The Magic Christian
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Movie Reviews of The Magic Christian
Movie Review: It keeps my head warm
Summary: 5 Stars
This replaces a very worn VHS copy duped off of TV decades ago. Great stuff! Glad it came on time in good shape.Movie Review: Fun to watch
Summary: 5 Stars
Great fun, especially if you're a fan of Monty Python or the old Saturday Night Live.Movie Review: "Sometimes its not enough merely to teach. One has to punish, as well."
Summary: 4 Stars
Few films come along that I watch and say "Yeah, that's exactly right. That's exactly how I feel." The Magic Christian is one of them. Its a perfect satire of our culture and perfectly relevant today as it was then. Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr are well-suited to each other in this off-kilter satire of a billionaire looking for everyone's "price". Why? To prove a point. To punish as well as teach.
Some may disagree with me, but I think the movie outdoes the book by some miles. (...) In fact, we have TV shows dedicated to just this fact. Don't people eat bugs on Fear Factor or Survivor? Do horrendously awful things for that all-mighty dollar? Yes.
Sir Guy Grand, a grand guy (Sellers), and his adopted son Youngman Grand (Starr) commit the ultimate heresy by faking a gigantic luxury liner for the cream of society only to mess with their heads with gorillas, Christopher Lee in full Dracula gear, and Yul Brenner in drag singing "Mad about the Boy" to Roman Polanski. In short, this film is dangerous and brilliant.
(PS to the reviewer who mentions the Beatles. John isn't in it, its a double ... and Paul isn't singing, he just wrote the song for Badfinger.)
Unfortunately, I can't give it a five for two reasons. 1. Much of the dialogue is ADR'd and Sellers can't give quite the subtle performance he might have done ala Strangelove (another Southern writing project.) 2. The DVD is pretty much a slap-dash full screen copy of the crappy version that was out on VHS for years. I hope one day they put out a good version.
Movie Review: Finally on DVD!
Summary: 4 Stars
Yes, this is a dated piece of psychadelic fluffery. The question is, though, is it worth the 90 minutes it takes to get through? I think the answer is yes. The first time I saw this film (repeatedly) was in college, where it was a film that I believed the University Film Series owned. They had a tendancy to show this with Yellow Submarine and the Monkee's tres psychadelic film Head, so I associate it with those two films. It is extremely eposodic, but I do think that's the point. If you want to watch it now in drips and drabs, it's entirely possible. As a curio of the psychadelic era, one can do much worse than this film, and the point (and it does have one) is made very clearly. Some of the sketches have turned up in other, later films--it's something you can find for yourself.A note--one of the other reviews mentioned "2 Beatles appearing in the film and one singing." This is not correct (although Pete Ham of Badfinger does sound remarkably like McCartney). The songs are mostly by Badfinger, with the exception during the last scene of "Something in the Air" by Thunderclap Newman (whose guitarist eventually went on to play with Wings). The shot of Lennon is either from a film clip (like that of Onassis & Jackie) or a stand-in (it goes by VERY quickly) This is definitely Ringo's film!
Movie Review: I love this movie
Summary: 4 Stars
The Magic Christian is an inspired, wacky sixties film, based on the brilliant novel by Terry Southern. Appearing with Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr in the film are Pythons John Cleese and Graham Chapman, Goon Show alumnus Spike Milligan, Christopher Lee, Racquel Welch, Roman Polanski, and Yul Brenner as a lounge-singing transvestite. Paul McCartney wrote the film's theme song 'Come And Get It' performed by Badfinger. I have to admit, this movie makes me laugh. It's a great vehicle for Peter Sellers as the not-so-business-like Guy Grande, and Ringo as his newly adopted adult son. In the story, multi-millionaire Grande has determined that one can use money to teach lessons about the ugliness of greed, elitism, snobbiness, and authority. It is typical of british comedies of the late sixties inasmuch as it climaxes with a scene of things dissolving into general chaos. On the other hand, the humor itself seems very untypical and funny. Some people may not "get" this movie... probably the same people that don't find Monty Python funny. Generally, if you enjoy irreverant, quirky humor, you'll find The Magic Christian entertaining.