At the time the film was released there were still anti blasphemy laws in the UK, the Monty Python team were never arrested (as they rightly pointed out, Brian is not Jesus and the movie depicts Jesus non blasphemous manner) but 11 town councils banned local theatres from screening the film. One of those was Aberystwyth in Wales but in 2008 the woman who played Judith (Sue Jones-Davies) got elected as mayor; the following year she got the film unbanned and held a charity screening of it.
Thanks to Mary Feckin Whitehouse. Also in the US many of the bible belt states banned it, there were nationwide protests, which John Cleese said was the best publicity they could never have afforded otherwise.
It was filmed in Tunisia. My brother and his new wife were on honeymoon in a nearby resort. The film production team wanted extras so they both signed up. My sister in law is in the front row of the stoning scene (on the left just in shot) and my brother is a Roman soldier searching the room.
My Latin teacher at Secondary school was just like this, mad as a Hatter. He once threw his big briefcase at one of the kids in class, luckily missed. I just think he didn’t like his job or kids in general.
My son took Latin in HS and we watched that one scene and he loved it. So, he took the DVD to his teacher, who had never seen it, and he laughed so hard he had tears.
They could not get financing for this, initially. George Harrison loved the script and mortgaged his mansion to get the movie made. He even appears as an extra in the film. Eric Idle said of Harrison, "That's one expensive movie ticket." In addition to the TV series, "Monty Python's Flying Circus", they also released "The Meaning of Life", "The Secret Policeman's Other Ball" and in conjunction with SNL, the mockumentary on the Beatles called "All You Need Is Cash", featuring a band called "The Rutles". "All You Need is Cash" is hysterical, but just as important --- the music is spot on Beatle-esque. Harrison appears in that movie, too.
John Cleese had a TV show called Fawlty Towers - based on a horrible hotel manager the Pythons came across while they were filminng on location. It's hilarious.
Filmed in Tunisia the expensive looking sets were made for the epic mini-series Jesus of Nazareth (Franco Zeffirelli 1977) and they were still available at the time Life of Brian started shooting, so the Python team borrowed the sets for their own needs. George Harrison of the Beatles financed the movie and has a small cameo.
The singer killing it on the theme tune was incredibly a 16 year old called Sonia Jones, it was an obvious John Barry Bondesque style so I figure she was their budget Shirley Bassey who sang the theme tunes for Goldfinger and Diamonds are Forever before this movie, in fact back in the day I actually thought it was Shirley Bassey singing this theme tune too, they're so similar!
I did at first but then realized it could be referring to Erich von Daniken's book "Chariots of the Gods" which was a best seller before the film was made. It talked about the possibility of aliens coming to earth in ancient times. Star Wars was also big at the time. There's an article in the Journal of Religion & Film (March 2020) titled: SKYFALL: The "Aliens Sequence" in Monty Python's Life of Brian. Interesting read about it.
There is a story behind the budget. Every studio had turned down the script. They thought, well that's that. Until... Eric Idle showed his good friend George Harrison the script, and George decided to put up the money to make the film. He said "I don't care if the picture doesn't make any money, I just want to see this on the big screen"
To me there is a clear difference in the goal of the two movies: Life of Brian is trying to be funny while at the same time giving an actual warning about not thinking for yourself while Holy Grail is just trying to be funny. For that reason alone LoB is the better movie to me
The Meaning Of Life is the third MP movie. It's basically a bunch of skits put together. Life Of Brian is my favorite by a mile, whatever that means. The 'what did the Romans ever do for us bit' slays me every time.
When this was still in the planning stage, a little film called _Star Wars_ blew up the box office, so of course they had to put a completely irrelevant spaceship battle in there. Plus it gave Python animator Terry Gilliam something to do besides the opening credits, design work, and acting bit parts (among other roles, he's the spitting jailer and the psychotic prophet with the staff of human hands). Gilliam _did,_ in fact, go on to big things, directing _Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Time Bandits, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 12 Monkeys_ and _The Fisher King._
They started working together with "Monty Python's Flying Circus" produced by BBC. They then made a few movies together - "Holy Grail", "Life of Brian", "Meaning of life".... John Cleese went on to write, and star in "Fawlty Towers" considered to be the best sitcom ever concieved (MUST WATCH". The animations for all their work was made by Terry Gilliam, the only american of the group. He is best know for the movies he has directed - "Brazil", "Time Bandits", "Fisher KIng", "Advetnures of Baron Munchhausen", "Twelwe monkeys" and a few others.
The guy who made the animations for Monty Python indeed is famous now. It's director Terry Gilliam - 12 Monkeys, King of the Fishers, Brazil, Münchhausen and many more. :)
the song "always look on the bright side of life" was played at Graham Chapmans [Brian] funeral. It has ben a favorite funeral song in the UK ever since.
Actually, it was because they had no idea how to get Brian down from the tower unharmed, so they came up with "what if Brian got spirited by aliens mid-fall?" and ran with it.
Unfortunately, the extras story is a myth. Thev did, however, do the rehearsals with one set of extras and then brought in a new lot for the actual take. The movie was mainly funded by ex-Beatle, George Harrison, who was a fan of their comedy show and wanted to see the film after reading the script.
Yeah, they would have been raked over the coals by the film actors' union if they'd tried any such thing, even with the intention of paying them regardless. I can see how the story gained popularity, though.
Life of Brian was filmed on location in Tunisia, near where they filmed Tatooine in Star Wars 3 years earlier. George Harrison, the bassist for the Beatles, mortgaged his house to finance this film after they had been turned down by every studio.
