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Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered
 
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Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered

Series: Fawlty Towers Rating: NR (Not Rated) Format: DVD
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

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  • This item: Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered DVD ~ John Cleese

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Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered
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Product Details

  • Actors: John Cleese, Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth, Prunella Scales
  • Format: Box set, DVD, Full Screen, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Subtitled, NTSC
  • Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 3
  • Rating: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: BBC Warner
  • DVD Release Date: October 20, 2009
  • Run Time: 374 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B002LFPAUC
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #878 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #1 in  Movies & TV > Television > BBC > Fawlty Towers
    #2 in  Movies & TV > Comedy > Comedy Stars > John Cleese
    #5 in  Movies & TV > Television > BBC > Gift Sets
  • For more information about "Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Special Features

  • Exclusive commentary by John Cleese
  • 2009 extended interviews, including exclusive interview with Connie Booth
  • Accompanying booklet
  • Interviews with John Cleese, Prunella Scales, and Andrew Sachs
  • Series 1 director's commentary by John Howard Davies
  • Series 2 director's commentary by Bob Spiers
  • Artist profiles
  • Outtakes
  • Torquay Tourist Guide (short documentary film)
  • Cheap Tatty Review

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Basil Fawlty, as created and performed by John Cleese, is the rudest, most boorish, most hilariously obnoxious man on the face of the planet. What a natural for a TV sitcom! His screen wife, Sybil (Prunella Scales), put it best in the episode "The Psychiatrist": "You're either crawling all over them, licking their boots, or spitting poison at them like some Benzedrine puff adder." He mockingly replies, "Just trying to enjoy myself, dear." With his gangly frame and contortionist abilities, Cleese brilliantly punctuates Basil's outrageous faux pas with absurd gymnastics and turns Three Stooges-style pokes and kicks into a slapstick ballet. Scales's Sybil is the genial but obliviously chatty voice of reason and Andrew Sachs mangles the English language as the Spanish bellhop Manuel, whose struggles with simple directions results in comic lunacy reminiscent of Robert Benigni. After a six-episode run in 1975, Cleese and cowriter and costar Connie Booth (who plays Polly, the maid all too often pulled into Basil's ridiculous plans) reunited the cast in 1979 for another six episodes without missing a punch line. The four-volume collection contains all 12 shows, interspersed with interview segments featuring Cleese discussing the genesis of the series and anecdotes about the individual episodes. Remember to watch the opening credits of each show to spot the creative misspellings on the hotel sign (our favorite: "Fatty Owls"). --Sean Axmaker

Also on the discs
While enjoying your Fawlty Towers holiday, be sure to extend your stay by visiting the deluxe extra features. New to this set are entertaining commentaries by John Cleese, who provides illuminating insights into how these "lovely little farces" were constructed. He expresses genuine affection for the cast and guest stars, is quick to praise exquisite bits of comic business ("This is funnier than I remember"), and is not shy about criticizing his own performance ("I don't think I acted this right"). Also new to this set are newly filmed interviews with Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, and Connie Booth, who offers some great anecdotes about collaborating with her then-husband Cleese and how some memorable gags were created. Donald Sinclair, the real-life rude hotelier who inspired the character of Basil Fawlty, is given his due, but be forewarned you will hear several versions of the Eric Idle ticking suitcase story. Also appearing are notable guest stars, including Bernard Cribbins ("The Hotel Inspectors"), Geoffrey Palmer ("The Kipper and the Corpse"), and David Kelly ("The Builders"), who talk of their experiences on one of television's towering sitcoms. There is also an odd "Cheap Tatty Review." Holdover features from the previously released boxed set include episode commentaries by directors John Howard Davies and Bob Spiers; archival interviews with Cleese, Scales, and Sachs; a short film about Torquay; disappointingly paltry outtakes; and a helpful Who's Who guide to the series' cast and guest stars. --Donald Liebenson

Product Description

Coming to Special Edition DVD for the first time, it’s the complete Fawlty Towers collection with all-new commentary from John Cleese! Hot off the runaway success of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, John Cleese embarked on his now-legendary sitcom, Fawlty Towers, creating one of the most memorable and best loved characters in all of British comedy, Basil Fawlty. Basil Fawlty is a much put-upon, hard-working hotel manager whose life is plagued by dead guests, hotel inspectors, and riff-raff. Of course his biggest headache is his “little nest of vipers,” his nagging wife Sibyl. Together they run their hotel, Fawlty Towers, with a little help from the unflappable Polly and the trainee waiter from Barcelona with marginally more intelligence than a monkey, Manuel.

