Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life SE? (1 Viewer)

[Robert_eb]

Is there any news about this film being re-released?

 

[CraigF]

Do you mean re-released on DVD? I don't know, but I sure hope so, very much looking forward to it, thought it was supposed to be in 2003. Maybe try the pythonline site for better info. I hope they can get a good print to work with, like for the Holy Grail, and very unlike Life of Brian (IMO even the Criterion is marginal, but the best they could find).

 

[wally]

very unlike Life of Brian (IMO even the Criterion is marginal, but the best they could find).

I’m glad someone thinks this too. I picked up the CC version this weekend and was very disappointed in the quality of the audio but mostly the video. Looked like a dirty print and the colors flickered in several scenes. Thought it might be a faulty disc.

I’d love to see an SE Mr. Creosote!

 

[JustinCleveland]

I agree, an SE in the mode of the Holy Grail SE would be WONDERFUL for both these movies. IMHO, the commentary for Life of Brian was NOT worth the price of admission, and the video on the disc was atrocious.

Oddly, Meaning of Life was my first contact with Python, and I fell in love... I have the TV show box set, and all the DVDs, but I think they ALL could be much better.

 

[Coressel]

The Criterion Life of Brian is the absolute best I've ever seen this film look, and I've seen many prints and copies of it since 1979. I thought the commentaries were great! I'm not sure what better treatment Brian could be given.

I would love to see the Meaning of Life get a good SE treatment. Now that it's 20 years old, I would think some kind of re-do is in order!

 

[Jon Robertson]

Well, the Life of Brian is not taken from a "dirty old print" - it's an interpositive, which is made directly from the negative. I shouldn't be surprised that a film so popular and re-released has suffered a bit of wear on the original elements, but it looks fine for the most part, and the transfer has the thumbs-up from Terry Jones, so it's quite alright with me.

 

[JustinCleveland]

The only reason I speak bad of the commentaries is their content... I found them ENTIRELY dull and uninteresting. It was obvious that the recorders were not in the same room, because there was no chemistry... information was dry and I just didn't care what they had to say, which is sad, considering how much I love the troop and film.

 

[CraigF]

Yes, I understand all the good things that are said about the Criterion DVD release of Life of Brian, and I generally agree with them, but note that they are all *relative* to other LOB releases. In absolute terms, the video and audio sucked. Some parts of the movie did look great, but it was very patchy and definitely showed some film wear. The audio had portions of significant distortion. I don't know about for you, but this was a rather expensive DVD for me to buy, whereas the Holy Grail SE was great looking, and the sound was quite fine...and it's an older movie and was half the price.

 

[wally]

Well, the Life of Brian is not taken from a "dirty old print" - it's an interpositive, which is made directly from the negative.

I knew that since that it is listed on the packaging and the CC web site as well as Terry Jones' stamp of approval. Does it matter what kind of transfer it is when it still looks like a dirty print?

 

[Derek Miner]

Does it matter what kind of transfer it is when it still looks like a dirty print?

When it's the best transfer that's likely to be possible given the existing materials, it matters.

Seriously, would you like my early-80s Warner Bros. VHS (in cardboard box) to see what a dirty print really looks like?

 

[Jon Smith]

the rights for LOB in the UK has expired with Paramount.
i think Anchor Bay have picked up the rights ?
and the Python team are working on a new release for a UK R2 DVD.
they say it should be better than the CC DVD.
this is just what i read, i didnt read it from an official website though :frowning:

 

[JulianK]

The UK version of Meaning of Life is, unofficially a Special Edition, but before you all start clicking to your favourite disc importer, the bonus item is actually an episode of The Twilight Zone, due to a bizarre authoring screwup!
(For the record, it's not accessible from the menus, but a poke around with the disc in the DVD-Rom drive should uncover it!)

 

[Ravi K]

Why is this labeled as a director's cut? I didn't see anything that I didn't see in the first DVD or the VHS.

 

[Jim Barg]

The director's cut is a branching option with three deleted scenes that are also on the second disc. It's not done very smoothly, though it might be my player (haven't returned my copy). And the footage also looked like it hadn't been cleaned up either.

The Martin Luther segment is funny, but the others I could've done without.

 

[Ravi K]

Does the director's cut feature not work with the commentary? I watched with the commentary, which could be why I did not see any new scenes.

 

[Jim Barg]

I'm guessing that Terry Jones recorded the commentary while watching the theatrical cut, because it cuts him out during the extra scenes.

 

[Jay Pennington]

There is commentary available for the extra scenes when viewed from the second disc (not when incorporated into the film on the first disc).

 

[Jim Barg]

That's right, I'd forgotten about that. I remember watching the Martin Luther scene on disc 2 for the first time and wondering why I could only watch it with commentary... very odd.

 

[rob kilbride]

Can someone please post or direct me to the information on how to tell if I have a corrected disc or not and how to get the corrected disc iif necessary. I seem to remember reading something about the disc artwork being less grainy or more grainy on the corrected version. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

What I'm still trying to figure out is why, on the ancient VHS version and the version that aired on cable, do the intertitle cards "A Short Film" and "Our Feature Presentation" contain voice-over narration, while in the Special Edition DVD (and the older DVD as well, I'm told) the narration is now missing?

Narration for first intertitle:

"There will be a short film of approximately ten minutes before our Feature Presentation."

Narration for second intertitle:

"And now, our Feature Presentation."

What happened? Nobody besides yours truly seems to care, as I've brought this up before on other forums, only to meet with overwhelming apathy.