Monty Python Live (Mostly) (2014)

Thanks for the memories!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition back all those years ago. And nobody expected a reunion show of one of the greatest comedy troupes to ever grace the screen. That's right. After 34 years, the iconic and brilliant actors of Monty Python, came together once again to give us their unique and loud out loud dose of comedy. This performance, which was broadcast in the US and UK, certainly hits you in all the right nostalgic parts. If you're like me, you grew up watching 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' or any one of their hilarious films whether it be 'The Meaning of Life' or 'The Holy Grail'.You can rest assure that skits and segments from those movies make it into this excellent performance. The group did 10 live shows at London's famous O2 arena in front of sold out crowds, and did some of their famous skits as well as some new material. This almost feels like a farewell tour and a Greatest Hits album all rolled into one big performance that is almost three hours long. Every member of the Monty Python crew is here, including Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, and Terry Jones. And yes, the late Graham Chapman makes a few appearances in the form of some video skits and messages.It's amazing how all of these men have not lost their comedic beat and continue to entertain and make us laugh still to this day. Full of music, comedy, and vintage skits that we all love, this performance is one for the books for every Monty Python fan. Keeping with their unique brand of humor, which at times can confuse us and go into the wacky and way out weird genre, the live performance starts out with of course, some llamas. It's quite funny in that "what is really happening" kind of way.Through songs, dances and other comedic skits, we get that old and familiar taste of this unique brand of humor, which is at times, modernized for this day and age, complete with some excellent cameos throughout. Yes, the Yorkshiremen show up, along with the Spanish Inquisition, Bruces, Spam, and even some of Terry Gilliam's animated skits make it into the show. One of the only downsides to this show, which is only relegated to this Blu-ray is that the camera-work is kind of a mess in places, which leaves the home audience missing some of the jokes, because the camera is not focusing on some of the key players during some of the punchlines, hence we miss out. It's not a big problem throughout, but it is somewhat annoying in a few places.'Monty Python Live (Mostly)' is a lot of fun, yet it kind of sad in a way that we all know in the back of our minds, that this is the last time we will see all these guys perform together again. It's a solid farewell in style and comedy, furthering their legendary status into the entertainment and comedy world.

I found the whole thing to be rather flat and forced. The problem, in my opinion, stems from the Pythons putting on this big, extravagant, over-long show - perhaps to justify the high ticket cost of seeing the show there in London? - with endless dancing and musical numbers, and some celebrity guest stars (on the DVD we only see Mike Meyers and Eddie Izzard on stage with the troupe; Warwick Davis and Stephen Fry, among others, also appeared during the show's run, and can be seen, briefly, in the DVD extras. Brian Cox and Stephen Hawkins appear in a funny taped segment).The old skits performed here feel tiresome; the clips from Flying Circus are too familiar to be funny. The only genuine laughs occurred when one of the Pythons deviated from the anticipated - either purposely (a new gag scripted into an old skit) or accidentally (because someone has flubbed/forgot a line or ad-libbed an unexpected joke). The longest and best laugh of the entire show came toward the end in the combination Pet Shop/Cheese Shop skit with Michael Palin and John Cleese.The big thing missing was irreverence, not taking themselves too seriously. Things got off to a good start with a funny piece of animation that revealed Graham Chapman's head - which then got kicked like a football (English football). Unfortunately, this was followed up by the still-unfunny-as-it-was-back-on-MPFC llama skit, with John Cleese and the Pythons addressing the audience in Spanish (not French, as in the original skit, if I recall correctly). There were far too many musical numbers, which I found myself fast-forwarding through. Hey, at least that helped cut down on this DVD's long running time!Monty Python Live (Mostly) is the troupe taking a victory lap as establishment figures - not the take-no-prisoners comedy radicals that they once were. Besides, "Sit on my Face" seems awfully quaint in comparison to the potty-mouth kids of South Park. The end result here would've been much better if they'd allowed themselves to tweak their known skits and come up with something new and surprising, audience expectations be damned.(On a side note, the booklet accompanying the DVD gives thanks to Tim Brooke-Taylor for allowing use of The Four Yorkshiremen skit but doesn't credit Marty Feldman as co-writer of the skit. It was originally performed on the At Last The 1948 show by Feldman, Brooke-Taylor, Cleese and Chapman).

Back in the early 1970s, the Monty Python troop made a wonderful film, "And Now For Something Completely Different", and it consisted of the guys remaking their best skits from their TV show for a movie audience. The production values were a bit better and their accents were deliberately softened and the overall effort is, in my opinion, their second best film (after "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"). Now a similar sort of thing has been created--but instead of shooting it in sets like you would for a typical film, it was presented in front of a live audience (like "Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl") and it is, apparently, the group's final performance.As a HUGE fan of the show, I was actually very disappointed in this film even though I did enjoy it. Much of it is due to the old saying 'you can't go back'--and after many decades the performances seemed a bit flat. Additionally, and I think this is a bigger problem, the skits offer no improvements over the originals. In most cases, it's almost a word-for-word recreation and there is nothing new or energetic about the whole affair. At least with "And Now For Something Completely Different" the skits LOOKED a lot better--but here they didn't. And, oddly, many of the team's best skits were not included in this performance. Not terrible...but it just isn't what I'd recommend to anyone who isn't a die-hard fan.

Monty Python has been in my life since my earliest years, starting around the mid 1970s, when my brothers would play their albums. In fact, by the time I saw "Life of Brian" in the theaters in 1979 (I was 12- snuck into my first R-rated film), I already had most of those albums memorized. Once I bought the "Brian" script as a paperback back at the time, I found myself having half the film memorized by the end of the year. We in the theater all laughed at the familiar sketches, even those of us who knew them word for word, we sang along at the songs, and we applauded with the London audience. They performed some of the greatest hits, tossed in a couple of surprise sketches, mixed them up with clips from the show, and choreographed musical numbers, some of which were led by Pythons. The dance numbers were the least enjoyable for me. Fun were the moments when you could see them just trying to make each other laugh. Especially Cleese, who seemed less interested in staying on script (though he did for the most part) than just trying to keep himself and his fellow Pythons amused. Terry Jones seemed the least active, delivering his lines a bit slower than the others. Gilliam and Idle on the other hand seemed ageless. Palin was great as well.I don't know that I could really put this up there with the other Python films. Hollywood Bowl was superior both in content and performance, and that was inferior to their three proper films, "Grail", "Brian", and "Meaning of Life". This was more of an event than a concert or a "movie". There was a moment or two when I found myself slightly tearing up. The first was the "Universe Song" (during the song and what happens after) and again at the final bow. Seeing them waving goodbye not just to the audience but to Monty Python in general was a bit heartbreaking. It was like saying a last goodbye to a dying sibling.Thanks for the laughs, gents... and keep looking at the bright side of life!