some of them were improved such as the 'How Not to Be Seen'. I glad that the beach hut scene is replaced with a tent in the woods. It shows that the people are really trying to get hide away from the narrator so they don't get kill, instead of going on separate holiday for R&R. The gag also doesn't go too long as the atomic explosions throughout the world are not shown. It doesn't run the joke to the ground. The house of neighbor was born getting destroy was good enough. The same can be said with 'Self Defense against Fresh Fruit' sequence. The film wisely ends with the eating of the banana rather than going on with students attacking the teacher with raspberry and peaches with him combating against them in outrageous ways with tigers. Perhaps the greatest improvement from the original sketch has to be their most famous. I like that the Dead Parrot skit doesn't have the filler scene where the shopkeeper tells the customer to see his brother in Bolton for a refund only to get into argument about palindromes when he get back from there. The film's altered version of the pet shop owner wanting to be a logger is a lot better as the customer seem more confused, conveying more laughs. That's bring us to the 'Lumberjack song'. It's here where I found the ending to be in poor taste as the man is pelted with rotten fruit and eggs by the Mounties, who can also be heard shouting more offensive insults about his crossdressing habits. The original kept the homophobia a lot cool and collected with the other character's disgust of the lumberjack. In this movie, its more borderline a hate crime. Another skit that hasn't aged well is office people falling out of high buildings. Lots of Sept. 11 vibes. It's really hard to laugh at it now. Regardless there were a few sketches I wish the movie had put in the film instead. One is the Spanish Inquisition and the other is the ministry of silly walks. I get that the film was made in the middle of the second season, but if 'Hungarian Phrasebook' made it without yet being aired. The same can be done with them. As for unused characters, I felt a few the movie sketches like 'Marriage Guidance Counsellor' would had work better if it end with the knight hitting the husband with a toy chicken like the original. The 16 ton weight gag being dropped was overused much like the BBC narrator. Another character that should had been there in the film is the Robinson Crusoe type castaway that start every episode. Not seeing him was a bit jarring. It's clear that production of the film did not go entirely smoothly as Lownes try to gain more control over the group; deleting characters and cutting key sketches. However the complain of the film being low budget. I really don't see it. The movie had beautiful clean animation, well shot and mostly edited fine. Plus the film restore original censored works like the cancer cartoon. There was money going into it. Still the lack of overall story structure was a distracting. Thank goodness the next film 1975 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' draws on new material & parodying more well-known works like the Arthurian tales allowing PBS affiliates to start airing reruns in the US. The success on both sides led to the Pythons going on live tours and creating more films, while the individual members flourished in solo careers afterward. Overall: While this movie is not as memorable as the other films. It's still worth putting your foot down and watch.

My hovercraft is full of eels

[JamesHitchcock · 8/10 · 16 October 2009]

The phrase "And Now for Something Completely Different" originated with the British television personality Christopher Trace, who as presenter of the children's programme Blue Peter used it to link items on differing topics. It was taken up by other TV programmes and became a catchphrase on "Monty Python's Flying Circus", so much so that it was used as the title when the Pythons made their first film in 1971. Rather bizarrely, the film was produced by Victor Lownes, of Playboy fame, who saw it as the ideal way to introduce Americans to the mysteries of the Python cult.

Unlike the other three Python films ("Monty Python and the Holy Grail", "Monty Python's Life of Brian" and "The Meaning of Life"), this one does not contain any original material. It consists of sketches taken from the first two series of the TV show, linked by some of Terry Gilliam's surreal animation sequences. The sketches were not taken direct from the television version but were specially remade for the film; some of them were slightly rewritten. I remember getting into a heated debate with a school friend, now a distinguished Professor of History at Oxford, about whether the famous "Dead Parrot Sketch" contains the lines "It has rung down the curtain and joined the choir eternal"; it turned out that I had seen the film version, which does contains these lines, and he had seen the television one, which doesn't.

Although, as the "Not the Nine O'clock News" team once pointed out, Britain is still ostensibly a Python-worshipping country, Pythonesque humour is an acquired taste, and attempting to explain its appeal to anyone who is not a Python-worshipper is a forlorn hope. (I have tried, and failed miserably, with my wife). This is probably a generational thing; I belong to that generation which came of age in the seventies and which prided itself on its ability to repeat Python sketches verbatim, but even in that period there was a large part of the older generation which reacted to the show in much the same way as Graham Chapman's colonel. "This is getting silly. And a bit suspect, I think". As for anyone born since 1980, and many people born since 1970, I suspect that they may regard the show with the same bafflement that my generation reserved for old radio shows like ITMA. ("Did people really use to laugh at that?")

Even as a practising Pythonist I have to admit that not all the sketches in "And Now For Something Completely Different" are hilarious; "Musical Mice", for example, does not seem nearly so funny today as it probably once did, and some of the animation segments now look a bit dated. There is not much to link the various sketches together, so film does not flow in the same way as "The Holy Grail" or "Life of Brian", both of which consisted of a series of linked sketches which together formed a coherent narrative. Nevertheless, much of the material here is brilliantly funny.

My particular favourites include:-

Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook (In which John Cleese's Hungarian gentlemen is misled by an inaccurate phrasebook into repeating phrases like "Please will you fondle my buttocks" or "My hovercraft is full of eels" in the belief that he is asking something innocuous like "Where is the railway station?")

Hell's Grannies (A takeoff of the rather earnest tone of British television documentaries of the period).

The Funniest Joke in the World (Or how our boys won the war by telling lethally funny jokes to the Germans).

Dead Parrot (In which Cleese tries to persuade a sceptical Michael Palin that the parrot he has just purchased is dead, is a stiff, is no more, has ceased to be and has shuffled off this mortal coil. Perhaps the Pythons' best-known sketch).