-Exclusive commentary by John Cleese
-2009 extended interviews, including exclusive interview with Connie Booth
-Accompanying booklet
-Interviews with John Cleese, Prunella Scales, and Andrew Sachs
-Series 1 director's commentary by John Howard Davies
-Series 2 director's commentary by Bob Spiers
-Artist profiles
-Outtakes
-Torquay Tourist Guide (short documentary film)
-Cheap Tatty Review


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Customer Reviews

24 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (24 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the investment, October 31, 2009
By Daniel Farrelly (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Having purchased the previous Fawlty Towers complete series on DVD set three years ago, I was skeptical as to whether the "Remastered" version was worth it. I can assure you that it is. John Cleese's hilarious and insightful commentary alone is worth the extra investment. As well, the sound and picture quality are noticeably better, adding to the enjoyment. Highly recommended even if you have previously purchased the series on VHS or DVD. Enjoy!
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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Billiant Classic, October 20, 2009
By Rene M. (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
Having been a huge fan of this series since it first ran on PBS, I bought all the episodes years ago on VHS. Hadn't gotten around to getting the DVD's, and now glad I waited for this special edition set. I can highly recommend purchasing, even if you've never had the pleasure of viewing this comic classic before. Sadly, only twelve episodes were made, but each one is pure gold, and infinitely superior to most sitcoms that run for years. Can't wait to see all the extras. The writing is genius; the cast is flawless--I could go on forever. Thank you, John Cleese!
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56 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Nope, it's not a dream. We're stuck with it!, August 15, 2009
Nothing really needs to be said about this classic British sitcom, except that it contains some of the most brilliant, most hilarious, and most humiliatingly ghastly moments in the entire history of television.

And "Fawlty Towers Complete Collection" brings together the entire series in all its embarrassing avalanchal glory. It's one of those universally funny TV shows, all about the undignified exploits of a perpetually hostile, repressed and tetchy hotel manager, and the more competant staff who try to keep thngs sane, written with demented zeal ("That's Brahms! Brahms' Third Racket!") and excellent comic acting.

Basil (John Cleese) and Sybil Fawlty (Prunella Scales) run a moderately-sized hotel in Torquay, with the assistance of the clever waittress Polly (Connie Booth) and the Spanish waiter Manuel (Andrew Sachs) whose grasp of English is a work in progress. The hotel is home to a dotty old soldier, fluttery spinsters, and a revolving door of very dissatisfied customers.

Basil Fawlty (Cleese) puts out a snotty ad to attract a "better class of customer," which attracts a pleasant aristocrat. Basil fawns revoltingly over the man, neglecting the other guests. But savvy waittress Polly (Connie Booth) discovers that another guest (who Basil snubs because he's Cockney) is a member of the CID -- and that Basil is in danger of handing his valuable coins over to a con man.

And it's not the last disaster that Basil only manages to make much worse: an inept gang of builders are called in while Sybil is away; a bunch of couples seem to be cheating on one another; four Germans arrive at the hotel just in time for Basil to suffer a brain-scrambling head injury; a deaf woman causes general hotel mayhem; and the creme-de-la-creme of Torquay society arrive for a "Goumet Night," just in time for the chef to get drunk after Manuel rejects his advances. Hilarity (and roast ducks) ensue.

An American tourist who demands a Waldorf salad -- after the cook leaves for the day -- ends up tangled in Basil's web of lies; an overnight guest expires in bed, leading to a frantic cover-up; an anniversary party is wrecked when Sybil storms out just as the guests arrive. And after a health inspector condemns Fawlty Towers, Basil discovers that Manuel has a pet rat ("Is Siberian hamster -- a filagree!") -- which is soon running wild through the hotel.

