Customer Reviews

French & Saunders - Back with a Vengeance

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

i've been a long-time french and saunders fan and think that at they're best they're amazing. i'd heard that their latest series for the BBC, 6 episodes which ran last year i believe, got tepid to bad reviews, so i wasn't sure what to expect for this. fortunately, i found this release to be as enjoyable as any of their other released DVDs. the duo, noticeably older than their appearances on previous compilations, still have tons of energy and an uncanny knack for comedy that isn't ever mean-spirited and is oftentimes surrealistically funny. the movie parodies are actually the least funny parts (mostly just including parodies of cold mountain and troy and nods to kill bill and the matrix). the highlights include french and saunders on their way to work at the BBC; the familiar but always wacky conversations in jennifer's all-white living room; two incredibly funny scenes where coldplay's lead singer's mother calls him; and a parody of a british tv show called rosemary and thyme and reworked as "sausages and mash" which, like their house of idiot parody, is extremely funny even if you're not familiar w/ the source. great stuff.

F&S seem to appeal to a specific audience. There's some British comedy that just doesn't translate well for Americans. A lot of this has to do with the fact that we in America just aren't aware of many of the things they're parodying. That French & Saunders manage to make these things funny anyway is rather amazing.

I must disagree that this series isn't as good as the previous ones. Frankly, I thought their earlier series were absolutely unfunny and I couldn't fathom how one could find them so. This and On the Rocks are hilarious and I would recommend them over all their other series. Especially worth watching would be the Titanic parody (Saunders's AbFab co-star Joanna Lumley guests on that) in On the Rocks, and the Cold Mountain "DVD commentary" in Back With a Vengeance. Oh, and Dawn French's Catherine Zeta-Jones impression is wickedly funny.

French and Saunders are some of the funniest women in Britain! Watch their shows!

This DVD includes Jennifer Saunders' parody of Cher through the ages, and that alone is worth the price of the disk. But there are many more hilarious sketches and parodies, it's another wonderful F&S DVD.

I was introduced to French and Saunder through the equally hilarious "Absolutely Fabulous" series. I think this DVD is among their funniest. While there are a few Brit cultural references that are obscure to an American audience (as in any Britcom), this did not impede my enjoyment. The brilliant writing and comedic talents of these women still made it incredibly funny. Includes the usual sendups of popular movies, (Kill Bill, Cold Mountain, Troy) UK tv shows (Hopefully Haunted, which is actually on The Travel Channel here), and icons (Cher, Catherine Zeta Jones, The White Stripes) who have rightfully earned quite a bit of lampooning.

French and Saunders seem to improve with time! Of all the F&S DVDs, this one had me laughing the most and the hardest. The Cold Mountain commentary and Florida retirees sketches are two standouts, although the rest of the material is consistantly funny. The Christmas special included as the bonus is a total treat!

First of all, only purchase this DVD if you're prepared to laugh until it hurts! This duo compliment one another so well and each scene is acted with such ease. This fun, fake behind-the-scenes look at the making of their show will is a new style for the pair. There are also numerous other skits along with this. Of those I've picked the top 3 (drum roll please!):
1. The Cold Turky skit (a play on 'Cold Mountain')
2. The Two Retirees In Florida skit
3. The Visit To The Doctor's Office
Like I said, this is an excellent DVD, worthy of every penny!!!

I only recently discovered and became a devotee of F&S, but I quickly became addicted, seeking out every bit of everything they'd ever written (together and separately)and performed in. Therefore, I thought I knew what I was getting, and I was thrilled that I wouldn't have to watch it in 2 minute Youtube segments. It was beyond disappointing to find that my favorite bits from "Back with a Vengeance" are altogether missing from the DVD! It seems they shortened the BEST parts of this feature (to me it's the hilarity of the gals basically doing nothing at the BBC office, ending with their taping the show, skirting insane fans, and then brawling at the after-party). Instead, they included a couple of other segments I'd never seen that weren't as funny ... and frankly, even if they were, I wasn't getting what I thought I'd paid for. I wonder if it's available in its complete form on the European release, or if that release is missing other bits as well?? In any event, I expected to be able to view the series in its entirety, and had so looked forward to it ... it's sort of like buying your favorite movie only to find they've whittled it down to a made-for-tv version and omitted 1/3 of the plot, and the outcome. PUZZLING, and SAD!

I am a huge fan of these guys but this DVD is just not up to par with their others. Much of this video is not comedy at all. It is French and Saunders hanging around the BBC office trying to come up with a skit that will work for their new producer. The majority of the film occurs there and they don't ever come up with the comedy routine. I love their work and have howled at all the others in this series, but this one misses the mark. I think part of the problem might be that it relies on humor best understood by people who are actually involved in network comedy. Their experiences with and knowledge of the industry allows them to see humor where the average person does not. Buy ON THE ROCKS instead...you won't regret it!

I will give this 5 stars becuase its so good. BUT! i cant stress enough that in the UK these were seperate episodes. There is one point when it goes from one sketch to another in one sketch they are doing the stylists to the masters sketch and next would be Jennifer doing comunity service because she head butted the Queen. But in the dvd you dont know it if you didnt see it on the Tv. So if you live in the USA and you didnt know that Jennifer did Comunity Service she did because she head butted the Queen. In the end of the whole dvd during the credits a clip of GMTV news presenter (which is a program in the UK) says that Jenifer head butted the Queen but in the program when they were seperate that clip in the credits was in the end of one specfic episode. This is a good series and glad i purchased it all the way from the UK. Also if you live in the USa and you watched the Sausages and Mash sketch in the christmas special it is a parody of a half decent murder drama called Rosemary and Tyme starring felicity kendal from the good life (or the good neighbours as you americans call it.)

If you've purchased and enjoyed other French & Saunders DVDs, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed with this.

This DVD features sketches from French & Saunders' 2004 BBC TV series. This series was a departure from earlier series in that it features sketches based on Dawn and Jennifer writing sketches, or rather, doing anything other than writing sketches at BBC Television Centre in London.

Whilst there are some funny moments, and Lisa Tarbuck deserves recognition for playing French & Saunders' producer, the sketches are little too close to the truth. French & Saunders have, sadly, just seem to have run out of ideas.