If its not gonna be Babylon 5, then The Life of Brian is definitely a close second! Amazing film, love it! I think Julian will really like this one cause its so witty but still silly
I watched an interview with Matt Damon where he explained that modern movies are the way they are because DVD sales died. In the past when a movie was released it got 2 chances at success, one at the box office and one for dvd sales. It could still make money even if it failed in the theater and be considered a success because it could catch on with DVDs. Now if it fails in the theater, that's it, it's a dead project. So companies only try to do things that will definitely succeed in the theater (things they think are safe, even if they're wrong) so we have the mess we're in.
I'm trying to imagine what it was like to see the chariot race scene from Ben Hur on the big screen in a grand theater. Must have been utterly fantastic.
This movie was (mostly) shot in Tunisia. During its planning phase, I wrote to them to ask if they had any positions available on the crew, just out of sheer cheekiness and I got a very nice, personalized rejection letter from Handmade Films. The guy who was being stoned for blasphemy (John Young) was the Historian in "Holy Grail". The weird-looking grumbling jailor is the animator, Terry Gilliam. George Harrison and Spike Milligan have cameos.
The fun part, these people are pretty smart. They have studied, found each other through the university and other activities and yes became a troup of humor. But very well studied at it. That is why the jokes work, they are not just stupid, they are deep. The many different religious subgroups fighting for instance. That is part of history.
Other people will fill in the films that Monty Python released as a group...I'm going to recommend for films that were either written and or starred Python collaborators: Jabberwocky, a stand alone surreal experience of the Dark Ages. Then, Terry Gilliam's best three movies (in my estimation), a Trilogy representing the stages of life: Time Bandits (the idealism of youth); Brazil (the discontent of adulthood); The Adventures of the Baron Munchausen (the submerge into nonsense of old age). I recommend all four...though they are none of them explicitly meant to be pure comedies, I feel they are all deeply entertaining and definitely have funny moments.
I saw it in 1979 and I do recall a small group of protesters when I left the theater. It also made the local news because of that. The same thing occurred when I saw "The Last Temptation of Christ". You referred to extras, From MENTAL FLOSS, "BEFORE IT UPSET ANYONE ELSE, IT UPSET SOME MUSLIMS. For the aforementioned window scene, the crowd was made up of Tunisian extras, almost all of them Muslim. To see a naked man other than one's husband is a no-no for Muslim women, and as Chapman later recalled, "When I flung open the shutters, half the crowd ran away screaming. That had a profound effect on my psyche.""
The law that I think you are describing that restricted what could be shown in films was the "Hays Code". Ity was not actually a Law, but was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. That did not apply to British Films so had little effect on what we put out. Except if we wanted a film to be played in the USA cinemas, then often the British films would be cut to fit in with the code. But you could always slip across the border to Canada or Mexico if you wanted to see the complete films.
I am a big fan of Monty Python's The Meaning of Life as well. I hope you'll react to that one too. It's less of a linear narrative and more of an anthology around a theme, similar to their television series, Monty Python's Flying Circus, top notch comedy bits that always has me ROTF-LMFAO!
The TV show is “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” There are two more movies. One is a comedy, “The Meaning of Life.” The last one is more a period drama/monster flick, “Jabberwocky.” 1979, the main movies were: “Alien,” “Apocalypse Now,” “The Warriors,” “The Amityville Horror,” and “Star Trek, The Motion Picture.” Cinema and music went into overdrive in 1975 and took off for about 20 years. “The Lord of The Rings” is probably the last movie(s) of cultural relevance to be made by Hollywood.
Glad you guys enjoyed! One point I want to make here: You said that this movie would definitely be cancelled today, but that in the '70s, people just laughed at the jokes -- that's not really accurate, though. The 'culture wars' stuff we deal with today feels more prevalent, but that's because we're plugged into the internet so we see it a lot more often. There were tons of protests and boycotts over this movie. It was actually banned in Ireland and Norway, and here in the states, it was banned in Georgia after evangelical politicians successfully argued that the scene where you see Brian's penis ran afoul of state obscenity laws. Several US cities across the nation banned it outright, and it was suppressed in a lot of places where efforts to ban it weren't as successful. Every core member of the Pythons received death threats over the film in the run up to its release. I think that most arguments that "you couldn't make a movie like this today" are 99% incorrect, with that 1% being related to how studios assess risk. In general, cancel culture isn't really a thing, at least not the way it usually gets talked about. People act like "getting cancelled" is new, but the only thing new about it is that conservative power brokers don't have exclusive power over who gets shut down anymore. There's a reason that so many gay politicians and performers used to stay in the closet -- it was a sure way to get blacklisted for a very long time.
Remember though that this film almost wasn't made as the studio (EMI) pulled out at the last minute after one of the bosses read the script - it is only because George Harrison of the Beatles mortgaged his house and setup Handmade Films that the film got made.
_Star Wars_ had been released while _Life of Brian_ screenplay drafts were still being written, so naturally they were going to have some fun with that.
When this movie came out space movies were popular, so they put the spaceship scene in. The filmed this in Tunisia. There is another movie, The Meaning Of Life.
From Wikipedia "The words "Monty Python" were added because they claimed it sounded like a really bad theatrical agent, the sort of person who would have brought them together, with John Cleese suggesting "Python" as something slimy and slithery, and Eric Idle suggesting "Monty".[6] They later explained that the name Monty "made us laugh because Monty to us means Lord Montgomery, our great general of the Second World War"
Actually, the budget wasn't all that big. It was bigger than Holy Grail though. The movie almost didn't get made though. Just days before shooting was to commence, the backers backed (See what I did there?) out because of the controversy surrounding the film at the time. They got their saving grace (I did it again!) from George Harrison who funded the movie. If you look quick, you can see George in the crowd trying to greet Brian after the sex scene with Judith. He's the guy in the red turban who Cleese said that they were renting the hill from.
