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Special Features
- Commentary by Mel Brooks
- Inside the Lab: Secret Formulas in the Making of Young Frankenstein
- The Franken-Track: A Monstrous Conglomeration of Trivia
- Blucher Button
- It's Alive! Creating a Monster Classic
- Transylvanian Lullaby: The Music of John Morris
- Making FrankenSense of Young Frankenstein
- Outtakes
- Isolated Score Track
- Interviews with Marty Feldman, Gene Wilder and Cloris Leachman
- Deleted Scenes
- Production Photo Galleries and More
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Beyond Young Frankenstein
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Stills from Young Frankenstein (Click for larger image)
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Product Description
Customer Reviews
The content of this wonderful movie is covered amply elsewhere, so I won't repeat what others have so well synopsized. I WOULD like to point out a couple of things about this particular DVD:
1) The commentary track is accessible from the the LANGUAGE SELECTION menu, rather than from the special features menu (as is usual for commentary tracks). I was terribly frustrated by this until I got some help from Christian at boldopinions.com (thanks Christian!).
2) Yes, the commentary track IS mostly Mel babbling, but there are some nice tidbits here (many of the cut-away shots were put in because Gene Wilder kept breaking, Mel thought "Puttin' On The Ritz" was frivolous, etc.). It's also heart-breaking to hear about how Marty Feldman's health habits led to his death at age 59. Unfortunately, since Mel's commentary leans toward the personal, we don't get to hear about the roots of the dart-throwing scene (practically a duplication of a scene in "Son of Frankenstein")-- and I would SWEAR that the trees going by the window in the Transylvanian train sequence are the same ones in the train sequence in "Son of Frankenstein." So we can't have everything.
3) The documentary is really wonderful-- it's obvious that everyone has warm feelings about the film, and the recollections are sharp and insightful. It gives the movie added dimension, so don't pass it over.
I haven't seen mention in the Amazon reviews of "Young Frankenstein" the multiple homages to "Son of Frankenstein," not the least of which is Gene Wilder's spot-on lord-of-the-manor affectations through many of the early Transylvanian sequences (in his grandfather's bedroom: "And where is my grandfather's PRIVATE library?...[book snatched from shelf] Why, these books are all very general [snap snap snap the pages]; any doctor might have them in his study [SLAP book closed]" and the entirety of the aforementioned dart-throwing scene (in which Wilder is positively CHANNELING Basil Rathbone). So make "Son of Frankenstein" ALSO required viewing prior to seeing "Young Frankenstein."
Finally, I think that Mel hits the nail on the head when he says (repeatedly) that so many scenes are emotional at the same time that they're being funny. This film was made with such love by all concerned, and it shows. Yes, it can be occasionally crass, and go for obvious cheap laughs (albeit MUCH less so than any movie Mel has made before or since), but what one ultimately takes away from this movie is the incredible amount of care everyone took with the project. Hell, you might even find yourself with a tear in your eye at the end (I did-- the awesome score by John Morris helps a lot!). Alas, Mel and Gene were never again to collaborate on a script (it is amazing that the Borscht Belt comedy of Mel Brooks and the hopeless romanticism of Gene Wilder found such fertile creative ground in the first place!), so this movie is lightning in a bottle (pun intended). Don't miss it.
From Teri Garr "rolling in ze hay," to Kenneth Mars's inspired Police Inspector, everyone in the entire film seems to be working at their most hysterically hilarious. Special mention must be given to Gene Wilder giving one of his most classic performances of his strangled-fury schtick ever ("Put... the candle... back!!!") and to Peter Boyle, for his very poignant and funny depiction of the Monster.
But standing above all of the end in terms of sheer brilliance is Madeline Kahn, giving what must be the funniest female performace ever on film as Frankenstein's fiancee and the monster's eventual bride. Unlike everyone else in the film, she's not really parodying anyone other than herself; yet nevertheless her depiction of Elizabeth, the wealthy prude who discovers she's a volcano of passion undeneath, is so funny I'm practically crying almost every time I see this film. There's one brief little scene where she's brushing her hair in her boudoir before the Monster steals into her room and kidnaps her, and for absolutely no apparent reason(which makes the scene all the funnier) she's giving vent to a deeply lusty rendition of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" while brushing out her hair. It is the funniest five seconds in the entire film--and in a film this hilarious that's saying a lot.
Without question, Young Frankenstein is the VERY funniest movie EVER made. Read more
I still get a bellly laugh at scenes, and, love the music in there. Truly a classic at some of comedie's best.
this is comedy. the cast is brilliant
