Yellowbeard [Blu-ray]

Yellowbeard is a timeless classic, and I'm glad to have a DVD copy of it (had VHS years ago)! The blending of Monty Python, Mel Brooks and Cheech & Chong is a treat for anybody who appreciates 70's and 80's comedy!

This movie, like Casablanca, has lines that are memorable and come to mind in daily life at odd times in a funny way. "You'll have to kill Me before I die!" or "Ahhh, Prison has reformed him!" (in the movie in reference to Yellowbeard (aka Graham Chapman) supposedly raping with his clothes on since he used to "take them off in the old days" as Madeline Kahn puts it. Something like this could fall flat on it's face with boorishness, but done by masters of comedy, they spin gold with hay. For me, like many British comedies, it gets funnier the more you watch it the first few times, and holds it's charm long afterwards. I've had friends watch it the first time not thinking much of it. Then giggling a few times the next 2-3 times. Then belting out laughing the 5th+ time. It's a movie that has "in" jokes that you become a part of with time. This movie is a mixture of cast members from "Young Frankenstein", Cheech & Chong, and a few Monty Python members. The screenplay writing is quite rash. "I'll pin your tits to the table" or "It can't have been you, I'm sure I killed the last one I raped". What makes these lines even remotely funny is a normally stoic Graham Chapman delivers a rare outrageous performance and delivers them with rare gift of phrasing and timing. Such a natural talent. It gets poor ratings on IMDB and from Ebert, and even Cleese supposedly said it's "one of the worst 5 movies ever made" but I have always had a bizarre sense of humor and for me it's my favorite comedy. Pirates, Sexual Humour, outrageousness, and for once, a Pythonish skit with an actual plot! And when people try to dismiss this below-the-radar-jewel, just remember, it's never more dangerous than when it's dead!!

Are you in the mood for a pirate with a little more experience under his swordbelt, a man who takes an old-fashioned sort of pride in raping and robbing and who, if the circumstances are right, will force men to eat their own lips? Then you need to set sail with Yellowbeard. Yellowbeard is Graham Chapman's fierce and mighty captain in this classic seafaring movie set in the golden age of piracy. Chapman -- best known for his work with Monty Python's Flying Circus, particularly as Brian in "Life of Brian" and Arthur in "The Holy Grail" -- chews scenery with such gusto you expect him to bite through ship's planks and maybe a palm tree or two. He is hail and hearty, greedy to a fault and ruthless in his pursuit of enough Spanish gold to make him the richest man in the world. The story is simple but fun, and the cast is pure comedic delight, including Tommy Chong, Cheech Marin, Madeline Kahn, Peter Cook, Michael Hordern, Eric Idle, Peter Boyle, John Cleese and Marty Feldman. Chapman in particular roars through the movie with bloodthirsty enthusiasm; the man was a true comic genius. This movie is mostly about silliness and meaningless fun, with only a thin thread of a plot holding it together. Critics who dismiss it as nonsense miss the point. It's rough and unpolished, and even funnier for it. "Yellowbeard" is a laugh riot, and it deserves to be pulled from the shelf and enjoyed at least once each year. by Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor

This movie is far under-rated in the realm of the Python movies. Seems to me it didn't get enough PR or something because as a comedy film alone it is hilarious. It stars Graham Chapman (Yellowbead a crude, nasty, out of touch, murderous pirate that kills anyone that gets in the way of his killing anyone), John Cleese (Blind Pew who has the most acute hearing in the world), Eric Idle, Marty Feldman, Cheech and Chong (Spanish morons), Madeline Kahn (the unfaithful Mrs. Yellowbeard), Peter Boyle (Yellowbeard's adversary and former ship-mate, Moon), and James Mason (a cruely funny, overly sadastic, extreme Mutiny on the Bounty captain type). It is set in the year 1707 and starts out with Yellowbeard nearing his release after 15 years in an English prison, and of course everyone wants to know where Yellowbeard hid his pirate treasure. Yellowbeard escapes the prison after his sentence is unfairly increased (to get him angry enough to escape on purpose) just before his parole and the rest movie is based on his attempt to avoid beng imprisoned again while being chased by the limp-wristed British authorities and going on a funny non-sensical killing, raping (because he likes rape) and pilliging rampage tryng to recover the treasure he hid so long ago. Of course the British authorities and Moon are after the treasure too :) This is a classic and should have been released on DVD a long time ago. This is Python stuff at it's best with the nastiest Python humor anywhere! Someone please pick up on it and make a DVD of it soon as I have only used rental resale VHS version (accch!) copy of it and would love to see it as it was meant to be seen- clearly and with good THX sound.

It was really fun re-visiting this film. The movie had a great cast, I am surprised it wasn't directed by Mel Brooks it had a lot of his favorite actors in it. Lot's of Monty Python members as well. A fun goofy adventure film. The picture and sound were good but not the quality you would expect from a 4k, but this is a blu-ray of an older film. I am very happy to have a copy of this quirky comedy from the 1980's.

The movie Yellowbeard is a very clever, classic, cult movie that has meteoric appeal to fans of Monty Python. You only need to Google it to find passionate reviews. Unfortunately, those not be aware of the brilliant Pythonesque team and madness of the movie, will not be assisted in discovering this movie due to the inferior graphic marketing of the DVD cover. The front image focuses on Cheech and Chong, who, although contributing much to the movie, are definately not the main stars. The emphasis on the cover should be reversed, with Graham Chapman, Madeline Khan, or Eric Idle, Peter Cook, etc, over C&C. Worse than that, the blurb on the back is the weakest and laziest I've read, (like the over-acting in the movie, "it's pathetic!")and not only comes no way near describing the story, but is also inaccurate. The reviewer hasn't even watched the movie, or couldn't care. If you enjoy the Life of Brian or the Holy Grail, then you'll love this and will be quoting the clever lines for years to come.

Fun romp from Cheech and Chong and other comics

This a funny movie, you certainly could not make this movie now to many snowflakes