2 Things: TH-cam "Life of Brian Debate" to find 2 of the Python gents vs The head of the Anglican Chruch + The lead Oxford Scholar on the Bible, at the time. Its *not* boring! 2. The spaceship is a *non sequitur* ...which is common in film then and now. The brilliance of said joke is that Brian gains ZERO, and just lands at the base of the tower still being chased by the same soldiers, despite literal alien intervention "saving" him. Its an "F You" to lazy (most all) movies. It's stupid and crazy (like most movies) but doesn't solve anything.
Where I live we have a movie theater that only sits 60 people in real comfort, Lazyboy style chairs with tables between the chairs for plates of food & drinks & by drinks I mean alcoholic drinks (including top shelve) that has open screenings & closed bookings which shows new, reruns of classics & requested movies that is not really that much more expensive than the normal theaters, granted it is more expensive but you get so more bang for your buck. This is the only theater I would attend now due to the price & so many movies are so bad I wouldn't have paid to see them if I had known what I was going to get so I watch on a streaming service & buy the physical copy if I like it. So yes movie theaters are dying a slow death.
A great reaction to a true LEGEND of a film. A bit of geekdom for you. The song at the end, Always look on the bright side of life. That is the 2nd most played song at British funerals. Key point to note. That is this is played at the actually funeral, not the wake afterwards!
If you want epic music, watch _Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy)_ A comic oratorio based on _The Life of Brian_ written by Eric Idle, and performed by the BBC orchestra and opera company in the Royal Albert Hall for the 40th anniversary of Monty Python.
Searching IMBD here are some movies that where out around that time. Used a broad date range since movies stayed longer than now. Thought the notable ones are really only ones worth listing. 3. The Frisco Kid 6. Breaking Away 10. The Villain 12. The Amityville Horror 13. The Lady in Red 22. The Concorde... Airport '79 the last in Airport Series of Movies.The 1975 Airport has some parallels with a funnier movie Airplane kinda sorta. 35. When a Stranger Calls Wikipedia - "" The film was shot on location in Monastir, Tunisia,... was documented by Iain Johnstone for his BBC film The Pythons. ""
UK comedy has a history of the absurd. Monty Python comedy, the original TV series and their films, is from that tradition. I love the mocking of religion as an institution: the immediate split of Brian Believers into Followers of the Gourd and Followers of the Sandal, the persecution of heretics etc.
If you want to do a comedy TV series, I would highly recommend "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (1969 - 1974). Also John Cleese's "Fawlty Towers" (two short seasons 1975 & 1979).
I believe "You don't have to think" is a WILD thing to say about this film. With all the religious and political themes that are still relevant today, whether to christianity, the middle east, islam.
What is this movie? Exactly what the title say, The Life of Brian. You see him as a newborn, grown up (in the intro animation) and you see his death in the end. What was the spaceship? Obviously a plothole. The TV show was 'Monty Python’s Flying Circus". Only to be taken in small doses though. Your diaphragms might not be able to take a binge watch. So many things were referenced in later movies and shows.
Good reaction chaps, I would say, as a constructive critic and member of the Judean Popular Peoples Front, I think maybe there's a little too much chopping. Its fine if someone has seen the film, but there's no context if we cant see what you're laughing at. I'm aware of the YT algo issues.
I've always been curious if the spaceship sequence was a nod to the 1968 book Chariots of the Gods which is one of the cornerstones of Ancient Astronaut / Ancient Aliens conspiracy theories.
It's a myth that the actors in the "Biggus Dickus" scene were told they wouldn't get paid if they laughed. If you watch the scene, there are multiple camera shots, so the scene wasn't filmed in sequence, requiring the camera to be relocated, etc. What we see as the audience isn't what the actors would experience time-wise.
The whole alien scene was implemented purely to give Brian a safe(ish) way to get out of the tower using props from another movie one of the pythons did.
"Follow the shoe!....follow the gourd!". 😅 Frankincense is incense. It represents the priesthood. Gold symbolizes royalty and kingship. Myrrh was used in the funeral process to be applied to the bandages wrapped around the deceased body to help stem the smell of corruption. 😮 Terry Gilliam is the Monty Python member who did all their animations. Actually most suffocated being crucified. The shoulders would be dislocated due to the weight. Making them forced to push up with their feet just to take a breath...until the legs cramped and they could no longer push upwards. 😢 The word excruciating comes from the word crucifixion as it was one of the most painful ways to kill someone. All that being said... Always look on the bright side of life. Monty Python is the name of the comedy troupe.
He's not. Idle is listed as "lead singer crucifee". Jesus in the film is played by Kenneth Colley, and he's not in the crucifixion scene. (Yes. Admiral Piett in the Star Wars original trilogy)
@@vincegamer What, in the scene where you cant see his face and he has no dialogue? If you think that Lead Singer Crucifee who is singing about being happy while simultaneously being crucified isnt a Jesus reference, then i dunno what to tell ya. I realize thats what the credits say, but you gotta look a bit deeper on this one and consider they wrote it that way to avoid any social issues.
@@davidwebb4451 Which part of the bible did the leper not want Jesus to heal him? Or when the wise men visited the wrong house? Or the aliens? Its a satire, brewster. But then again, for people who quote the bible as a basis for an argument, that point may be lost on them.
