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A Fish Called Wanda (Special Edition) [DVD] [1988]
 
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A Fish Called Wanda (Special Edition) [DVD] [1988]

DVD ~ John Cleese
4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
RRP: £19.99
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Frequently Bought Together

A Fish Called Wanda (Special Edition) [DVD] [1988] + Clockwise [DVD] [1985] + Fierce Creatures [DVD] [1997]
Total RRP: £38.97
Price For All Three: £13.63

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

A Fish Called Wanda (Special Edition) [DVD] [1988]
94% buy the item featured on this page:
A Fish Called Wanda (Special Edition) [DVD] [1988] 4.7 out of 5 stars (15)
£3.98
The Complete Fawlty Towers [1975] [DVD]
2% buy
The Complete Fawlty Towers [1975] [DVD] 4.8 out of 5 stars (50)
£11.98
Clockwise [DVD] [1985]
1% buy
Clockwise [DVD] [1985] 4.7 out of 5 stars (3)
£3.98
A Fish Called Wanda/Dirty Rotten Scoundrels [DVD]
1% buy
A Fish Called Wanda/Dirty Rotten Scoundrels [DVD]
£6.07

Product details

  • Actors: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Maria Aitken
  • Directors: John Cleese, Charles Crichton
  • Writers: John Cleese, Charles Crichton
  • Producers: John Cleese, John Comfort, Michael Shamberg, Steve Abbott
  • Format: Box set, Dubbed, PAL, Special Edition, Widescreen
  • Language English, Italian, Russian
  • Subtitles: English, German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  • Number of discs: 2
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: MGM Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: 10 Feb 2003
  • Run Time: 103 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00007LZ5I
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 3,117 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
This 1988 comedy starred and was scripted by John Cleese and directed by Charles Crichton, veteran Ealing Comedy director. After 1986's Clockwise--in which he played a manic loser similar to Basil Fawlty--A Fish Called Wanda saw Cleese opting for a more sympathetic lead role. Cleese plays Archie Leach (Cary Grant's real name), a barrister living a typically English life of quiet desperation, who falls prey to the American charms of Jamie Lee Curtis. Posing as a law student, she's actually involved in a diamond robbery with psychotic but occasionally clueless Kevin Kline ("The London Underground is not a revolutionary movement!") and Michael Palin, an animal rights' activist. A Fish Called Wanda is, typically of Cleese, well constructed but the romantic heart of the movie softens it a little. It was intended as a satire on Anglo-American differences but most people remember it for a running joke involving squashed dogs, the chips up Palin's nose and the scene where Cleese is hung out of a window by his ankles. The same cast reassembled for 1997's vastly inferior Fierce Creatures.--David Stubbs

Amazon.co.uk Review
A Fish Called Wanda was the blockbuster which proved that John Cleese could be a movie star in his own right. Directed by the Veteran Charles Crichton, who made the 1951 Ealing Comedies classic The Lavender Hill Mob, Wanda combined Ealing-comedy capers and Basil Fawlty-esque farce with contemporary big-screen swearing and black comedy. The plot develops in classic film noir style as Cleese's lawyer, Archie Leech, gets sucked into the double-crossing aftermath of a London diamond heist.

For sound box-office reasons, British comedies often sport an American star and here Cleese delivers not only Jamie Lee Curtis as a smooth operating femme fatale, but Kevin Kline as her idiotic, and insanely jealous lover (for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar). Pushing the limits of bad taste is Michael Palin's animal-loving Ken, who in the film's best running gag attempts to murder an old lady, only to slay her beloved pet dogs. Other highlights include Palin as a man with two chips up his nose and Cleese showing the world a different sort of "Full Monty". One of the funniest British films ever made, A Fish Called Wanda was followed by Fierce Creatures (1997), which reunited the lead cast and claimed to be an "equal" not a "sequel", but sadly wasn't. --Gary S Dalkin

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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
5 star:
 (12)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully brilliant, 9 Jun 2005
To make a comedy that can be lauded with the comment 'absolutely hilarious' isn't an easy thing to do. It's not so difficult, however, when you are one of the funniest men on god's green earth; and the extremely talented John Cleese has certainly managed to write a fine piece of comedy here. Teaming up with Monty Python buddy Michael Palin and Ealing studios director Charles Crichton, these talented comedians have managed to create a film that is most certainly one of the funniest; laugh per minute and lasting hilarity when it's over, movies ever made. The plot is taken straight from the classic Ealing comedy era (no wonder it works so well) and it follows four crooks that have stolen a bunch of jewels and now decide to double cross one another to take the loot solely for themselves. The plot thickens when the female of the bunch decides that the best way to get the loot would be to get close to a grassed-up co-conspirator's barrister; John Cleese.

