Monty Python's The Meaning of Life poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones ... see more see more... , Michael Palin , Carol Cleveland , Simon Jones , Patricia Quinn , Mark Holmes , Valerie Whittington , Jennifer Franks , Imogen Bickford-Smith , Angela Mann , Peter Lovstrom , Victoria Plum , Anne Rosenfeld , George Silver , Matt Frewer , Andrew MacLachlan , John Scott Martin , Myrtle Devenish

The Meaning of Life is without a doubt the most tasteless of the Monty Python feature films; it also happens to be one of the funniest. Life's questions are "answered" in a series of outrageous vignet... read more read more...tes, beginning with a pre-credits sequence at a staid London insurance company which transforms before our eyes into a pirate ship. One of our favorite bits involve the National Health doctors who try to claim a healthy liver from a still-living donor, pointing out that there's nothing in his contract preventing this. And of course, there's the scene with the world's most voracious glutton, who brings the art of vomiting to new heights before his spectacular demise. Be warned: though hilarious, this may be the grossest bit of comedy filmmaking ever conceived (there aren't enough words in the world to describe it in detail!). Loyal Pythonites Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin star in The Meaning of Life and share writing responsibilities, while Jones is in the director's chair this time out. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Flixster Users

83% liked it

182,067 ratings

Critics

89% liked it

27 critics

R, 1 hr. 49 min.

Directed by: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones

Release Date: March 31, 1983

Keywords: funny

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: September 2, 2003

Get It:

Stats: 7,176 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life The Answers To Life Told By Six Craziest men In England Mr. Creosote's After-Dinner Mint Monty Python School Death and the Salmon Mousse Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
Upload a Photo | View All Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (7,176)

  • TheDudeLebowski65
    May 8, 2012
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Monty Python's The Meaning of Life is a great comedy. Brilliantly acted, and directed, The Meaning of Life is one of those comedies that are still refreshing to watch after all these years. This is one of my personal favorite films that Monty Python has made along with Holy Grail... read more. The use of comedy here is brilliant, like with every other film the troupe has done. This is comedy at its finest. I thoroughly enjoyed the film from start to finish. This is a great comedy, one that should be seen if you're in the mood for a great laugh. This is a well crafted comedy that delivers on the laughs. As far as the jokes are concerned, they are always consistent, and in pure Monty Python fashion, always witty, ridiculous and in this case, vulgar. However, this film isn't as vulgar as many comedies nowadays, which I feel only, use it for shock value. In Monty Python's case they use it to elevate the jokes and it works. The cast is terrific, and they all deliver great performances. The Meaning of Life is a well crafted comedy, one that remains a classic of the genre. If you want to experience a crude, hilarious Monty Python film, The Meaning of Life is the one. With this film, Monty Python stepped up a notch, took their creative energy of past works, and created a film that is one of the best films in their history. I always loved Monty Python films, along with Monty Python and the Holy Grail; this is my favorite film of theirs. A true classic and a great film filled with crude, but intelligent gags.
  • fb100002359227440
    April 21, 2012
    fb100002359227440
    The Meaning of Life it's a terrific art work by the great humor group. This last feature is much more faithful to the TV show, without lose the surrealism and the dark subject, Monty Python goes in a more philosophical way to trying find the meaning of life in several sketchs, al... read moreways interacting with the audience. A deadpan, surreal and unique quest.
  • fb733768972
    April 2, 2012
    fb733768972
    "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life" is a much different direction for the franchise, having a lot of comedy, while taking a serious route, talking about the meaning of life. I enjoyed a lot of this film as they brought back their classic comedy from the first two films, but when... read more you rely on gross out humour, wasting time for the running time, and a ten minute barfing sequence, it becomes needy. This film tries a little too hard to be like the original film I think, but by the end of the film it felt like they had run out of ideas. Still, It is a lot of fun watching these actors be stupid on screen. "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life" is one of the weakest of the series, but the cast is undeniably funny and I can appreciate that no matter what. I recommend it for a laugh, but I personally will probably not watch it again. It was an average dumb comedy!
  • spielberg00
    September 10, 2011
    spielberg00
    Disappointingly worse and unfunny compared to AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, HOLY GRAIL, and LIFE OF BRIAN, but as we watch it we are sure that some scenes are sure to be remembered, whether that is a good thing, a bad thing, or an ugly thing.
  • phubbs1
    February 12, 2011
    phubbs1
    Allot don't like this but I think its unique and really good. The sketchs are all really original and more sick n twisted than funny, you just watch to see how it ends up or how someones gonna die. Every sketch is brilliant, quite dark and risky in places, the effects look cool y... read moreet tacky at the same time hahaha and the songs are really well done despite being ridiculous. There are too many sketchs to comment on but the topless ladies are good hehe, the meaning of death is probably the best section.
  • matertenebraum
    February 10, 2011
    matertenebraum
    "The Meaning of Life" as a whole is clearly not Monty Python's best work, yet some of the individual sketches - the film is really just a big-budget sketch show - provide some of their most inspired moments. But overall, this is not the sort of swansong that befits the Monty Pyth... read moreon legend.

