Cheap And Now for Something Completely Different [Region 2] (DVD) (Ian MacNaughton) Price

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Customer Reviews of And Now for Something Completely Different [Region 2]

Monty python
This is my favorite of the monty python movies. It has no plot and basically combines a bunch of the old skits from the flying circus. It is awesome.

Only Thing That's Missing is the Laugh Track
A great collection of skits by the Monty Python gang for wide screen. Originally conceived as film to introduce United States audiences to the Monty Python brand of humor, the movie was granted a generous budget and the Python members re-created many of their (now) famous skits in front of a 35mm camera. Remember at that time that Monty Python's Flying Circus was limited to television airings on PBS. A limited network attempt to premier the show ended as a dismal failure. The network heavily censored the episodes and edited the shows together as a sort of television movie. Alas, when it was originally released AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT was poorly advertised and distributed. Even dedictated PBS Python fans had difficulty in finding the movie in theaters. <
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>It was not until a couple years ago that I realized that AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT was a stand-alone film. Back in the 1970s I was already a fan of the television show and suprised to have heard very little about the film version. A classmate went to see the movie at an obscure theater and reported back, incorrectly as it turned out, that SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT was nothing more than selected segments of the BBC program blown up for 35mm projection. <
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>Also at that time Michael Palin appeared on the Metromedia Sunday morning kids program WONDERAMA (which was actually taped during the week) and presented a short clip from the movie. On my 12-inch black and white television the film clip looked exactly like the original television skit with the laugh track missing. <
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>It was not until almost 30 years later that I caught the whole film on a cable movie channel -- on a much larger color television screen -- and realized that SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT was not simply an edited version of television footage. At that time that I also bought the official Monty Python biography THE PYTHONS BY THE PYTHONS and read the story behind AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. <
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>The movie was quickly overshadowed by the Python breakthrough film MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL. Still it is a valuable transition film between the televised show and the later film attempts. The only thing I miss is the laugh track. There was something about the audience laughter in the original series that made the skits that much funnier. That is probably the only drawback about having the film on DVD in that you also miss out on the cinema audience participation.