Aside from an inch-perfect screenplay, A Fish Called Wanda also benefits from a fine cast of actors to deliver it. John Cleese steals every scene he's in, as you might expect, and he more than justifies his reputation as one of, maybe even the, finest British comedy actor ever. He is joined by a talented pair of Americans; Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis, along with, as mentioned, his fellow Python Michael Palin. Kline is certainly one of the most underrated actors working today, and his comic timing in this movie is right on the money. Makes you wonder how much better he could have been used over the years. "Scream Queen" Jamie Lee Curtis also does well in the title role; and Michael Palin obviously knows his way round a comedy script. The jokes in the film come thick and fast, and I can't think of a single one that didn't work. It's the big gags that are the real stand out of the movie, though, and one in particular that sees Kevin Kline trying to explain to Cleese's wife what he's doing in their home is absolutely priceless. I nearly fell of my chair laughing. This film is a must see.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant microcosm of the best of film comedy!, 2 May 2004
By Helen Neenot, naturally (Gravesend, Kent. UK) - See all my reviews
If you want a very funny film, with lots of deep belly laughs, and some more subtle jokes thrown in too, watch this film. If you want a plot that with more intriguing twists and turns than Spaghetti Junction, watch this film. If you want a romantic comedy involving lust, passion and toenail clippings, watch this film. Maybe you just love animals, or Monty Python, Kevin Kline or Jamie Lee Curtis. Anglophiles and Anglophobes could equally be entralled by the diversity offered in this rare gem of a film. I am yet to meet anyone who has not enjoyed this film. (Well, appart from Yorkshire Terrier devotees, but I feel that they may be in a minority) If have not already done so, watch it now. Just go with me on this one - you won't regret it.
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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Fabulously Madcap Farce, 13 Mar 2005
By Jana L. Perskie "ceruleana" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
John Cleese, of Monty Python fame, co-wrote the screenplay for this hilarious comedy caper along with director Charles Crichton, who also directed "The Lavender Hill Mob." Cleese is totally irreverent and has absolutely no clue as to the meaning of political correctness. Everyone and everything is a target for satire. Cleese also performs here one of the most side-splitting stripteases I have ever seen. I literally doubled-over with laughter!

A twenty million dollar jewelry heist is pulled off in London's Hatton Gardens by four eccentric misfits, two Brits and two Americans. George, (Tom Georgeson), is the ringleader, the man who masterminded the theft. He is the only one who knows where the jewels are hidden. His partners in crime include animal lover, Ken Pile, (Michael Palin), a socially inept bumbler with a stuttering problem. He loves his goldfish, Wanda, (named for the movie's heroine), with the passion most attach to their significant other. Wanda Gershwitz, (Jamie Lee Curtis), is George's girlfriend, who uses her formidable seduction techniques to get what she wants, and she wants all the money! Wanda finagles to bring Otto West, (Kevin Kline), into the gang, telling the others he is her brother - although like most other men in the film, he is her lover. And Kline is brilliant as the manic, Nietzche-reading, ex-CIA agent and Anglophobe. He is a self-styled intellectual, but is so stupid that he thinks the London Underground is a political movement. As Wanda remarks, "He's so dumb he thought the Gettysburg Address was where Lincoln lived."

The ploys, dirty tricks and double-crosses Otto and Wanda use against their partners, to prevent them from receiving a share of the loot, are classic. When George's lawyer, Archie, (John Cleese), falls in love with Wanda, her formidable skills at juggling men are seriously challenged. Cleese brings an endearing romantic touch to the smitten Archie. The situation grows more and more convoluted and the laughs build right along with the escalation. Otto is extremely jealous of any man who looks twice at Wanda, and obviously Archie takes more than two glimpses. Madcap madness!

I don't want to disclose any more of the plot here, but "A Fish Called Wanda" contains some of the funniest scenes I have viewed on film. Director Charles Crichton keeps the pace moving at a nice clip and the satire involving the cultural clash between the very proper, if somewhat stuffy English, versus the uncouth, aggressive Yanks is pure delight. At one point, Archie says to Wanda: "Do you have any idea what it's like to be English? We're all terrified by embarrassment. That's why we're all dead!"

This flaky farce is a must see! A definite 5 star film.
JANA

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't call me stupid!
An idea struck John Cleese, the writer and star of this film. He thought people were bored with slow moving British comedies with characters that were brilliant, yet didn't have... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Piran Armes

5.0 out of 5 stars Twists, turns, and squirms...
Every so often this one comes out of the collection and like fine vintage wine never fails to surprise and delight! It is simply fabulous. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Big John

5.0 out of 5 stars put simply-a true english classic comedy
A fish called wanda is a real classic,a film that new generations will take too with ease,the key here is that all the stars are on top of their game and they should be with a... Read more
Published on 9 Feb 2007 by sean paul mccann

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic...
We've all heard of it, we've nearly all seen it (if you havn't, where have you been?) and we all like it! Read more
Published on 7 Dec 2005 by Shkandrij

2.0 out of 5 stars Average film, but certainly no classic
After watching this, I am at a loss to explain why it has been so critically acclaimed. It's a decent enough film, but is certainly not on a par with "This is Spinal Tap" and... Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2004 by C. Howarth

5.0 out of 5 stars A FISH CALLED WANDA. A FILM CALLED BRILLIANT
This has to be John Cleese's best movie since the good old python days, Wanda is about some bank robbers and the female robber (Jamie Lee Curtis) begins to fancy barrister Archie... Read more
Published on 12 Aug 2003 by TOM THE TROMA FAN

4.0 out of 5 stars Kevin Klein at his best
Simply magic. Michael Palin's stuttering, bungling criminal up against Klein's 'nasty' professional hard man delivers a non stop belly buster.
Published on 30 May 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars British Comedy at its absolute best
Its been a long time since this was released at the cinema, therefore the euphoria and marvel that accompanied its released has been forgotten. Read more
Published on 11 April 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Cream of the Crop
I received this film for Christmas 2002 and I must say it certainly is one of the best films ever. After seeing Fierce Creatures a while ago I was interested to see the 'better'... Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2003 by Mr C L Leader

5.0 out of 5 stars Kevin Kline is the star of the show
After seeing Fawlty Towers and seeing the performances that John Cleese put in as the igorant Basil, I thought that it would be more of the same in this film but Kevin Kline is... Read more
Published on 29 May 2001

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