    Part of the problem is that, when the film was made (1983), British comedy was in the grip of the "alternative" revolution, as a new generation of comic writer/performers (Ben Elton, Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, etc) were beginning their rise to stardom and making the Python brand of humour look hopelessly out-of-date - alternative comedy was essentially comedy's "punk" to the "prog-rock" of Python.

    The film opens with a beautifully-shot, but utterly pointless Terry Gilliam creation, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", which serves little purpose other than to provide a set-up for a gag later in the film. When the film proper begins, though, the familiar Pythonesque humour kicks in, and normal business is resumed, albeit patchily.

    The highlights for me are the "Live Organ Transplants" sketch, in which a man has his liver forcibly removed on his own kitchen table, and "Mr Creosote", the grossly fat diner who gorges and vomits his way to an explosive demise, both of which are the type of gross-out gags which have always found a place in British humour - even today, the "League of Gentlemen" team are proudly carrying on this tradition.

    Also, some of the songs in the film are among Python's best, particularly "Every Sperm Is Sacred", a wonderfully over-the-top song-and-dance number, and the cheesey "Christmas In Heaven", in which Graham Chapman gives the greatest Tony Bennett impersonation ever committed to celluloid. Unfortunately, much of the remaining material is meandering and tedious, and just serves to pad the thing out to its already over-long 107 minutes.

    Python fans will find a lot to amuse them in "The Meaning of Life", but don't expect it to be another "Holy Grail" or "Life of Brian" - it isn't.
  • ajv2688
    January 14, 2011
    ajv2688
    An outrageous comedy, sometimes a little too radical for my liking, but overall pretty funny, and it stars the great Monty Python actors of course, so you should check it out if you're a fan.
  • Tomassgringo
    December 18, 2010
    Tomassgringo
    Easily my least favorite of the Monty Python movies I have seen. I may have just expected too much, but if that is true or not... I was disappointed with this Monty Python movie.
  • cosmo313
    August 25, 2010
    cosmo313
    This isn't my favorite Python film, nor is it the best, but it's still pretty good, and I do like it quite a bit.

    The Crimson Permanent Assurance bit is one of the funniest things I've ever seen, and it's a definite highlight. I also really like the bt involving Catholics and... read more birth control, mainly because I can relate and can attest to how spot on the sketch is. "Every Sperm is Sacred" is also one of the funniest songs I've heard as well, again, mainly because it's so spot-on.

    There's a lot to like here, even if not all of it is up to par.
  • FrizzDrop
    August 2, 2010
    FrizzDrop
    Not as good as their monumental Holy Grail, but very enjoyable.

View All Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Reviews

Critic Reviews

Afsheen Nomai
January 1, 2011
Afsheen Nomai, Common Sense Media

Edgy Python schtick better for older viewers. Full Review

Kevin Carr
November 5, 2004
Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures

Perfect Python!

Steve Crum
October 15, 2004
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan

Prime Monty Python, primo laughs.

Jake Euker
March 11, 2004
Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)

Mostly dead-on and characteristically Pythonesque.

Ken Hanke
January 29, 2004
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Spotty and fitfully very funny. Lacks the structure of the other Python big screen films.

Stefan Birgir Stefansson
January 7, 2004
Stefan Birgir Stefansson, sbs.is

MP, always funny...

Pablo Villaca
October 7, 2003
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena

Com sua irreverência habitual, o Monty Python cria um filme que diverte o espectador com seus enlouquecidos esquetes e seu humor sem concessões.

John A. Nesbit
September 20, 2003
John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews

Strictly for people with dark senses of humor, any Python film should be avoided by anyone that thinks Jay Leno is funny Full Review

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
July 23, 2003
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

A zany and outrageous comedy about the wrong-headedness of many serious people. Full Review

Alex Sandell
May 30, 2003
Alex Sandell, Juicy Cerebellum

An okay comedy. More jokes fall flat than bring out a laugh.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Monty Python and the Holy Grail
    Monty Python and the Holy Grail (96%)
  • Monty Python's Life of Brian
    Monty Python's Life of Brian (95%)
  • Monty Python's And Now for Something Completely Different
    Monty Python's And Now for Something Complete... (95%)
  • The Roots of Monty Python (Monty Python in the Beginning)
    The Roots of Monty Python (Monty Python in th... (100%)

More Movies like Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Monty Python's Th... : Watch Free on TV

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Trivia

Monty Python's The Meaning of Lif... Trivia

  • In what movie does Eric Idle play an old wife aroused by the mention of french ticklers?  Answer »
  • According to Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life, every "what" is sacred?  Answer »
  • The tagline 'It took God six days to create the Earth, and Monty Python just 90 minutes to screw it up' is for which Monty Python movie?  Answer »
  • In What Monty Python movie is there a singing/dancing number called "It's Christmas In Heaven"?  Answer »
More Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Trivia

Movie Quizzes

Create a Quiz |

All Quizzes

Video Clips

Upload a Video |

All Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Videos

Meet Other Fans

Add Monty Python's The Meaning of Life to favorites

Recent News

  • A Fish!

    Posted by someguywithapineapple
    5 years ago
Submit a Story |

View Monty Python's The Meaning of Life News

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?