9 used & new from £11.98
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
Brass Eye - Series And Special [DVD] [1997]
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images

Brass Eye - Series And Special [DVD] [1997]

DVD ~ Christopher Morris
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


3 new from £22.96 5 used from £11.98 1 collectible from £27.50
Learn about Lovefilm
Amazon's choice for DVD rental.
With a 14 day FREE trial. Learn more

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • You can find all the best television shows from the other side of the pond in our US TV store and watch entire episodes for free in our Screening Room, including Flashpoint, Wacky Races and Most Haunted.

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Brass Eye - Series And Special [DVD] [1997]
86% buy the item featured on this page:
Brass Eye - Series And Special [DVD] [1997] 4.9 out of 5 stars (48)
The Day Today : Complete BBC Series (2 Disc Set) [1994] [DVD]
8% buy
The Day Today : Complete BBC Series (2 Disc Set) [1994] [DVD] 4.8 out of 5 stars (52)
£5.98
Jam [DVD] [2000]
2% buy
Jam [DVD] [2000] 5.0 out of 5 stars (4)
£7.48
In The Loop [DVD] [2009]
2% buy
In The Loop [DVD] [2009] 3.9 out of 5 stars (63)
£4.98
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Actors: Christopher Morris, Mark Heap, Kevin Eldon, Doon Mackichan, David Cann
  • Format: Full Screen, PAL, Widescreen
  • Language English
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 18
  • Studio: 2 Entertain Video
  • DVD Release Date: 6 May 2002
  • Run Time: 167 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000066NT9
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 25,116 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Buy This Product and Related Accessories

Brass Eye - Series And Special [DVD] [1997]

Brass Eye - Series And Special [DVD] [1997]

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

Chris Morris' Brass Eye is a brilliantly funny spoof on current affairs media that carries on where his previous The Day Today left off. The show ran for one single, contentious series in 1997, to be followed by an even more controversial one-off in 2001. While these episodes might cause offence to those not versed in Morris' satirical methods, and while one occasionally suspects his work is informed by a dark seam of malice and loathing rather than a desire to educate, Brass Eye remains vital satire, magnificently hilarious and, in its own way, fiercely moral viewing.

Brass Eye satirises a media far too interested in generating dramatic heat and urgency for its own sake than in shedding light on serious issues. Morris mimics perfectly the house style of programmes such as Newsnight and Crimewatch, with their spurious props and love of gimmickry. Meanwhile his presenter--an uncanny composite of Jeremy Paxman, Michael Buerk and Richard Madeley among others--delivers absurd items about man-fighting weasels in the East End and Lear-esque lines such as "the twisted brain wrong of a one-off man mental" with preposterously solemn authority. Much as the media itself is wont to do, each programme works itself up into a ridiculous fever of moral panic. Most telling is the "drugs" episode, in which, as ever, real-life celebrities, including Jimmy Greaves and Sir Bernard Ingham, are persuaded to lend their name to a campaign against a new drug from Eastern Europe entitled Cake. The satirist's aim here isn't to trivialise concern about drugs but to point up the media's lack of attention to content.

A response to the ill-conceived News of the World witch-hunt, in the wake of the Sarah Payne affair, the 2001 "paedophilia" special was the most supremely controversial of the series. It followed the usual formula--duping celebs such as Phil Collins into endorsing a campaign entitled "Nonce Sense", urging parents to send their children to football stadiums for the night for their own safety and mooting the possibility of "roboplegic" paedophiles--and prompted the sort of hysterical and predictable Pavlovian response from the media that Brass Eye lampoons so tellingly.