No, the extras were never told they wouldn't get paid if they laughed. That is an internet myth spread on every Life of Brian video. Why do people hate fact checking so much?
some folk slate it a bit but for folk who ''get'' monty python , watch the meaning of life, and if you can find it another python movie that stayed off the radar called yellowbeard.
Americans in general don't like this as much as Holy Grail. But the script is far cleverer in this. There is satire across politics, society and religion. It's not just silly it's making points. Even the alien space battle is a spoof of Star Wars (both were shot in Tunisia). The only satire I like as much in Holy Grail is the holy hand grenade part.
Meaning of Life and And Now For Something Completely different are the other films by these guys, both of which are more skit leaning, akin to their show which was called Flying Circus. There are some Python adjacent movies like Yellowbeard, and of course Terry Gilliam (Python's animator and co-director of their films) made a bunch of great films: Brazil, 12 Monkeys, Time Bandits, Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Fisher King, and others.
The next movie I plan to see in the theaters is "Dune PtII," in IMAX. I saw "Dune PtI" in IMAX and it was awesome. Later on I watched in at home, and it really lost so much.
Other movies: Monty Python's the Meaning of Life And Now for Something Completely Different Movies released in 1979: Alien Apocalypse Now Mad Max Rocky II The Jerk Moonraker Star Trek: the Motion Picture Meatballs Salem's Lot Amityville Horror 1941 The Black Hole Dracula
I just watched your reaction to The Adam Project, and I’d love if you could watch Percy Jackson and the Olympians!! Walker Scobell from The Adam Project plays the titular character and it’s amazing
The one that’s remembered, however, supposedly wasn’t too cooperative with the whole staying dead part of it. That’s the sort of thing that’ll garner some extra attention.
I doubt my deeply devout Catholic parents ever forgave me for bringing them to a movie threatre to see 'Life of Brian'. Even so, it didn't make it any less hilarious. Centurion Cleese's instructing Brian about conjugation of irregular Latin verbs (Romani ite domus) and the "Bigus Dickus" scenes are ones for the books. BTW, ex-Beatle George Harrison bankrolled the movie once EMI producers pulled funding at the last minute!
A lot of religous leaders did not like the movie even though they never actually see the movie. Not only it was banned in several countries, and in several states in the US. (One advertisement said " So funny, it was banned in Norway!" There was even a debate on a british tv show with John Cleese and Michael Palin and a Pastor and a priest. (Its on TH-cam, you can find it) It was very controversial film in its day
At the time the film was released there were still anti blasphemy laws in the UK, the Monty Python team were never arrested (as they rightly pointed out, Brian is not Jesus and the movie depicts Jesus non blasphemous manner) but 11 town councils banned local theatres from screening the film. One of those was Aberystwyth in Wales but in 2008 the woman who played Judith (Sue Jones-Davies) got elected as mayor; the following year she got the film unbanned and held a charity screening of it.
That's awesome
Though it is never mentioned in the film, her character's full name is reputedly Judith Iscariot.
There’s also the interesting interview, John Cleese, Michael Palin and a Bishop and born again Christian Malcolm Muggeridge debating LoB.
Thanks to Mary Feckin Whitehouse. Also in the US many of the bible belt states banned it, there were nationwide protests, which John Cleese said was the best publicity they could never have afforded otherwise.
@@ScreamingScallop I literally just read that on the Wiki page. I wonder if they had a scene where it was mentioned but was cut
It was filmed in Tunisia. My brother and his new wife were on honeymoon in a nearby resort. The film production team wanted extras so they both signed up. My sister in law is in the front row of the stoning scene (on the left just in shot) and my brother is a Roman soldier searching the room.
John Cleese as the Roman doing the impromptu grammar lesson has always been my favorite moment.
Now *that's* how you do Grammar Police!
He was an actual Latin teacher before Monty Python.
My Latin teacher at Secondary school was just like this, mad as a Hatter. He once threw his big briefcase at one of the kids in class, luckily missed.
I just think he didn’t like his job or kids in general.
@@Temeraire101i would hate to have a Finnish teacher, because they have 150+ declension, and are known for knife violence. ❤
There is a similar scene in the comedy film "Canadian Bacon".
My son took Latin in HS and we watched that one scene and he loved it. So, he took the DVD to his teacher, who had never seen it, and he laughed so hard he had tears.
They could not get financing for this, initially. George Harrison loved the script and mortgaged his mansion to get the movie made. He even appears as an extra in the film. Eric Idle said of Harrison, "That's one expensive movie ticket."
In addition to the TV series, "Monty Python's Flying Circus", they also released "The Meaning of Life", "The Secret Policeman's Other Ball" and in conjunction with SNL, the mockumentary on the Beatles called "All You Need Is Cash", featuring a band called "The Rutles". "All You Need is Cash" is hysterical, but just as important --- the music is spot on Beatle-esque. Harrison appears in that movie, too.
He's just next to John Cleese at 24:43
“Where the foetus going to gestate, you gonna keep it in a box?”
Legendary 😂
"What have the Romans ever done for us?"
When you ask what you think is a rhetorical question, but someone actually answers it 😂😂
John Cleese had a TV show called Fawlty Towers - based on a horrible hotel manager the Pythons came across while they were filminng on location. It's hilarious.
Filmed in Tunisia the expensive looking sets were made for the epic mini-series Jesus of Nazareth (Franco Zeffirelli 1977) and they were still available at the time Life of Brian started shooting, so the Python team borrowed the sets for their own needs. George Harrison of the Beatles financed the movie and has a small cameo.
The Latin grammar scene is priceless. I studied Latin for seven years and it is spot on.