Anyone who's sick of the recycled sitcoms ("Hot Young Urbanites Fall In Love and Have Misadventures") that pepper the TV landscape every single season might want to try "Fawlty Towers" -- the humour is still fresh, the writing is hilarious ("If the guest isn't singing 'Oh What a Beautiful Morning,' I don't immediately think 'Oh, there's another snuffed it in the night'"), and the actors were great at physical comedy.

Basically every episode is about a bad situation that Basil makes infinitely worse, until the entire episode is a landslide of lies, offenses and disasters. Each episode is full of gags (Basil strangling the gnome), misunderstandings ("There's a kipper sticking out of your vest"), and plots that revolve mainly around Basil's increasingly frantic efforts to keep everything "normal." Everything gets crazier as the episodes wind on.

And Cleese's writing is typically brilliant here -- Basil gets most of the great lines ("Always reminds me of somebody machine-gunning a seal"") but there are some glorious bits of dialogue from others ("Will you stop talking about the war?" "Me? You started it!" "We did not start it!" "Yes you did -- you invaded Poland!").

Cleese plays Basil as a slightly deranged, high-strung, incompetent guy who treats his customers like so many itchy spots, and Prunella Scales serves as the more competent, vaguely contemptuous counterpoint to him. Connie Booth's Polly is the only truly smart and clever person in the entire hotel, and usually gets sucked into Basil's freaky schemes ("Flying Tart!"); and Andrew Sachs is rather cute and sweet as the much-abused Manuel, whose half-learned English provides quite a bit of humor ("I am from Barcelona!").

The new edition may be worth the dip for fanatical Fawlty fans -- apparently the entire series is being restored. Additionally, Cleese has gone back to record commentaries for ALL the episodes, and there are interviews with everybody in the main cast. Sounds like it's going to be good.

"Fawlty Towers Complete Collection" is one of those shows that shone brightly and briefly, like a fireworks display. Hilarious, uproarious, and utterly timeless.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Basil Fawlty is Hilarious
John Cleese is one of the funniest men to walk this earth and it shows in this series. I've watched it since I was a little girl and it has became a holiday favorite. Read more
Published 1 day ago by Virginia Lyster

5.0 out of 5 stars the best of the best
Fawlty Towers is possibly the single greatest sitcom in the history of television. 12 legendary episodes about a british hotel and the cranky cantankerous owners. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Istvan Kolnhofer

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the funniest shows ever
Great series, Great DVD. I sure am glad I have this in my collection. Cleese is hysterical!
Published 9 days ago by Jim

5.0 out of 5 stars Fawlty Towers
This is a favorite for my husband and daughter ... great to have it available on DVD to replace the old VHS set.
Published 19 days ago by Jean Pennie

5.0 out of 5 stars Remastered fun
English comedy - you gotta love it. This remastered edition is worth the purchase price it you were ever an afficianado. Read more
Published 1 month ago by BadlandsBookCzars

3.0 out of 5 stars A Five Star Series with Technical Difficulties
I LOVE Fawlty Towers...LOVE IT. But I've had issue with this particular collection not working in my DVD player. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Michael Gear

5.0 out of 5 stars without a doubt, great stuff
If you like British humor, if you like John Cleese, and if you like Monty Python humor, then you will understand the humor in this DVD. Read more
Published 1 month ago by J. Munyon

5.0 out of 5 stars the funniest British comedy
I have been a long time fan of Fawlty Towers since discovering it on PBS. I have been wanting to get a complete DVD set to replace my copies made from TV on VHS. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dapper Don

5.0 out of 5 stars Great value
Definitely have enjoyed reliving those laughs over the Fawlty Towers programs. Glad that I was able to get it at such a good price as well.
Published 1 month ago by Kevinh_04

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing comedy that is unsurpassed
What can I say? This is one of the greatest and most thought-out shows of all time. Cleese seems to be clearly influenced by comic greats such as Ernie Kovacs and this is a good... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jackster

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