On the DVD: Brass Eye on DVD includes brief outtakes, such as "David Jatt" interviewing celebrities about breeding hippos for domestic purposes, an hilarious exchange with Jeffrey Archer's PA ("He's a very wicked little man") as well as trailers for the paedophilia special.--David Stubbs

Special Features

English
Region 2
Extra Footage
Commentaries
Trailers
Sound Bin
See all Reviews

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Day Today : Complete BBC Series (2 Disc Set) [1994] [DVD]

The Day Today : Complete BBC Series (2 Disc Set) [1994] [DVD]

DVD ~ Steve Coogan
4.8 out of 5 stars (52)  £5.98
Jam [DVD] [2000]

Jam [DVD] [2000]

DVD ~ Chris Morris
5.0 out of 5 stars (4)  £7.48
Nathan Barley [DVD]

Nathan Barley [DVD]

DVD ~ Nicholas Burns
4.4 out of 5 stars (38)  £7.98
The Armando Iannucci Shows [DVD] [2001]

The Armando Iannucci Shows [DVD] [2001]

4.6 out of 5 stars (17)  £4.38
Time Trumpet [DVD] [2006]

Time Trumpet [DVD] [2006]

DVD ~ Richard Ayoade
4.4 out of 5 stars (8)  £7.98
› Explore similar items

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
chris morris
british comedy

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

48 Reviews
5 star:
 (42)
4 star:
 (6)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (48 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Keep watching to find out what to think, 15 Jan 2004
By Touring Mars (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)      
Brass Eye is more than just one of the funniest comedy series around, but also the defining moment in history when someone finally challenged the way in which many a serious news programme chooses to report the world. Poking fun at everyone from the tabloid press, 24-hour news channels like Sky and CNN, and even involving a variety of unsuspecting celebrity individuals including MP's, Chris Morris' brand of cutting satire is as accurate as it is bitingly funny.

This is definitely not for the faint-hearted or especially the easily offended.. but that said, alot of the most 'offensive' stuff is deliberately so, and way over the top... the best example of this is the hugely controversial (but also Bafta award winning) Paedophilia episode. Outrageous from start to finish, the 'shock value' throughout is purely intentional, and is part of the satire. Some people argue that this sort of thing is 'off-limits' for comedy, because it is somehow making a mockery of what is in reality a terribly serious issue. But I beg to differ. The take-home message from this particular show is as stark and terrifying as your typical Daily Mail rant on the same subject...the message being "Be afraid and be irrational". But by lampooning this sort of sensationalist reporting that would have you believing that the world is awash with paedophiles, Brass Eye actually makes a genuinely useful and good point... don't believe all the rubbish you read or see on TV, and don't let your sense of good judgement be fooled... as Morris' Paxman-like presenter says during one episode, "Keep watching to find out what to think!".. I think this, above all else, summarises nicely what Brass Eye is all about.

The other episodes deal with such controversial subjects as Animal Rights, Drugs, Sex, Crime, (Urban) Decline and Science. Each episode contains its handful of 'offensive' and outrageous moments, but is consistently hilarious throughout. I can't recommend this DVD to everyone, but to true fans of black comedy, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The greatest spoof ever, 11 Jun 2003
By "brasshande" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
Chris Morris’ bitingly cynical spoof of current affairs news programs comes to DVD, and I’d recommend it to anyone with a sense of humour. Featuring the entire series, as well as the infamous ‘Paedophilia’ special that provoked such tabloid uproar (exactly as Morris planned), any fans of the series should buy this without a second thought. If you’ve never seen or heard of the program, then where have you been? As long as you’re amused by a mixture of the surreal and the satirical, and want to see well-know celebrities being stitched up something rotten and made to look stupid without realising it, you’ll be in your element.
If you’re easily offended, you may possibly want to look somewhere for your laughs, as some parts of Brass Eye are deliberately calculated to cause the maximum amount of offence to the greatest number of people. The ‘Paedophilia’ special, for example; whilst for me it is absolutely hilarious, mocking the witch-hunt atmosphere of the time, it did receive massive amounts of complaints to the ITC. Just make sure you know what you are seeing before you watch it, as some people may consider that it goes too far. For those with a more open mind, though, sit back and enjoy one of the most off the wall and funny spoofs ever seen on British TV, possibly even outdoing The Office in terms of laugh out loud moments, which is no mean feat in itself.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The twisted brain-wrong of a one-off man mental, 10 Feb 2003
By G. King "gk100" (York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Brass Eye [VHS] [1997] (VHS Tape)
So goes the lead-in line on one of Brass Eye's reports, and it could equally sum up this brilliant series, which is surreal and vicious in almost equal measure.