The singer killing it on the theme tune was incredibly a 16 year old called Sonia Jones, it was an obvious John Barry Bondesque style so I figure she was their budget Shirley Bassey who sang the theme tunes for Goldfinger and Diamonds are Forever before this movie, in fact back in the day I actually thought it was Shirley Bassey singing this theme tune too, they're so similar!
Well, Sonia and Shirley are both Welsh... it must be something in the water :)
@@ftumschk Well it rains so much here we certainly have plenty of water! 🤣
EVERYONE goes “What the Hell” or similar at the spaceship😂
I did at first but then realized it could be referring to Erich von Daniken's book "Chariots of the Gods" which was a best seller before the film was made. It talked about the possibility of aliens coming to earth in ancient times. Star Wars was also big at the time. There's an article in the Journal of Religion & Film (March 2020) titled: SKYFALL: The "Aliens Sequence" in Monty Python's Life of Brian. Interesting read about it.
There is a story behind the budget. Every studio had turned down the script. They thought, well that's that. Until... Eric Idle showed his good friend George Harrison the script, and George decided to put up the money to make the film. He said "I don't care if the picture doesn't make any money, I just want to see this on the big screen"
Most expensive cinema ticket ever, but worth every penny.
@@arnodobler1096 Might have been expensive up front, but I believe he got his money back.
The song from the finishing scene was also used during the eulogy of Graham Chapman that played Brian. There is some clips of it on YT.
And sailors sank it when their ship was sinking during the Falklands War
To me there is a clear difference in the goal of the two movies: Life of Brian is trying to be funny while at the same time giving an actual warning about not thinking for yourself while Holy Grail is just trying to be funny. For that reason alone LoB is the better movie to me
The Meaning Of Life is the third MP movie. It's basically a bunch of skits put together. Life Of Brian is my favorite by a mile, whatever that means.
The 'what did the Romans ever do for us bit' slays me every time.
When this was still in the planning stage, a little film called _Star Wars_ blew up the box office, so of course they had to put a completely irrelevant spaceship battle in there. Plus it gave Python animator Terry Gilliam something to do besides the opening credits, design work, and acting bit parts (among other roles, he's the spitting jailer and the psychotic prophet with the staff of human hands). Gilliam _did,_ in fact, go on to big things, directing _Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Time Bandits, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 12 Monkeys_ and _The Fisher King._
I've never before thought that the space ship battle insert was a nod to Star Wars and the need for clone films after the success in 1977.
They started working together with "Monty Python's Flying Circus" produced by BBC.
They then made a few movies together - "Holy Grail", "Life of Brian", "Meaning of life".... John Cleese went on to write, and star in "Fawlty Towers" considered to be the best sitcom ever concieved (MUST WATCH". The animations for all their work was made by Terry Gilliam, the only american of the group. He is best know for the movies he has directed - "Brazil", "Time Bandits", "Fisher KIng", "Advetnures of Baron Munchhausen", "Twelwe monkeys" and a few others.
The guy who made the animations for Monty Python indeed is famous now. It's director Terry Gilliam - 12 Monkeys, King of the Fishers, Brazil, Münchhausen and many more. :)
The Fisher King. Brilliant movie.
Jabberwokky.
"Meaning of Life" should be next. Remember to always look on the bright side of life.
Holy Grail.❤️
They already did it.@@dannjp75
the song "always look on the bright side of life" was played at Graham Chapmans [Brian] funeral. It has ben a favorite funeral song in the UK ever since.
That spaceship scene wasn't random at all! It was a very well planned satire on the concepts of divine intervention and Deus ex machina.
Actually, it was because they had no idea how to get Brian down from the tower unharmed, so they came up with "what if Brian got spirited by aliens mid-fall?" and ran with it.
Unfortunately, the extras story is a myth. Thev did, however, do the rehearsals with one set of extras and then brought in a new lot for the actual take. The movie was mainly funded by ex-Beatle, George Harrison, who was a fan of their comedy show and wanted to see the film after reading the script.
Yeah, they would have been raked over the coals by the film actors' union if they'd tried any such thing, even with the intention of paying them regardless. I can see how the story gained popularity, though.
Life of Brian was filmed on location in Tunisia, near where they filmed Tatooine in Star Wars 3 years earlier. George Harrison, the bassist for the Beatles, mortgaged his house to finance this film after they had been turned down by every studio.
George Harrison bassist???????
Wait until you see Meaning of Life! "Every spe rm is sacred" 😂😂
I am shocked that neither of you had seen Life of Brian, but I am so happy I get to see you reacting to it for the first time!😁
Happy Halloween! LOL
Its just one of many movies that slipped through the cracks for us. Glad we finally saw it
"Right in the middle of the movie..."
He says, at the end, lol
If its not gonna be Babylon 5, then The Life of Brian is definitely a close second! Amazing film, love it! I think Julian will really like this one cause its so witty but still silly
This movie was such silly fun
oh whow.... a"what are they laughing about" quiz. Very funny.
I watched an interview with Matt Damon where he explained that modern movies are the way they are because DVD sales died. In the past when a movie was released it got 2 chances at success, one at the box office and one for dvd sales. It could still make money even if it failed in the theater and be considered a success because it could catch on with DVDs. Now if it fails in the theater, that's it, it's a dead project. So companies only try to do things that will definitely succeed in the theater (things they think are safe, even if they're wrong) so we have the mess we're in.
I'm trying to imagine what it was like to see the chariot race scene from Ben Hur on the big screen in a grand theater. Must have been utterly fantastic.
