Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Excellent.

"Follow the gourd"!

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

"Stwike him, Centuwion. Stwike him vewy wuffly!"

Looks like a must have release (though I'm sure someone will find something about this to whine about). I'm happy to retire my Criterion, the PQ looks like ass.

Full specs:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh..._(UPDATED)/901

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

I saw it in its theatrical rerelease, and it looked pretty grimy there too. That look isn't my cup of tea, but perhaps that's what the directors wanted?

Will we also be getting Monty Python and the Holy Grail?

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Picture quality of "Monty Python's Life of Brian" (Blu-ray)?
Link

Paul

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Hopefully Lowry/DTS won't meddle with the colors and white levels the way they did on the Disney and 007 projects they were handed.

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

I've read a couple of reviews of the Blu-Ray release and I'm trying to determine whether I can retire my Criterion DVD or not.

Does anybody know whether all of the suppliments are actually carried over from the Criterion DVD? The review from DVD Authority says they are, but I don't see any mention of the 50 minute documentary, The Pythons.

DVD Authority | Blu-Ray review of "The Life of Brian: The Immaculate Edition (Blu-Ray)"

DVDFILE.com

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

It looks like the prices on the BD are only going to be a few dollars more than the SD version.

For example: Amazon.com: SD-$16.99 BD-$19.95

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

I bought it in one of the amazon buy-one-get-one-free sales, so I only paid about $10.

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Me too, except it was less than $8. Man, I miss the BOGOs and 10% discount already.

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Got it (it's been out in Region B for some time). Picture and sound are both fine, but not top notch demonstration quality (but who on earth would buy this movie as a demo disc anyway?). It easily beats the best SD version, and the extras are more than enough to satisfy anyone. The real gem is an audio-only recording of the original read-through of the script that the Pythons did prior to shooting the film, with pictures of the script accompanying it. [EDIT] Plus, there's a great new documentary that IMHO is a lot better than the documentary included in the Criterion release.

Is it worth buying? If you're a very casual fan and you already have the Criterion SD, then probably not. However, if you have any warmer liking of Python, then I'd say this is a no-brainer. FWIW, I'm not a particularly strong Python fan and I haven't regretted buying it.

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

I'm not crazy. This blu-ray release is missing the Criterion "The Pythons" documentary. It still sounds like a winner, though.

Blu-ray Review: Monty Python's Life of Brian | High-Def Digest

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

It contains a brand new documentary instead. I personally thought it far better because it gave a lot more insight into the battle it took to get the movie made, the various protests and objections when it came out, etc. Plus, it contains a moment of Brit cultural history - the confrontation on a Brit TV programme between an Anglican bishop and a well known Brit religious commentator called Malcolm Muggeridge (loved by some and loathed by a great many more Brits) and Messrs Palin and Cleese. The Pythons won hands down because they were dignified and rational whilst the bishop and Muggeridge were patronising and childish. The incident promoted a lot of comment at the time in the UK. You also get details of the Brit towns that banned The Life of Brian. There's a wonderful piece of archive footage of one town councellor (i.e. local politician) who admitted he hadn't seen the film before he'd voted for banning it. The documentary on the Criterion was made contemporaneously with the film for the BBC, and lacks a lot of the insights that hindsight can bring, and of course contains very little detail on the behind the scenes fights and problems that were taking place.

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Andrew,
On the Sony blu-ray release, did it have the original Orion or WB logo at the start of the film? Orion/WB originally released the film in the US in 1979? If not, what logo was there at the start of the film? Just curious.
Thanks,
ERICKA

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Good to see this will be a must buy.

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Didn't see any logo - went straight to the first scene of a starry sky (I thought it was going to turn into the Orion logo, but it didn't).

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

In my opinion the picture quality is simply fabulous on the Blu-ray release.

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

I've had the U.K. BD since it came out. I'm real impressed with the image. The several really weak scenes stille look weak but overall the image is considerably better than the Criterion DVD. I concur with Andrew that the new documentary is very good.

The only thing that leaves me curious is that everything is on one BD in the U.K. and two discs here in Estados Unidos.