Vocational Guidance Counsellor (Or the sketch which did for the accountancy profession what the Black Death did for mediaeval Europe)

Blackmail!

Upper Class Twit of the Year . When I first saw this, I assumed that the Upper Class Twits were purely fictitious; it was only when I was invited by my then girlfriend to accompany her to a meeting of the Kensington and Chelsea Young Conservatives that I realised that the Pythons' satire was, if anything, rather understated.

Like a number of other reviewers, I noticed that some of my favourite sketches (The Spanish Inquisition, The Australian Philosophers, Ministry of Silly Walks, etc.) were omitted from the film, although some of those that other reviewers were hoping to see, such as the exploding penguin, appeared in the third or fourth series of the programme and hence had not been written when this film was made. Nevertheless, I think that the Pythons were right to limit the amount of material and hence the length of the film to 90 minutes. The Monty Python format was originally designed for thirty-minute programmes, and would probably have become tedious if it had been dragged out to two hours or more. (This is what happens with "The Meaning of Life", which starts to drag towards the end). "And Now For Something Completely Different" is not the Pythons' greatest film- that must be "Life of Brian"- but it still contains plenty to laugh at. 8/10

Always look on the bright side of laughter.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 25 April 2020]

There's pretty much something for everyone of an adult age in this British comedy that was released for American audiences says to get a glimpse at the best of Monty Python and his Flying Circus. The newly-made footage acknowledges the silliness of many of the Skechers, but lovingly acknowledges that's what the Monty Python crew is best at. It's a combination of verbal and physical comedy, often draw and yet filled with references that the American audiences will easily get. then there's the newly films animated sequences in between the live-action sketches, and they are among the best part of the film, often naughty yet never crude. some of the visuals are slightly gruesome, but nothing that you wouldn't stay in the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner show.

Among my favorite sketches here are the gang of old ladies who act like hoodlums, a gay army troop performing a campy drill, the lumberjack song, and a meadow filled with scantily clad women which ends with a funny twiet. In fact, one of the sexier scenes was completely ripped off in the first "Naked Gun" film. John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones show their boundless energy in their wacky characterization that are boundless. I just 90 minutes, just doesn't overstay it's welcome, making it a point and showing the best of the best.

This is pure fun.

[Kynde · 8/10 · 17 May 1999]

Maybe this isn't the best Monty Pyton has done, but there are some of the finest Flying Circus in between. I mean, The joke that is so funny, that you die laughing, and how to stay camouflaged are really funny. If you do like Monty Pyton this is a must.

Could have been better.

[Peach-2 · 6/10 · 16 November 1998]

This film could have been a lot better than they let it turn out. I know it's supposed to be Monty Python's best sketches from their first two seasons of television work, but it has ultimately a couple of good ones and a lot of boring ones. I recommend watching their feature films and disregarding this unless you are a true Python fan.

This is great stuff

[BraveSrROb · 9/10 · 27 January 2002]

Monty Python's second best movie. It's not a feature length story, but a bunch of sketches. Funniest things I've seen this side of Holy Grail. Other people say that the sketches are boring. Well, they're just plain wrong. From the dramatic recreation of Pearl Harbor to Hell's Grannies this is well worth a rental.

Actually quite funny

[director9ff · 7/10 · 20 June 2002]

Rather than see it as an introduction to the Python, I saw this just to see the only other Python film that was PG in the US. I had seen "Monty Python And The Holy Grail," which wasn't as funny (A killer rabbit? Policemen arresting knights? A knight killing innocent people for no reason? IS NOT FUNNY! --small giggle--). I actually laughed more at this than at "Holy Grail," possibly because it wasn't just one thing with a few things different--it was almost always completely different!

Having seen 1.03 episodes of the show, I must say that though they seem to have a longer time with the sketches because it wasn't restrained to about 5 minutes ("The Deadliest Joke In The World" had more content that I would have liked to see in this), this had more sketches and was much funnier. Their best movie (even though lots are saying that they could have done better). Rating: 4/6 (for being rrreeeaaalllyyy weird)

First Steps

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 23 June 2012]

I don't know why I didn't get more out of this. Several isolated times a stern and sober British Army officer is interpolated and announces to the viewers that this isn't worth watching because "it's silly -- just silly." I ruefully found myself often agreeing.

I don't suppose there's any point in trying to outline a plot because there is none. It's a series of sketches evidently gotten from their TV show. I first heard the "dead parrot" sketch on the radio and thought it was hilarious. Now, seeing it on the screen, it seems to have lost much of its voltage. Nor did I find it so amusing when a despondent man leaves a building, stops to think for a moment, and a huge iron weight falls on him and he splats under it.

It's possible that this particular material is already familiar, so that watching the film is like hearing a joke for the second or third time. It's also likely that it doesn't seem so fresh or amusing because some of it is dated. The movie was put together in 1971, when much of Western society was in turmoil -- race riots in the streets, an unpopular war in a country no one could identify on a blank map, gays screaming out of the closet, widespread sexual indulgence, bloodshed in Northern Ireland, pop tunes encouraging revolution, that sort of thing. But it's all gone or at least abated today. So the "Granny gangs" don't resonate the way they did at the time. At the same time, the "upper-class twit" sketch still gets laughs. I mean, hunting live rabbits that are staked out and spread-eagled on the ground! Trying to commit suicide by shooting one's self -- and missing. I'm laughing now, just rerunning it in my mind.

Each of their four features were to improve monotonically, with "The Meaning of Life" nearing perfection of the style. That last one is mature. Well, mature for Monty Python. And it's both engaging and carries a covert theme of the utmost seriousness. The Granny Gangs are long gone, but questions about the meaning of life, or the absence of meaning, still plague us.