This movie was (mostly) shot in Tunisia. During its planning phase, I wrote to them to ask if they had any positions available on the crew, just out of sheer cheekiness and I got a very nice, personalized rejection letter from Handmade Films. The guy who was being stoned for blasphemy (John Young) was the Historian in "Holy Grail". The weird-looking grumbling jailor is the animator, Terry Gilliam. George Harrison and Spike Milligan have cameos.
At certain times, at certain orbital heights, an alien space ship might reflect sunlight in a way that makes it resemble a moving star.
All the way back in the 60's, George Jetson had an awesome home theater.
Floor to ceiling and wall to wall. One of many predictions that came true.
Aaaaaagh! Seeing and hearing my cousin laugh brought back lots of beautiful memories. Hope you’re doing well. Love you 🥰😘
Miss you cuz, glad you found me ❤️❤️❤️
The fun part, these people are pretty smart. They have studied, found each other through the university and other activities and yes became a troup of humor. But very well studied at it. That is why the jokes work, they are not just stupid, they are deep. The many different religious subgroups fighting for instance. That is part of history.
Most of the extras didnt know English so they had to be told to watch and or mimic someone who was english.
Other people will fill in the films that Monty Python released as a group...I'm going to recommend for films that were either written and or starred Python collaborators: Jabberwocky, a stand alone surreal experience of the Dark Ages. Then, Terry Gilliam's best three movies (in my estimation), a Trilogy representing the stages of life: Time Bandits (the idealism of youth); Brazil (the discontent of adulthood); The Adventures of the Baron Munchausen (the submerge into nonsense of old age).
I recommend all four...though they are none of them explicitly meant to be pure comedies, I feel they are all deeply entertaining and definitely have funny moments.
I saw it in 1979 and I do recall a small group of protesters when I left the theater. It also made the local news because of that. The same thing occurred when I saw "The Last Temptation of Christ".
You referred to extras, From MENTAL FLOSS, "BEFORE IT UPSET ANYONE ELSE, IT UPSET SOME MUSLIMS. For the aforementioned window scene, the crowd was made up of Tunisian extras, almost all of them Muslim. To see a naked man other than one's husband is a no-no for Muslim women, and as Chapman later recalled, "When I flung open the shutters, half the crowd ran away screaming. That had a profound effect on my psyche.""
I'm gonna give this a like because it's nice to see people laugh.
The law that I think you are describing that restricted what could be shown in films was the "Hays Code". Ity was not actually a Law, but was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. That did not apply to British Films so had little effect on what we put out. Except if we wanted a film to be played in the USA cinemas, then often the British films would be cut to fit in with the code. But you could always slip across the border to Canada or Mexico if you wanted to see the complete films.
You guys really got this whole film you guys really got it
I am a big fan of Monty Python's The Meaning of Life as well. I hope you'll react to that one too. It's less of a linear narrative and more of an anthology around a theme, similar to their television series, Monty Python's Flying Circus, top notch comedy bits that always has me ROTF-LMFAO!
The TV show is “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” There are two more movies. One is a comedy, “The Meaning of Life.” The last one is more a period drama/monster flick, “Jabberwocky.”
1979, the main movies were: “Alien,” “Apocalypse Now,” “The Warriors,” “The Amityville Horror,” and “Star Trek, The Motion Picture.” Cinema and music went into overdrive in 1975 and took off for about 20 years.
“The Lord of The Rings” is probably the last movie(s) of cultural relevance to be made by Hollywood.
Glad you guys enjoyed! One point I want to make here: You said that this movie would definitely be cancelled today, but that in the '70s, people just laughed at the jokes -- that's not really accurate, though. The 'culture wars' stuff we deal with today feels more prevalent, but that's because we're plugged into the internet so we see it a lot more often. There were tons of protests and boycotts over this movie. It was actually banned in Ireland and Norway, and here in the states, it was banned in Georgia after evangelical politicians successfully argued that the scene where you see Brian's penis ran afoul of state obscenity laws. Several US cities across the nation banned it outright, and it was suppressed in a lot of places where efforts to ban it weren't as successful. Every core member of the Pythons received death threats over the film in the run up to its release.
I think that most arguments that "you couldn't make a movie like this today" are 99% incorrect, with that 1% being related to how studios assess risk. In general, cancel culture isn't really a thing, at least not the way it usually gets talked about. People act like "getting cancelled" is new, but the only thing new about it is that conservative power brokers don't have exclusive power over who gets shut down anymore. There's a reason that so many gay politicians and performers used to stay in the closet -- it was a sure way to get blacklisted for a very long time.
You are arguing that a 1% chance and a 99% chance are the same, because in both cases there is a chance of both results occurring.
@@Orieni I'm arguing that there is a chance that a controversial movie could be both made and not made due to studio concerns?
Remember though that this film almost wasn't made as the studio (EMI) pulled out at the last minute after one of the bosses read the script - it is only because George Harrison of the Beatles mortgaged his house and setup Handmade Films that the film got made.
Let's throw in an interstellar space battle between alien races, just for fun.
_Star Wars_ had been released while _Life of Brian_ screenplay drafts were still being written, so naturally they were going to have some fun with that.
I loved this video, keep up the good work (you gave me a 50 on my grade 💀)
There's one more movie, The Meaning Of Life! The TV show was called Monty Python's Flying Circus! So you've got at least ONE more movie to watch!
When this movie came out space movies were popular, so they put the spaceship scene in.
The filmed this in Tunisia.
There is another movie, The Meaning Of Life.
