Product Details

• Actors: Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan, Alexei Sayle
• Directors: Paul Jackson
• Writers: Rik Mayall, Alexei Sayle, Ben Elton, Lise Mayer
• Producers: Paul Jackson
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: September 10, 1996
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304154259
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #275,774 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This show rocks!, January 7, 2000

By 

Melissa Menifield "Muppet Fan" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Young Ones : Bambi/Nasty/Time [VHS] (VHS Tape)

'The Young Ones' was the first Britcom I ever had the pleasure of viewing. It is part surreal, part insane, and all the way fun! This particular video follows the adventures of housemates Rick, Vyv, Mike and Neil as they challenge and then blow some college competitors ("Bambi," look for a young Emma Thompson in this one!); as they try to bury a hopefully-dead vampire ("Nasty," one of the funniest episodes!); and finally as they try to figure out exactly how their house ends up in the middle ages ("Time," thank goodness for the telly!). All in all, this entire video collection is a riot, definitely worth owning if you like insane British comedy (who doesn't?)

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Once in Every Lifetime, December 7, 2000

By 

Captain Cook (Leeward to the Sandwich Islands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Young Ones - Bambi/Nasty/Time [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The Young Ones epitomised the confusion of the generation that came of age in the Thatcher Years. Caught between a right wing government, the residue of punk and left-wing ideas from the 60s and 70s, and the continued disolution of the class system, British youth went through an identity crisis, struggling to find a suitable sub-group to belong to, whether it be punk (Vyv), spiv (Mike), hippy (Neil), or 'right-on' left-wing radical (Rick). Throwing these 4 student-types together in an anarchic, surreal house-share was a stroke of genius.

The main focus is the explosive relationship of the pretentious Rick (Rik Mayall) and the brutally straightforward Vyvian (Adrian Edmonson). These 2 actors later reprised a stripped down version of this relationship in "Bottom". Neal the Hippie and Mike the Spiv provided useful ballast and a wider range of plot options preventing this central comedic relationship from imploding.

The support cast reads like a virtual who's-who of British comedy in the 80s and 90s, including Robbie Coltrane, Hale and Pace, French and Saunders, Tony Robinson, Griff Rhys Jones, Mel Smith, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry.

This video includes 3 episodes from 1984:

(1) Bambi

This is the best one here. Unfortunately for non-British viewers, it also includes lots of Brits-only joke references like Felicity Kendal's underwear and "University Challenge". Felicity Kendal was a rather kittenish, husky-voiced actress who appeared in the great British sit-com "The Good Life" (called "Good Neighbors" on the other side of the pond). This reference is used hilariously as part of this episode's laundry theme. University Challenge was a quiz show with teams of 4 from different universities answering questions from the unforgettable Bamber ('Bambi') Gascoigne. There were sometimes culture clashes as students from upper class universities (the toffs) competed against poorer grant-assisted students (the oiks) from newer, less prestigious universities. This episode makes fun of these differences with the oiks ably represented by the Young Ones. One of the bonuses is Oscar winner Emma Thompson playing one of the toffs. "I've got a porsche," she says in answer to a quiz question.

Rik Mayall is in particularly good form as the self-obsessed, self-righteous, wannabe trendy Rick. The highlight, however, has to be Vyvian sticking his head out the train window. The musical break fits into the story this time with Motorhead's rendition of "Ace of Spades" capturing the sense of urgency as the Young Ones rush through London to catch a train.

(2) Nasty

After some more jokes about student hygiene (which for most students of the period - like me - are too real to be funny) this episode focuses on the students' attempts to watch video nasties using a borrowed video player. A surrealist horror motif runs throughout, with Alexei Sayle playing a South African vampire. For student radicals of the time there was no greater personification of evil than White South Africa. Details like this may be somewhat dated now. The musical break features the Damned playing in the house.

(3) Time

This starts strongly with a parody of Dallas with Neil dreaming about a multinational oil company spending all their money on ecological measures and new age hippy ideas. After this the comedy stems from Rick's attempts to 'indirectly' inform everybody that he slept with a woman the previous night. "I wonder who the extra cup of tea is for?" he asks rhetorically. This episode then proceeds to tap into the fears of adolescent males desperate to establish some sort of sexual track record, as Vyvian forces Rick to admit that he is still a virgin. These themes naturally lead into concerns about time and time-travelling as the student's house goes back in time to the Middle Ages with the usual anarchic results. Amazulu, a band from the 80s, underline the theme of time with a performance of their now forgotten music.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Young Ones are Absoulutely Brilliant!, March 31, 2000

By 

John Nelson (North Fond du Lac, WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Young Ones : Bambi/Nasty/Time [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I saw THE YOUNG ONES for the first time when I was rather young, and I never forgot it. Time may have passed, and as I see it again now on tape it is probably one of the funniest shows made, and it beats the pants off of any trendy NBC swill anyday of the week. The premise is rather simple: Four VERY mismatched college students share the rather shabby accomidations of Scumbag University in England. Those students are Vyvyian, the punk who likes to break things and make things explode. Rick, the most obnoxious and cowardly character I have ever seen on TV who thinks everybody is either a communist, nazi or a facist. Neil the downer hippie who loves lentils and will sometimes try to kill himself. And finally Mike, the hustler who has in my opinion some of the best lines on a tv show-"Is that the time?" "No time is an abstract concept, thats a watch." Plots can at times be thin but the characters are terrific. All in all a great show-watch one tape and you will probably buy them all. Start with this one, it's easily the best nest to CASH, INTERESTING, and SUMMER HOLIDAY.