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Just received the Blu-ray from Amazon.com and the invoice reads "Monty Python's Life Of Brian - Two - Disc Collector's Edition...", but there is only ONE disc in the case and no mention of a second disc on the cover.

Edit: The Title on the case-cover reads: "Monty Python's Life of Brian: The Immaculate Edition".



Paul

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Does "Immaculate" = (or suggest) the use of DNR on 'roids? J/K of course.

Now I kinda wish I had ordered it during the last BOGO sales on Amazon.

_Man_

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

I would have called it the "Cheese Makers Edition".

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Just picked this up at BB. Hope to check it out soon...I've never seen it.

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

I think the 2-disc artwork is meant for the SD edition. The table-read runs 110 minutes in SD quality (6Mps average) and the Making of documentary runs 1 hour (6Mps average).

Excellent documentary, and I think it is a better feature. There are also (I think) new commentaries to the deleted scenes.

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Finally got around to checking this out last night for the first time. Absolutely hysterical! I was laughing my a*s off throughout much of the movie. My only gripe is that with their thick English accents and the older sound design and/or mix, it was difficult to hear some lines, but it's a minor quibble. Great film.

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Yep, I saw this on the self. A definite must once I get a BR player. It'll be the 4th version of this film I've purchased. VHS, Standard, Criterion... I didn't get the other release of it. The Criterion was enough up until now. I loved everything about the Crit version. Such a fun film!

And for those who already own the equipment and the new DVD?

"lucky bastard...!"

"oh, he's over there....SPLITTER!!!"

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Good grief, heaven help you if you ever watch something with English regional accents then, as the Monty Python team's Oxbridge origins mean that they certainly don't have thick accents of any sort!

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

It's certainly a lot easier to understand than oh, say, Trainspotting with the original dialogue track.

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

I just recently picked this up and was shocked at how much of an improvement it was over the Criterion DVD. I know the Criterion was out for a long time and may not be fair to compare to, but the new BD made me appreciate the film a whole lot more. I'm only a passing Python fan, so it will take something like boosting the picture quality to get my attention.

According to another post in the thread, the Lowry process was used to remove excessive grain. Since I have never seen the original film and only have the aforementioned SD DVD to compare it to, I see absolutely nothing wrong with this new presentation. The colors, detail and lack of dirt are all striking. I wasn't expecting much with the sound, but even that was improved greatly.

I mention this grain-removal process due to its potential to change the original look of the film (in a bad way, that is). An example is the post on the Godfather 4k restoration. The individuals who screened the new restoration still note the presence of grain. So I take it either the grain here was not as bad as it was with Life of Brian or the preservationists felt it would be going too far to eliminate/reduce this.

Don't get me wrong, I understand what film grain is and I'm not one those "Transformers" generation HD movie-goers, but where does one draw the line when it comes to grain? I really like the look of the Life of Brian BD, but am I not seeing the film as it was originally intended now? Is it "too clean"?

Allow me to cite only a few digital clean-up jobs that I feel were done right:


The Star Wars films
Indiana Jones Trilogy
Life of Brian


Would I be a fool to suggest that a movie like "Predator" is also a good candidate for this process or would this be a impossible feat considering the film stock used? I know the Blu-Ray is due out soon and according to the reviews, only the benefits of increased resolution will be apparent. Predator isn't exactly a good example on the debate of film grain, but it is one DVD in my current collection that is a stand-out for improvement.

Are there any examples of films cleaned-up for release on DVD/HDM that look more pristine than they should? I'm thinking maybe the last Bond DVD collections may qualify.

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

I'm really torn on the grain issue. On one hand, I am against altering the look of any film to suit the tastes of someone who had no hand in shaping it. On the other hand, I don't support leaving in things that have developed due to age and wear. It is those things that should be removed.

If they want to reduce grain, they should only reduce as much as they can without removing picture detail. If they can't do that, then they should leave it be and just clean up dirt and scratches and other defects. Grain is not a defect anymore than brush strokes on a painting.

Re: Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' on Blu-Ray

Me too. When I watched this disc, the presentation was almost too clean. I definitely noticed some sky shots were the grain structure look altered. It took me out of the film a couple times. It is a very fine line indeed.