DVD Review

Fawlty Towers / Black Adder

Official Synopsis:

Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered -

This Special Edition marks the 30th Anniversary of one of the greatest British sitcoms ever created. John Cleese stars as Basil Fawlty, the much put-upon hotel manager whose life is plagued by dead guests, hotel inspectors and riff-raff.

Named the #1 television program of all time by the British Film Institute, the series has been painstakingly remastered for this release and for the first time ever includes commentary by John Cleese on every episode. This is the Fawlty Towers for the ages!

Black Adder: Remastered -

This Deluxe Edition includes every episode of Black Adder digitally restored from the original program masters plus a host of all-new bonus features and more!

Remastered Series Includes:
The Black Adder, Blackadder II, Blackadder The Third, Blackadder Goes Forth

Our Take:

Believe it or not, I've never watched a single episode of Fawlty Towers or Black Adder. Although the booklet inside of Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered assures me that it's one of the most beloved and respected comedies in the world, I needed to find out for myself.

I had mixed reactions to the two shows. Both of them are ultimately pretty funny, but Fawlty Towers is clearly superior to Black Adder in my book. Despite Black Adder launching the careers of director writer/director Richard Curtis (Love, Actually), and actors Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, and Stephen Fry, the show's a bit broad in its comedy. While some of it is quite sharp and works rather well, some of it is also dependent on how funny you find Rowan Atkinson, as he takes front and center screen most of the time. It occasionally also veers into lowest common denominator humor, which doesn't always work for me.

On the other hand, Fawlty Towers is pretty brilliant stuff most of the time, even if the style of humor can get a little repetitive sometimes. Of course, there were famously only 12 episodes that were ever made, so it never had a chance to get lame in its later years. John Cleese is terrific as the put-upon and short-tempered inn owner Basil Fawlty, and his supporting cast (especially the underutilized Prunella Scales) is quite funny as well.

Don't be too fooled by the "Remastered" tag on both of these collections, though. While I'm sure they have been remastered, we're talking about low-budget BBC programming from the 1970s. The shows still look pretty rough; don't expect pristine prints here, despite the "Remastered" label.

Special Features:

Fawlty Towers -

• Exclusive Commentary By John Cleese
• 2009 Extended Interviews
• 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
• Cheap Tatty Review

• Brand New Audio Commentaries With Rowan Atkinson & John Lloyd, Stephen Fry, Ben Elton & Richard Curtis, and Tony Robinson & Tim McInnerny.
• Special 60-minute documentary to mark the 25th Anniversary, shot on location in Northumberland, Cheltenham, Uganda and Los Angeles
• Exclusive Extended Interviews With Hugh Laurie, Rowan Atkinson, Richard Curtis & Ben Elton, Tony Robinson, and Stephen Fry
• Costumes Revisited With Miranda Richardson, Patsy Byrne, Tony Robinson, and Tim McInnerny