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This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

What if you wanted to recreate a small slice of cinematic history by depicting the real-life members of a troupe of performers — for example, Monty Python's John Cleese — as the most famous of their fictional selves (in his case, Basil Fawlty)? Or wanted to depict another member of that same troupe — say, Michael Palin — as the all-round nice guy, decent chap and jolly good bloke that the public has in decades since gotten to know through his travel programmes and chat show appearances? Or wanted to depict secondary real-life characters — say Michael Palin's wife — who are largely unknown to the general public, as common comic characters from Monty Python's Flying Circus (in her case, as Terry Jones's working class housewife)? Or if you wanted to make commentary on modern-day Britain by getting the characters in 1979 to (funnily enough) spectacularly accurately speculate about what a modern-day Britain some 32 years hence might look like? And then throw in for good measure what God Himself might have to say about "Life of Brian"?Well, what you'd get is the wonderfully funny and delightful "Holy Flying Circus" — a film in the style of a Monty Python film about a particular chapter in the history of the Monty Python comedy group. Most of the actors are immediately recognisable as their Monty Python member and Darren Boyd should have won something for his portrayal/impression of John Cleese as Basil Fawlty. It was quite a phenomenal performance.After I watched it, the whole show made me wonder if in fact 1979 wasn't the very height of civilisation and that since then we've been drawn back into the mud of barbarism. I'm still thinking about that...

As a long time Python fan I was curious to see this piece, upon discovering the Blu-Ray at a store. It's a curious undertaking that teeters on a see-saw, between comedy and drama. Unfortunately, it's this inability to commit to one or the other that undermines both. There are spotty humorous moments and equally spotty excellent dramatic moments; but, the whole is less than the sum of its parts.The casting is quite good visually and even somewhat verbally, for the central pair of Palin and Cleese. Unfortunately, the performances are too often mired in caricature, rather than actually portraying the Pythons. The peripheral Pythons (Gilliam, Chaplin, and Idol; mostly) are all but ignored, with Gilliam portrayed as a gibbering idiot (more or less) and Idol as a money-grubbing b#$t%^&. Chapman is barely portrayed at all and Terry Jones mostly serves as a joke, as Palin's wife. Palin comes closest to being real, with Cleese coming off more as Basil Fawlty than John Cleese. Unfortunately, this lack of depth undermines any serious drama and is rarely very funny, apart from the odd jokes and a few surreal moments. Actually, many of the supporting players have a better handle on balancing between comedy and drama, especially Michael Cochran.It really isn't until the end, as the televised debate has wrapped up that the drama finally rises to a level that grasps at greatness. When Palin chastises Cleese in the hallway, we finally see more of Cleese the person, not Cleese the persona from television. The film does make the point that the Pythons came out on top because they were seen as serious artists making a point about their work, in the face of uninformed and dogmatic attacks from pompous mouthpieces of the conservative establishment. This is where the film is most effective and demonstrates that the production should have just taken this path, in the first place. The comedy is an attempt at doing Python, but rarely equals it, though the puppet battle between Cleese and Palin is worthy of Gilliam.In the end, much like the debate about Life of Brian, you really have to see the finished product and decide for yourself. I found myself laughing much less than I had hoped and aching for them to go more deeply with the drama. Others have described it as hysterically funny or complete rubbish. I suppose some of that may be influenced by familiarity with the original television debate, news reports of the period, and interviews with the Pythons. The film exaggerates much of it and underplays much of it, leaving you to sort it out for yourself, which isn't all bad. I give it points for trying and for daring to be the first to try to examine Python in a dramatic form. In that alone, it is worth viewing.

To quote Mr Gumby. I laughed so much my brain hurt. Brilliant cast, had the Python team off pat. Wonderful script which as well as being very funny gave pause for thought. Loved the religious extremists. Roy Marsden gave a wonderful performance, and made the Bishop look and sound even more ridiculous than he was (which is saying something). It was that good even God made a guest appearance. Actually, the only omission, and something I was really looking forward to was the Spanish Inquisition. But NO ONE expects the Spanish Inquisition. Apologies my brain is starting to hurt again urgh!!! nghh! uuunnnh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not going to get into the whole debate here over the "Life of Brian" which I'll leave to others. This docudrama is as it says at the start a re-imagining of the events & conversations that surrounded the Monty Python team before two of them stepped onto a late night talk show to discuss their controversial movie "Life of Brian".Film takes the basics surrounding the "debate" and slaps a thick coating of Monty Python comedy references into the mix. The two adversaries in the debate are painted in a bad light, so the program is biased but it's mostly all for laughs.Should take the show as an excuse to just relive the Pythoneseque humour. The program humourises the darker aspects the Pythons may have gone through (e.g. death threats) but at the end of the day they won the contest (the film is shown often on free-to-air TV in the UK and is widely regarded as one of the greatest comedies ever).Well acted, well scripted, you will enjoy it. A nice retelling!