From Wikipedia "The words "Monty Python" were added because they claimed it sounded like a really bad theatrical agent, the sort of person who would have brought them together, with John Cleese suggesting "Python" as something slimy and slithery, and Eric Idle suggesting "Monty".[6] They later explained that the name Monty "made us laugh because Monty to us means Lord Montgomery, our great general of the Second World War"
If you think about it, the ex-Leper does have a good point.
Actually, the budget wasn't all that big. It was bigger than Holy Grail though. The movie almost didn't get made though. Just days before shooting was to commence, the backers backed (See what I did there?) out because of the controversy surrounding the film at the time. They got their saving grace (I did it again!) from George Harrison who funded the movie. If you look quick, you can see George in the crowd trying to greet Brian after the sex scene with Judith. He's the guy in the red turban who Cleese said that they were renting the hill from.
George Harrison (Beatles) funded this movie, as no one else had the guts to do it. Thank you George, you did the world a favor 😂😂❤❤
I got to see this in the theater in my teens. I'm an old fart now and have always thought this one of the funniest movies ever made.
2 Things:
TH-cam "Life of Brian Debate" to find 2 of the Python gents vs The head of the Anglican Chruch + The lead Oxford Scholar on the Bible, at the time.
Its *not* boring!
2. The spaceship is a *non sequitur* ...which is common in film then and now. The brilliance of said joke is that Brian gains ZERO, and just lands at the base of the tower still being chased by the same soldiers, despite literal alien intervention "saving" him. Its an "F You" to lazy (most all) movies. It's stupid and crazy (like most movies) but doesn't solve anything.
Where I live we have a movie theater that only sits 60 people in real comfort, Lazyboy style chairs with tables between the chairs for plates of food & drinks & by drinks I mean alcoholic drinks (including top shelve) that has open screenings & closed bookings which shows new, reruns of classics & requested movies that is not really that much more expensive than the normal theaters, granted it is more expensive but you get so more bang for your buck. This is the only theater I would attend now due to the price & so many movies are so bad I wouldn't have paid to see them if I had known what I was going to get so I watch on a streaming service & buy the physical copy if I like it. So yes movie theaters are dying a slow death.
A great reaction to a true LEGEND of a film. A bit of geekdom for you. The song at the end, Always look on the bright side of life. That is the 2nd most played song at British funerals. Key point to note. That is this is played at the actually funeral, not the wake afterwards!
Correct, Monty Python is not a person. - Monty Python's Flying Circus is a troupe of comedians who wrote and performed sketches and latterly films
If you want epic music, watch _Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy)_
A comic oratorio based on _The Life of Brian_ written by Eric Idle, and performed by the BBC orchestra and opera company in the Royal Albert Hall for the 40th anniversary of Monty Python.
Searching IMBD here are some movies that where out around that time.
Used a broad date range since movies stayed longer than now.
Thought the notable ones are really only ones worth listing.
3. The Frisco Kid
6. Breaking Away
10. The Villain
12. The Amityville Horror
13. The Lady in Red
22. The Concorde... Airport '79 the last in Airport Series of Movies.The 1975 Airport has some parallels with a funnier movie Airplane kinda sorta.
35. When a Stranger Calls
Wikipedia - "" The film was shot on location in Monastir, Tunisia,... was documented by Iain Johnstone for his BBC film The Pythons. ""
UK comedy has a history of the absurd.
Monty Python comedy, the original TV series and their films, is from that tradition.
I love the mocking of religion as an institution: the immediate split of Brian Believers into Followers of the Gourd and Followers of the Sandal, the persecution of heretics etc.
If you want to do a comedy TV series, I would highly recommend "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (1969 - 1974). Also John Cleese's "Fawlty Towers" (two short seasons 1975 & 1979).
I believe "You don't have to think" is a WILD thing to say about this film. With all the religious and political themes that are still relevant today, whether to christianity, the middle east, islam.
What is this movie? Exactly what the title say, The Life of Brian. You see him as a newborn, grown up (in the intro animation) and you see his death in the end.
What was the spaceship? Obviously a plothole.
The TV show was 'Monty Python’s Flying Circus". Only to be taken in small doses though. Your diaphragms might not be able to take a binge watch. So many things were referenced in later movies and shows.
The meaning of Life...
Good reaction chaps, I would say, as a constructive critic and member of the Judean Popular Peoples Front, I think maybe there's a little too much chopping. Its fine if someone has seen the film, but there's no context if we cant see what you're laughing at. I'm aware of the YT algo issues.
I've always been curious if the spaceship sequence was a nod to the 1968 book Chariots of the Gods which is one of the cornerstones of Ancient Astronaut / Ancient Aliens conspiracy theories.
I think it’s more of a “Hey, that _Star Wars_ thing is popular. Let’s do a joke on that.” Though the “ancient aliens” thing also fits.
It's a myth that the actors in the "Biggus Dickus" scene were told they wouldn't get paid if they laughed. If you watch the scene, there are multiple camera shots, so the scene wasn't filmed in sequence, requiring the camera to be relocated, etc. What we see as the audience isn't what the actors would experience time-wise.
The whole alien scene was implemented purely to give Brian a safe(ish) way to get out of the tower using props from another movie one of the pythons did.
TBH.... Theese days I only watch Life of Brian reactions to see if the reacting people cutting out the "offensive" scenes on YT :D
Possibly the crack suicide squad would come with a trigger warning these days.
One of the Funniest crazy classic Raw Satyre movies
"Follow the shoe!....follow the gourd!". 😅
Frankincense is incense. It represents the priesthood. Gold symbolizes royalty and kingship. Myrrh was used in the funeral process to be applied to the bandages wrapped around the deceased body to help stem the smell of corruption. 😮
Terry Gilliam is the Monty Python member who did all their animations.