It is shocking in places, aiming to prick the humbug Morris sees in modern broadcast journalism. He was a practitioner himself once, and would have made a very good journo in another universe, but you get the feeling that he hates most of them now, or certainly the ones who resort to the same tired techniques and lazy cliches.

Nonetheless, this series is very funny. Unlike many other reviewers, I'd cite the programme "Animals" as my favourite - the debunking of Carla Lane's socialist credentials was quite a sight, and the report captioned "Ted Maul - In the Country" about a man who wages a psychological war against a cow is a masterpice.

The character of Ted Maul is as memorable as Alan Patridge, if not as famous, and he causes that same I-can't-watch-but-I-can't-stop feeling which was later to result from watching Ricky Gervais play David Brent.

But, as usual, it's the sheer ludicrousness of some of the things that Morris gets celebrities to say that makes this compelling viewing. He said once "In another life I could have been a conman", and watching the slebs fall victim, reading his daft scripts one after another, you can believe it. How did he get Tommy Vance to do an induction video for young offenders? How did he get Bernard Manning to rail against the new Czech drug Cake?

And just how did he manage to get "Mad" Frankie Fraser to willingly indicate on a pointer system that he would be 'Mad as a lorry' ??? Buy this now, before They change their mind and take it off the shelves, lest TV news collapse inwards on itself...

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars TV can be funny . . .
Well worth revisiting the TV work of Chris Morris. We're used to some of the deadpan and not-so-deadpan spoofery on show here but at the time it really felt like the shock of the... Read more
Published 7 months ago by M. Walker

5.0 out of 5 stars Satire at its best
Excellent set. Includes special features and the 2001 special both of which are excellent and well thought out. Read more
Published 7 months ago by N. Dean

5.0 out of 5 stars Work of Genius
Brass Eye is the work of genius. Any show that can convince ostensibly seasoned celebrities into making the most ridiculous of soundbitess deserves a gong. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Bianca White

5.0 out of 5 stars Remember Kids. I'm talking Nonce. Sense.
There really anything I can add to what has already been said about this brilliant brilliant comedy.

Except one thing perhaps. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Gareth Pratt

5.0 out of 5 stars Morris is a Satirical LEGEND!
This really is one of the best british comedy series i have ever seen.
Brass Eye is amazing, whilst dealing with issues that, to this day, are effecting society and us... Read more
Published 16 months ago by M. Western

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic
This is an absolute must buy - all the more so since almost everything it sends up has, sadly, become reality on too many TV channels. Read more
Published 17 months ago by B. Key

5.0 out of 5 stars Best comedy satire series ever
Controversial, 'near the mark', sick...... Sound familliar to many other Channel 4 programmes broadcast over the channel's history? Well Brasseye is no different. Read more
Published on 27 Dec 2007 by Nicholas Wright

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect
This is Morris's highpoint, and absolute perfection.

There will never be anything funnier than this. Maybe AS funny, but not funnier....

Published on 28 Aug 2007 by Master Baker

5.0 out of 5 stars america couldn't even come close to something this smart and edgy
being a yank, that's my intro. there really is no comparison to u.s./u.k. comedy. seeing as how my farovite shows have been british all my life, from pre-teen to teen (the young... Read more
Published on 11 July 2007 by Jared Jennings

5.0 out of 5 stars Genius
Chris Morris's brain must be permanently set to RANDOM to produce in this, and The Day Today, 2 of the funniest programs of the 90's on British television. Read more
Published on 16 April 2007 by Mr. A. Sands

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject






i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.