Customer Reviews

French & Saunders - Living in a Material World

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
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All of the 4 available French & Saunders DVDs released in the U.S. so far are good, entertaining examples of fine British parodies, but "Living in a Material World" is beyond fabulous. It includes as a BONUS FEATURE the Easter Special that ran on Comedy Central as "The French & the Saunders" . . . which puts a hysterical spin on Peter Jackson's "LOTR" movies that even Ian McKellen reportedly suggested Jackson include on the bumper disc for the trilogy. Especially at amazon.com's low price, you can't afford not to own this DVD if you love F&S or LOTR!

This may be French's and Saunders's finest work of all. Those familiar with them largely through ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS or their broader humor from the earlier French and Saunders series will be surprised at how subtle they are capable of being here. Jennifer Saunders' awesomely controlled imitation of Jane Seymour (in perhaps their most hilarious of all parodies, DR. QUIMN, MAD WOMAN) is a case in point. Who even dreamed that Jane Seymour *could* be parodied at all? (Saunders does it by looking incredibly sincerely at whomever she's speaking to and murmuring vaguely audible comforting things; when at one point she speaks, in a moment of crisis, at a normal human level, she has to turn back to murmur, "I'm sorry I raised my voice at you just now...") Dawn French makes a memorable Pamela Anderson in their BAYWATCH parody (she not only gets the hair and lipstick down perfectly but also the spaced-out look of concern), and then the production staff serves them brilliantly with a Fellini parody that is so exact--even down to the film stock used---that it must be seen to be believed.

Have you ever laughed so hard that it hurt? I think I broke my face and ruptured my spleen watching this, but I'd willingly go through it all over again. Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders have got to be the two funniest comics of our time, and this DVD stands out with their 'At The Movies' DVD as some of their best material. Half the time I was howling over the graceful execution of their humor, and the other half of the time I was just awed by the sheer imagination that went into thinking up this stuff (and the detail - omigod!). There's something for everyone in this DVD, from 'Baywatch' to 'Juliet of the Spirits' to 'Braveheart' to several HILARIOUS music videos (I hope one day they put out a DVD of just music videos). The best thing is, one doesn't have to be familiar with the material their satirizing in order to 'get it.' I've never seen 'Baywatch' or 'Dr Quinn', but the 'types' they were satirizing are universal to anyone who has ever even glanced at television. Do make sure you check out the bonus feature on the DVD. The 'Lord of the Rings' satire is priceless! Just make sure you have a sling ready for your poor, aching face ... you're going to need it by the time you're through!

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are two of the real geniuses of contemporary comedy, and this tape illustrates it. Their screamingly funny parody of Madonna's "Truth or Dare", for example, is not only intrinsically humorous, but right on the mark lampooning as well. There are TV series parodies -- "Baywatch" deflating all the cliches of the show (Every other syllable out of the characters' mouths is: "...Hey!..."; and in the credits I love "Jennifer Saunders as The Thin Dark One"); "Dr Quimn, Madwoman" (where half of Dr Quimn's verbiage is "(S)He's sleeping now..."; or their sendup of "Braveheart". But two of the movie parodies -- or rather, parodies of the styles of two famous directors -- win the prize. The Bergman parody is delicious ("I have have to deal with the emptiness of human existence and the sterility of modern life, and I HAVEN'T EVEN HAD A CUP OF TEA YET!" -- or Death coming in and asking, "Can I have a biscuit please?"); but for my money the best of all is the wonderful Fellini sequence -- dialogue in Italian and subtitled -- which is stylistically so perfect an evocation of Fellini and his various moods it rises to the level of pure genius. (The helicopter flying with a huge statue of Madonna - and the discussion conflating Madonna with THE Madonna -- it's priceless!) The Fellini sequence alone is worth the price! Highly recommended!

Before Jennifer Saunders' mega hit, "Absolutely Fabulous", there was "French and Saunders" starring Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.

These two women play with, and master, parody. For instance, the world owes them the hilarious "In Bed with French and Saunders" which is shown in this video. In their 1998's series they get their hands on "Braveheart" and "Baywatch", in which the not-so-thin Dawn French is playing Pamela Anderson, and I never get tired of it.

But French and Saunders are also a couple who doesn't need movies and songs to be funny. I invite you to join them in one of their living room talks or in their typically British sketches.

Along with comedy sketches, songs, and a bit of dancing,Madonna French and Madonna Jen are waiting for your visit. I do recommend as well the LIVE VIDEO which is simply irresitible.

What else could I say? Nothing! Just buy it!

I agree that out of the four DVDs of French and Saunders for sale in North America, this is one of the better ones (almost as good as At The Movies). If you like French and Saunders this is a must have.

The "Baywatch" spoof alone is worth the price. French&Saunders have long been famous in England as the most brilliant comedy team ever, if you haven't seen them get this disk -- and all their other work as well. You will never laugh so much. As with all really great comedy, you can watch it again and again and laugh just as much.

This is the best one. It's got Bay Watch, Pocahontas, Dr. Quinn, Fellini, Batman, Rob Roy (not Rob Roy, the other one, with Mel Gibson), the Hobbit, et al. You'll need tissues from laughing so hard, maybe even, dare I say it, toilet tissue, and the jokes are on many levels, like the fact that Jennifer/Batman is afraid she'll have to kiss a woman.

My second favorite is "At the Movies." But try them all at least once.

I agree with a later reviewer about the subtlety of the humor and pinpoint accuracy of the impressions. You just don't see work like this anywhere.

If you're a fan of AbFab or British comedy in general, check out F&S. In this particular installment, they parody Dr. Quinn, Madonna, Batman, and even Braveheart. These original creators of AbFab are hilarious in their sketches, a lot of times going out of their characters to talk in their normal voices and poke fun of the segment they're in. I highly recommend them and plan on collecting all of the videos.

If you loved Absolutely Fabulous this will be a good one for you to add to the AB/FAB collection. Dawn Frech and Jennifer Saunders are hillarious !