Actually most suffocated being crucified. The shoulders would be dislocated due to the weight. Making them forced to push up with their feet just to take a breath...until the legs cramped and they could no longer push upwards. 😢
The word excruciating comes from the word crucifixion as it was one of the most painful ways to kill someone. All that being said...
Always look on the bright side of life.
Monty Python is the name of the comedy troupe.
Crucifixion's a doddle
Eric Idle on the cross at the end singing is Jesus, not sure if you guys caught that ;)
He's not. Idle is listed as "lead singer crucifee".
Jesus in the film is played by Kenneth Colley, and he's not in the crucifixion scene.
(Yes. Admiral Piett in the Star Wars original trilogy)
Really? Where did you get that from?
@@vincegamer What, in the scene where you cant see his face and he has no dialogue? If you think that Lead Singer Crucifee who is singing about being happy while simultaneously being crucified isnt a Jesus reference, then i dunno what to tell ya. I realize thats what the credits say, but you gotta look a bit deeper on this one and consider they wrote it that way to avoid any social issues.
Sorry Jesus wasn't happy and singing on the cross - according to the bible he despaired. "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34b)"
@@davidwebb4451 Which part of the bible did the leper not want Jesus to heal him? Or when the wise men visited the wrong house? Or the aliens? Its a satire, brewster. But then again, for people who quote the bible as a basis for an argument, that point may be lost on them.
No, the extras were never told they wouldn't get paid if they laughed. That is an internet myth spread on every Life of Brian video. Why do people hate fact checking so much?
some folk slate it a bit but for folk who ''get'' monty python , watch the meaning of life, and if you can find it another python movie that stayed off the radar called yellowbeard.
Americans in general don't like this as much as Holy Grail. But the script is far cleverer in this. There is satire across politics, society and religion. It's not just silly it's making points. Even the alien space battle is a spoof of Star Wars (both were shot in Tunisia). The only satire I like as much in Holy Grail is the holy hand grenade part.
Have you guys done The Meaning of Life yet? Because I adore that movie and I think you'd spend the entire movie going WTF? lol
Three or four other movies, including "And Nor For Something Completely Different."
The meaning of life is next by them
Meaning of Life and And Now For Something Completely different are the other films by these guys, both of which are more skit leaning, akin to their show which was called Flying Circus. There are some Python adjacent movies like Yellowbeard, and of course Terry Gilliam (Python's animator and co-director of their films) made a bunch of great films: Brazil, 12 Monkeys, Time Bandits, Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Fisher King, and others.
Meaning of Life is just so random and I love it !
The next movie I plan to see in the theaters is "Dune PtII," in IMAX. I saw "Dune PtI" in IMAX and it was awesome. Later on I watched in at home, and it really lost so much.
I LOVE this movie
Other movies:
Monty Python's the Meaning of Life
And Now for Something Completely Different
Movies released in 1979:
Alien
Apocalypse Now
Mad Max
Rocky II
The Jerk
Moonraker
Star Trek: the Motion Picture
Meatballs
Salem's Lot
Amityville Horror
1941
The Black Hole
Dracula
I just watched your reaction to The Adam Project, and I’d love if you could watch Percy Jackson and the Olympians!! Walker Scobell from The Adam Project plays the titular character and it’s amazing
Classic!!!
The funding for the film fell through and at the last minute George Harrison from the Beatles personally funded it .
Have you seen A Fish Called Wanda? - John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Klein and Michael Palin (Pontius Pilate wtth Elmer Fudd's disease).
The Romans performed crucifixions for 500 years on what must have been millions of hapless victims, yet we only remember one.
The one that’s remembered, however, supposedly wasn’t too cooperative with the whole staying dead part of it. That’s the sort of thing that’ll garner some extra attention.
@@0okamino a.k.a. the zombie savior
FYI The sound of the actual video was not loud enough. Your voices were ok but were quite a lot louder than the video itself.
my uncle had always look on the bright side of life played at his funeral along with i am a cider drinker by the wurzels lol
Hope you do "The Meaning of Life"; may not be as good as the others, but still some classic bits in it 👍
in the biggest d... scene the roman guards were told they would not get paid if they laughed.
Monty Pythons Flying Circus was the series
In 1982 I went to see E.T. and it cost £1 at the local cinamar.
Next film to see is "The Meaning of Life" ... because every sperm is sacred.
i dont think its just me but their mics seem too loud the movie volume is low and echo thing going on
Having studied latin at school, the graffiti scene is so good!
Please watch Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life." And just about anything Terry Gilliam has made since Python.
Seeing you enjoy the whole thing something tells me you will like ''Jabberwocky'' by Terry Gilliam with Michael Palin.
They made three movies, you should watch Monty Python and the Meaning of Life now (debatably the worst of the three movies, but still a great movie).
I doubt my deeply devout Catholic parents ever forgave me for bringing them to a movie threatre to see 'Life of Brian'. Even so, it didn't make it any less hilarious. Centurion Cleese's instructing Brian about conjugation of irregular Latin verbs (Romani ite domus) and the "Bigus Dickus" scenes are ones for the books. BTW, ex-Beatle George Harrison bankrolled the movie once EMI producers pulled funding at the last minute!
A lot of religous leaders did not like the movie even though they never actually see the movie. Not only it was banned in several countries, and in several states in the US. (One advertisement said " So funny, it was banned in Norway!" There was even a debate on a british tv show with John Cleese and Michael Palin and a Pastor and a priest. (Its on TH-cam, you can find it)
It was very controversial film in its day