Product Details

• Actors: Alec Baldwin, Corbin Bernsen, Ellen Cleghorne, Chris Farley, Phil Hartman
• Directors: Beth McCarthy-Miller, Paul Miller, James Signorelli, Dave Wilson
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Lions Gate
• VHS Release Date: August 10, 1999
• Run Time: 83 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1573626171
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #225,486 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Phil Hartman was one of the most versatile comedians of his time: whether he was playing the voice of Troy McClure on The Simpsons or portraying the pompous Bill McNeal on NewsRadio, his comedy was always fresh and outrageous. His breakthrough was as a cast member of the late-night program Saturday Night Live, where he satirized everything from politics (Bill Clinton, Admiral Stockdale--Ross Perot's misguided running mate--and Barbara Bush) to entertainment (Frank Sinatra and Phil Donahue), creating unforgettable characters along the way. This "best of" video captures his funniest SNL moments and includes the TV special Saturday Night Live Remembers Phil Hartman plus more. Among the highlights are the commercial Compulsion; Bill Clinton jogging to a fast-food joint (which, filmed long before the Lewinsky incident, seems surprisingly prescient as Clinton comments, "There's gonna be a whole bunch of things we don't tell Mrs. Clinton. Fast food is the least of our worries."); Discover the World of Science, where Hartman portrays an annoyingly daft TV host to Jon Lovitz's scientist; Barbara Bush hosting Nancy Reagan at tea in the White House; Cooking with the Anal Retentive Chef; and Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer. Brief snippets of Hartman in a variety of his roles show some classic moments without slowing down the pace of the collection. This video also features SNL cast members Dana Carvey, Jan Hook, Chris Rock, Chris Farley, Victoria Jackson, and more. Of all the Saturday Night Live retrospectives, this is one of the most consistently funny compilations and truly showcases the best of Phil Hartman. --Jenny Brown

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I feel guilty for not giving this 5 stars, July 18, 2000

By 

Kitten With a Whip "kittenwithawhip" (The Hellmouth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saturday Night Live: The Best of Phil Hartman [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Before you slam me, keep in mind I am definitely not giving Phil Hartman's talent a less-than perfect rating (I would give him 10 out of 10 stars, if I were rating that) or his performances on SNL as a whole a sub-par rating (10 out of 10 stars again, if that were the case).

I just felt that this collection didn't do him the justice he deserved. There was some great stuff in here, such as him as Barbara Bush, The Sinatra Group (where as Sinatra, he hilariously puts down his 'guests' Billy Idol, Sinead "Uncle Fester" O Connor, and Luther Campbell, played by Sting, Jan Hooks, and Chris Rock) Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, Bill Clinton, and more. After watching it, however, I did feel like they could have done a better job putting it together-there were sketches that I really had to wonder what they were thinking (such as the beheading one) when they included them instead of more of PH as Ed McMahon, or even more Sinatra. After it was over, my husband said he felt like he was watching "The Best of Jan Hooks and Phil Hartman", since she seems to play a more prominent role in some of the bits they include than he does. I should state in all fairness that I was never a big fan of hers, and was relieved when left the cast. But even if she didn't irritate me, this should really be a tribute that focused more closely on Hartman. I agree that they (Hooks and Hartman) worked closely together (for example, she played Hilary to his Bill)so it would have been hard not to have her appear at least part of the time. I just wanted less of her and more of Hartman.

At first, I didn't especially like the short film they ended it with (Hooks plays an elderly star who goes to her safety deposit box to try on her prized jewelry collection, and we flash back to her as a young woman, dancing with Hartman in a glamorous Astaire/Rodgers type musical) the first time I watched it, but upon repeated viewings, the ending really grew on me and I found it very touching and fitting. It is so well-done and romantic that it probably would make me choked up a tiny bit even if Hartman was still alive, but since his tragic murder, it really is poignant to the point where I get teary just thinking about it. At the risk of sounding really sappy, his death was so shocking and unexpected that I still hard to believe sometimes that he is gone. This video collection is good, but just seems as though it was slapped together too fast (with the better organized Farley tribute, I get the feeling they already had put the whole thing together and ready to go months before he passed away-they aired it what, 2 weeks after he died). I am sure everyone involved in the making of this collection was still emotional and shaken up after Hartman's death, and were maybe so sad (he was especially well-loved among everyone that worked on the show-I have never heard anyone ever say anything negative about him before or after he died) that they didn't have their hearts in it to do the best job possible. I enjoyed it, but felt it was too short and left out too much...though it's a long shot, I'm hoping for a volume 2, a second, better-organized collection.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Where is Volume two?, October 10, 2004

By 

David Carlin (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Saturday Night Live - The Best of Phil Hartman (DVD)

This volume clearly shows how wonderfully unique Phil Hartman was. My favorite skit on this DVD was Unfrozen Cave Man Lawyer. I would like to see at least another volume or two from the SNL archives on Phil. I don't believe they even scratched the surface of his best past performances. Some of the videos shown here were just snippits of performances.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Should have been better..., June 10, 2004

By 

Joseph - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saturday Night Live - The Best of Phil Hartman (DVD)

I read all the reviews of this, and i found the one extremely negative one and figured it was just some moron that didn't know what he was talking about. After buying this and watching it, i realized that he was way closer to the truth than any of the other reviewers. This dvd contains about 4 funny sketches, tops. I remember phil hartman being way funnier than he is portrayed on this dvd, and i have a theory as to why this one stinks as bad as it does.
-Phil Hartman is an extremely funny and talented actor, but for some reason he was written in as a funny "side guy" in a lot of sketches, and the ones where he is the main character, he is usually doing an impression of someone or it is just plain boring, for whatever reason. Therefore, to see Phil Hartman in his top form, you would be better off buying Adam Sandler's, Mike Myers', or Chris Farley's dvds, because theirs probably have all the sketches in which we remember Phil Hartman being so funny. The only sketches left by the time they got around to making Hartman's dvd were the ones we would have been better off forgetting. The only things worth watching on this dvd are "cooking with the anal retentive chef" and "the all drug olympics," which is about 10 seconds long. I hate to write a review like this because i really loved phil hartman, but it is a shame that i would rather watch the "bad" ones on the will ferrell dvd than the "good" ones on this dvd. Sorry.