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Monty Python's Flying Circus


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Sony has finally released the Monty Python series here in region 2 - in 2 slices.

Does anybody know if these will be 'uncensored'? Where could I get this the cheapest? (Marc?)

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I don't know. "Uncensored"? What was censored before?

Up to now, I've only been aware of that 16 Ton Megaset. I thought it was an R2UK release, but it turns out it was R1.

I have no idea about these new releases. I can only find S1 and S2 right now (there are 4 in total), and a boatload of those "best of" and "personal selection" DVDs. Ironically, most Python discs listed at Amazon.co.uk are US imports.

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In England, they're releasing it by series (only 1 & 2 at the moment). Here the complete series is already in stores: Slice 1 (series 1/2) and Slice 2 (series 3/4).

Some things were censored at the time of the broadcast (and some of those are quite funny). I don't know if the uncensored versions exist, but I seem to remember they do... Can be wrong though.

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  • 12 years later...

The full series restored from the original elements and including previously unseen sketches and bits is finally coming this October on Bluray and DVD.

 

 

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I can actually find nothing indicating a 40th Anniversary new Brian release is coming this year.

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1 hour ago, Holko said:

The full series restored from the original elements and including previously unseen sketches and bits is finally coming this October on Bluray and DVD.

 

 

 

Wasnt Python at least partially shot on video though? It will never look amazing.

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It was, generally interiors were taped, exteriors on film i think. But I missed the previous DVD set so I'm happy. 

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57 minutes ago, Holko said:

But I missed the previous DVD set so I'm happy. 

 

Same here. And perhaps even the quality of the original video tapes could be improved with modern post production technology. And hopefully they'll include the German episodes as well. "Oh Albrecht, Albrecht Dürer, Du reitest durch die Länder!"

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11 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Same here. And perhaps even the quality of the original video tapes could be improved with modern post production technology. And hopefully they'll include the German episodes as well. "Oh Albrecht, Albrecht Dürer, Du reitest durch die Länder!"

 

German episodes?

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This will have all kinds of extras, they searched far and wide for dubs and material and everything, so... it better have the German episodes!

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1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

 

Wasnt Python at least partially shot on video though? It will never look amazing.

 

Doesn't matter - it'll still look radically improved over those nigh on unwatchable YouTube clips of their sketches.

 

While great that it's being made available, I wouldn't have much interest in this; Python are legends and their TV stuff was revolutionary back in the day, but you watch 'em now... a lot of those old ideas just aren't all that funny anymore, I thought. Much of it is extremely antiquated through the prism of 40 years worth of comedy that was influenced by and followed Monty Python.

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3 minutes ago, Quintus said:

 

While great that it's being made available, I wouldn't have much interest in this; Python are legends and their TV stuff was revolutionary back in the day, but you watch 'em now... a lot of those old ideas just aren't all that funny anymore, I thought. Much of it is extremely antiquated through the prism of 40 years worth of comedy that was influenced by and followed Monty Python.

 

I agree. The show is legendary of course, and of unparalleled importance as an influence. 

 

But Citizen Kane nowadays isn't all that watchable either.

 

Nowadays I would prefer watching any of the movies, tbh. 

Holy Grail is an old favourite.

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1 minute ago, Stefancos said:

But Citizen Kane nowadays isn't all that watchable either.

 

Nah.  It's still amazing and entertaining.  Visually arresting, quick-paced, and inventive in how it switches mediums from newsreel to the journalist researching to the memories of the people who knew Kane.

 

rosebud.jpg

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1 minute ago, Disco Stu said:

Nah.  It's still amazing and entertaining.  Visually arresting, quick-paced, and inventive in how it switches mediums from newsreel to the journalist researching to the memories of the people who knew Kane.

 

Indeed.

Just now, Disco Stu said:

I still think Meaning of Life holds up the best as a consistently engaging and funny watch.

 

That one I always found very hit and miss. Brian is brilliant throughout of course. Holy Grail is a fun collection of (often great) sketches but can suffer because nothing in it can top the sheer genius of the main titles.

