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Jabberwocky [DVD] [2003]
 
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Jabberwocky [DVD] [2003]

Michael Palin , Harry H. Corbett , Terry Gilliam    Parental Guidance   DVD
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
Price: £3.97 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Jabberwocky [DVD] [2003] + Time Bandits [DVD] + Brazil [1985] [DVD]
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Product details

  • Actors: Michael Palin, Harry H. Corbett, John Le Mesurier, Warren Mitchell, Max Wall
  • Directors: Terry Gilliam
  • Writers: Terry Gilliam, Charles Alverson, Lewis Carroll
  • Producers: John Goldstone, Julian Doyle, Sanford Lieberson
  • Format: PAL
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: 17 Feb 2003
  • Run Time: 101 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00007LZ5A
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,165 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

A medieval comedy-adventure starring Michael Palin and directed by Terry Gilliam, Jabberwocky is an episodic adaptation of Lewis Carroll's surreal poem. Having previously directed Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975) with Terry Jones, Jabberwocky marked Gilliam's solo directorial debut--is it coincidental that Jones is killed by the titular monster in the opening scene? Palin plays the naive Dennis Cooper, a man seeking his fortune just as the Jabberwocky is laying waste to the country. It's much the same world as Holy Grail, with all the trappings of the romantic Hollywood epic being liberally coated with literal and metaphorical muck.

Palin's character causes unwitting mayhem wherever he goes--one stand-out scene involves the destruction of a maintenance shop for damaged knights-in-armour--though as much humour comes from exposing the foibles of the people he meets. And those people constitute a roll call of contemporary British comedy: Harry H Corbett as a sex-mad squire, Warren Mitchell's Mr Fishfinger, plus Annette Badland, Max Wall, John Le Mesurier, Rodney Bewes, John Bird, Neil Innes and John Gorman. Jabberwocky lacks the hilarity of Holy Grail, but is a consistently amusing, exceptionally atmospheric, gleefully gory yarn which points the way to Gilliam's Time Bandits (1981) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988).

On the DVD Jabberwocky is distinguished by an engaging and enthusiastic commentary from Gilliam and Palin, in which they delight in the amazing cast and ponder how such a handsome film was made. Otherwise the extras are a short sketch-to-screen comparison, three posters and three trailers (only one for Jabberwocky). Transferred anamorphically enhanced at 1.77:1, the picture is variable, with many beautifully lit indoor scenes looking fine, while other exterior, daylight shots appear washed out. There is some minor print damage. The sound is a revelation for a low-budget 1970s film originally released in mono. Given a full Dolby Digital 5.1 remix the tremendously detailed, rich and involving soundscape really brings Gilliam's world alive and puts many much more recent and expensive titles to shame. --Gary S Dalkin

Special Features

Feature length commentary by Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin
Sketch to Scene Comparisons
International Poster Gallery
Original Theatrical Trailer
Cross Promo Trailers

Language: English German Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portugese, Swedish, Turkish
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Mono
Aspect Ratio Anamorphic - 1.85:1


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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (6)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars My absolute favourite movie!, 6 Jan 2003
By 
A. J. Watson "Bones" (Newcastle-on-Tyne, UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Jabberwocky [DVD] [2003] (DVD)
Based on Lewis Carrol's 'The Jabberwock', Terry Gilliam unleashes the full force of his creative talents in this brilliant film.
We follow the adventures of Dennis Cooper, besotted with love for the gruesome Griselda Fishfinger, as he is disowned by his dying father and goes off to seek his fortune in the city. The city is however besieged by the eponymous monster, so the king (played to wonderful effect by Max Wall) arranges a tourney to select the best knight to kill the beast. Of course, Dennis is carried along and wins the day.
Doresn't sound much of a story, does it? - but the intricately detailed sets, the wonderful staged humour and brilliant direction make this a cut and a half above anything else in the genre. It knocks the Monty Python films into a cocked hat - and they are GOOD! Not for nothing did this film win the best comedy at Montreux. Particularly good performances from Max Wall, John leMesurier, Harry H Corbett and of course, Michael Palin, who just IS Dennis.
I don't understand how a great film like this has been allowed to fall out of circulation. I'd give it 10 stars if I could.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Darker than Python & that does it no harm., 1 April 2009
By 
M. Stribley (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Jabberwocky [DVD] [2003] (DVD)
Plenty have written more detailed reviews, suffice to say Jabberwocky is much darker than the usual Monthy Python productions and the story works really well in this style than, say the slapstick style of other Python productions. Some of the character acting by many well-known faces is great and there are some scenes that are both hilarious and grotesque simultaneously.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars coopering? that's no life for a man, 26 Sep 2006
By 
This review is from: Jabberwocky [DVD] [2003] (DVD)
Don't write this off as failed Python. In the entertaining commentary on this disk, TG and Michael Palin not only state that they were trying to get away from the Python style with this film, but even that they think there are too many gags in it. I wouldn't go so far as that; Lewis Carroll's eerie source poem doesn't really have a great bearing on this story, but what they share is an ambiguous tone somewhere between epic, comic and surreal. All Gilliam's early films are about the relationship between real and fantasy worlds, and this is really no exception: Palin is the modern-minded mediocrity unwittingly (and unwillingly) caught up in a fairy tale.

Visually there's a certain similarity to `Holy Grail' (this is far more accomplished); in comedy terms, the closest thing is Palin's quirky, understated `Ripping Yarns' - but that doesn't have the same deep, ineluctable strangeness. In all honesty there's no other film like this. Just see the `you might also like' films trailed on the disc - `First Knight' and `Knight's Tale'! Good grief.

I'm also indebted to the commentary for the following fascinating trivia: TG's `diamond mine' character was originally to have been played by Dudley Moore; both the Black Knight and Palin's master are played by David Prowse (of Darth Vader fame), voices by Max Wall (King Bruno); and John Boorman apparently showed the film a dozen times to his crew before making Excalibur. How's that for a recommendation?
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