The Black Adder
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Movie Reviews of The Black Adder
Movie Review: Raving Lunatics with Cunning Plans!
Summary: 5 Stars
I caught Black Adder during its first run on BBC when I was visiting relatives in England as a teenager. Even as an American with VERY little British history knowledge to back up the story lines, I was rolling on the floors with every episode. Between Black Adder's lunacy (care of Rowan Atkinson), his assistant Baldrick's cunning plans (and inability to go back to being a dung shoveler, seeing as it took him years to get to that status level before befriending Black Adder), and Lord Percy's unbelievable naivety, you'll be rolling on the floor too. And I haven't even mentioned the other main characters (like the king, played very well by Brian Blessed) and guest stars (although most are only well known in England). Side-splittingly funny. Unfortunately, I had to leave the UK before seeing the final episode - which really whet my apetite when it showed up on PBS back here in the US. And I was not dissapointed at all!
About 20 years later, I now know a little more about about British history - and it makes the series even funnier. What's more, my appreciation of Shakespeare has increased, and this show is riddled with snide comedic references to it throughout. Just wait 'til you see the end of the first episode (make sure to keep watching until the end of the credits!) - you'll just about burst from laughing.
Well worth the purchase, especially for anyone with any level of interest in British history and/or literature. The only negative I can come up with is that the first episode MIGHT be too violent for very young children to watch (not to mention the lewdness in some subsequent episodes). But this isn't a show that young children would enjoy anyway.
If you're up for a good laugh, I've a cunning plan for you: Buy this DVD.
Movie Review: THE FIRST SEASON WILL ALWAYS BE THE BEST......
Summary: 5 Stars
The original "Black Adder" is one of the marvels of contemporary TV comedy (actually, it's now 21 years old). Brimming with imagination, intellect, and that irresistible grotesqueness known as British humor, it has everything going for it. For whatever reason, star Rowan Atkinson decided to quit writing his own material after this series (he relinquished that chore to upstart Ben Elton, whose name--at least in my book--will live in infamy as the man whose scathing 1986 critique of the great Benny Hill helped trigger the demise of the latter's classic sketch series.....it's never good form for one comic to criticize another). But the present DVD's a wholly different ballgame. The premiere episode in particular is itself worth the price: apart from the title character here being almost as mentally inept as his erstwhile assistant Baldrick, it features the incomparable Peter Cook as a murdered nobleman whose severed head comes back to haunt the twerpish Edmund Blackadder; many series fans are turned off by the visual unbearability of the gory humor. MY constitution's robust enough to withstand it. Indeed, it's an awful pity those cheapos at the BBC cut the series' budget after the first year, forcing all episodes to be videotaped on the same set, episode after episode. Here the combination of interior AND exterior shots provide the necessary variety. (Funny thing--great as British comedy is to many of us Americans, it was ironically their style of TV comedy that led to stateside TV comedy's artistic downfall, with loads of visually stagnant fare.)
Never mind: Here's one of the supreme treasures of boob-tube comedy.
Movie Review: Hilariously Funny if you Get the Jokes
Summary: 5 Stars
Rowan Atkinson began the Black Adder series set in medieval days, with Edmund Blackadder being a man of few morals and high ambitions. He's heir to the Duke of York and has to deal with a bumbling servant Baldrick as well as the less-than-helpful Percy. Both of these characters follow him through pretty much the entire series.
I find the series to be *incredibly* funny, but there is definitely a difference between what many Americans find to be funny and what British find to be funny. I love British humor. It is often very dry and cynical, and also a lot of times you have to have some education / background to understand it. That is, if you actually know something about British history you'll pick up on a ton of superbly funny in-jokes that might otherwise pass you by.
For example, in one of the episodes a general comment is made about a person being better off dead, and two Knights Templar decide that they should race right off and kill the person. This is based on an actual situation in English history. There are witches cackling around cauldrons giving out messages, another staple in English drama.
Yes, a few of the jokes go towards the slapstick kind of silly versus the more erudite kind. There is something for everyone.
Highly recommend for anyone who loves British comedy!
Movie Review: A Bit Bizarre, But Very Entertaining
Summary: 5 Stars
I had caught bits and pieces of this program on TV over the years, but never more than that. I finally got around to watching a whole section in sequence. It is a bit bizarre, but I have to say, it is very entertaining.
Prince Edmund (son of the fictional King Richard IV of England) is the main character in the series - he adopts the name Black Adder. Richard becomes King when Edmund "accidentally" kills Richard III.
Black Adder seems to always come out with the short end of the stick, but never gives up. Given the circumstances, it is hard to label him as the bad guy - though he is pretty bad. His sidekicks are Lord Percy and Baldrick the peasant - they help keep things interesting.
Black Adder's mother is a great character. It is really funny to see how she saves her son from being burned at the stake in the Witchsmeller episode. Very unexpected.
I guess this program is sort of like Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I mean, the humor is similar in some ways. Very British I guess.
The program continued through several series. Give series I a try and see what you think. Some say series II and/or III are the best. I have not gotten that far, so cannot comment on that now.
Movie Review: "But carrots don't grow on trees!"
Summary: 5 Stars
It doesn't matter how you like your humor, straight up, or on the rocks,
the Black Adder is your man. from the "Foretelling", where between
liberal interpretation of W.S. combined with the ruthless, crazy, humor
likened to the Firesign Theater, and a deep well of humor about their
own "bloody" history, to the end of the disc-"The Black Seal", if you
don't laugh for at least 90 minutes of its 180 minute length, and this
goes for the first 3 Black Adder disc's, and come away with a tired
mind, keeping up with all the historical references, fractured or not,
spun off by the excellent writing team of Curtis & Elton, along with a
small cast of veteran Engligh actors, Peter Cook, Brian Blessed, anon,
anon, then I say you better have your funny bone looked after, because
you are in danger of loosing your sense of humor. Also I would suggest
buying a copy of The Black Adder by Penguin Books. It will help, when
the humor comes too fast and is in the kings english, because you do
not want to miss one joke, reference, or twisted tale of this disc.