Customer Reviews

Black Adder lll (Part 2) [VHS]

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I am such a fan of the whole Black Adder series, I honestly feel Rowan Atkinsons amazing comic ability is wasted on the painfully overdone, over-rated Mr Bean bandwagon. Here you see him at his very dry best, with Hugh Laurie being so fantastically stupid as the Prince Regent. The reason I decided to review this video is because it contains probably my favourite episode, sense and senility, with the Prince absorbed with his new thesbian friends, Edmund is at his razor sharp best, watch out for the great sarcastic scene in Mrs Miggins pie shop. The remaining two episodes on the tape are just as entertaining, with there being a familiar face from Black Adder II appearing in Amy and Amiability, for those amongest you who apprieciate a bit of violence Dual and Duality is up your ally with a suprising but hilairious ending. As with any video from the entire Black Adder series, you can't go wrong and you won't be dissapointed, ENJOY!

This video, along with the first video of series III, the second video of series II, and the first two episodes of the second video of series IV, contain the best of Blackadder. But of all the Blackadder videos, this one is consistently the best. Each episode reminds the viewer of the quality of acting and the brilliant scripts that made them a Blackadder fan.

The first episode has Edmund contending with some stupid actors for the blessings of the dim-witted Prince Regent--in the course of events, Baldrick is mistaken for an anarchist, the Prince is almost murdered, and Edmund moves to Sardinia.

In the next episode, Miranda Richardson portrays Amy Hardwood, an industrialist's daughter whom the Prince wishes to marry when he finds out that he is broke. Contains such great lines as "The Prince wants your daughter Amy for his wife." "Well, his wife can't have her!" and "Baldrick, have you no idea what irony is?" "Yeah, it's just like goldy, and bronzey, but it's irony."

The last episode is perhaps the apex of the Blackadders III, where the Mad King "Penguin" George and the mad, mad, madder than Mad-Jack-McMad, winner of last year's Mr. Madman Competition cousin of Blackadder arrives from Scotland. Also starring Stephen Fry as Arthur Wellsley, Duke of Wellington spouting off such quotes as "What in the name of Bonaparte's balls is going on here?"

Unlike the Mr. Bean character, who is both loved and hated (by distinct populations of viewers separated by an unbridgeable chasm), it is virtually impossible not to recognize the genius of this series, which is probably my favorite television series of all time. BA III has some of the strongest scripts and performances of the series. If you have only seen Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean, the transformation into the razor-sharp, plotting, snide, absolutely *wickedly* funny butler is astounding, and even the most intolerant Bean-hater will relish every sneer. The Atkinson-Laurie combination is unbeatable, and their characters play off each other brilliantly. Buy this! Buy the entire series! It is one of the high points in the history of comedy.

This is a serious keeper! Just like the other III tape!

Both are great!