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45 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

 

 

Oh, you were just referring to the dubbing. :)

 

40 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

That one I always found very hit and miss. Brian is brilliant throughout of course. Holy Grail is a fun collection of (often great) sketches but can suffer because nothing in it can top the sheer genius of the main titles.

 

Brian is definitely the best - miles above Meaning of Life.

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30 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Oh, you were just referring to the dubbing. :)

 

No! Dubbed Pythons are bad (with the exception of Brian, which is untypically brilliant in the dub as well).

 

German TV producer Alfred Biolek approached the Pythons to do two episodes of Flying Circus for German TV. One of them was indeed just dubbed into German, but the other consisted of some new and some repeated sketches done all in German by the Pythons themselves. The German translations were written by others, and supposedly at least some of the Pythons didn't know German at all and had to learn their lines phonetically. The fact that they all speak really lousy German with strong accents (including John Cleese, who I believe *can* speak German, though I don't know when he learned it) makes it only more hilarious. And there are some exclusive sketches in that episode, including one about Martin Luther.

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43 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

No! Dubbed Pythons are bad (with the exception of Brian, which is untypically brilliant in the dub as well).

 

German TV producer Alfred Biolek approached the Pythons to do two episodes of Flying Circus for German TV. One of them was indeed just dubbed into German, but the other consisted of some new and some repeated sketches done all in German by the Pythons themselves. The German translations were written by others, and supposedly at least some of the Pythons didn't know German at all and had to learn their lines phonetically. The fact that they all speak really lousy German with strong accents (including John Cleese, who I believe *can* speak German, though I don't know when he learned it) makes it only more hilarious. And there are some exclusive sketches in that episode, including one about Martin Luther.

 

Wow, I need to check these out! Are the two complete episodes available on YouTube?

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1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

 

I'm with Jurassic. Some of it was never all that funny, some of it is dated, and some is just as good as it ever was. And the ernest absurdity of it all still makes for a nice overall package.

 

Yeah this is fair. There are still plenty of genuinely hilarious sketches in there, across the whole smorgasbord of their TV content. Even my kids were in uproar over the silly Olympics, for eg. Funny will always be funny.

 

Overall though, I agree with Stefan that it's the movies they made that I'm more likely to enjoy to this day, even though those themselves are pretty much completely played out (to me), same as Airplane became. It's sad when you eventually realise you've just laughed too much at the same routines, over the decades.

 

 

 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Wow, I need to check these out! Are the two complete episodes available on YouTube?

 

Bits at least. Search for "Monty Pythons Fliegender Zirkus". AFAIR, the German episodes were included on one DVD box set, but not on any others.

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3 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Bits at least. Search for "Monty Pythons Fliegender Zirkus". AFAIR, the German episodes were included on one DVD box set, but not on any others.

 

I'll have to check my DVD box then - I didn't have time to finish watching it, and then I forgot about it.

 

3 minutes ago, Richard said:

I'd like to see the support film with LOB. That was funny.

 

What's that?

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4 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Wow, I need to check these out! Are the two complete episodes available on YouTube?

In March I travelled to Iceland, and they had the German episodes available on their Netflix!

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25 minutes ago, Once said:

In March I travelled to Iceland, and they had the German episodes available on their Netflix!

 

That's surprising. Even German Netflix doesn't seem to have them!

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On 7/19/2019 at 12:20 PM, Stefancos said:

The Holy Grail has a hell of a score though

 

 

Yes.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Wolfe-Music-Presents-Monty-Python/dp/B074Q2WD5S/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=Monty+python+soundtrack&qid=1563644589&s=gateway&sr=8-13

 

 

I have the 16 Ton Mega set. 

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  • 2 months later...

Wow, that's a great clean-up (while retaining the grainy quality of the original footage). I actually recently went through all available seasons on Netflix, and remember thinking to myself on multiple occasions that this kind of clean-up was called for.

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10 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

I hope the HD boxset is Norwegian Blu-Ray. 

 

Actually, it is.

 

And it's delayed as new material has been discovered and is being added to the set.

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