Even Better Than I Remembered It To Be Great fun musical comedy loosely based on T. Maccius Plautus’ 2nd century B.C. comedy “Miles Gloriosus” (“Braggart Warrior”).The widescreen format lets you see pratfalls and edge-of-scene antics that are missing in the pan and scan version. Zero Mostel was a comic genius; it’s a pity that he didn’t leave us more movies to enjoy. Michael Hordern is superb as Senex, as are Jack Gilford and Phil Silvers as Hysterium and Lycus. When I was a child I didn’t enjoy the musical numbers, I remember fast- forwarding through to get back to the comedy. I now appreciate the songs as well; they are genuinely funny and full of double-entendres that you have to hear repeatedly to fully enjoy. The entire movie, despite its classical setting, has a swinging-sixties feel that you’ll have to watch a Rat Pack film to match. You almost expect Frank Sinatra to walk into a scene, singing a song in between drags on his cigarette.
Excellent DVD – Hilarious Movie Not having seen the play, I am able to enjoy the film without comparison to other formats. It is hilarious, frantic and a perfect example of Richard Lester’s early work.The DVD transfer is crisp and colorful with very clear audio – way better than the version shown on TCM. Artifacting is barely existent. The transfer is anamorphic widescreen though the description provided by Amazon does not note this.For a good, though bawdy, burlesque played broadly and strictly for laughs, you can’t go wrong.
Even Better Than I Remembered It To Be Great fun musical comedy loosely based on T. Maccius Plautus’ 2nd century B.C. comedy “Miles Gloriosus” (“Braggart Warrior”).The widescreen format lets you see pratfalls and edge-of-scene antics that are missing in the pan and scan version. Zero Mostel was a comic genius; it’s a pity that he didn’t leave us more movies to enjoy. Michael Hordern is superb as Senex, as are Jack Gilford and Phil Silvers as Hysterium and Lycus. When I was a child I didn’t enjoy the musical numbers, I remember fast- forwarding through to get back to the comedy. I now appreciate the songs as well; they are genuinely funny and full of double-entendres that you have to hear repeatedly to fully enjoy. The entire movie, despite its classical setting, has a swinging-sixties feel that you’ll have to watch a Rat Pack film to match. You almost expect Frank Sinatra to walk into a scene, singing a song in between drags on his cigarette.
Excellent DVD – Hilarious Movie Not having seen the play, I am able to enjoy the film without comparison to other formats. It is hilarious, frantic and a perfect example of Richard Lester’s early work.The DVD transfer is crisp and colorful with very clear audio – way better than the version shown on TCM. Artifacting is barely existent. The transfer is anamorphic widescreen though the description provided by Amazon does not note this.For a good, though bawdy, burlesque played broadly and strictly for laughs, you can’t go wrong.