Start the Revolution Without Me Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Start the Revolution Without Me Blu-ray Movie Review

"Since destiny rides in our scabbard, it appears that our pregnant blades must be aborted."

Reviewed by Randy Miller III October 1, 2026

A historical satire adjacent to anything by Mel Brooks or the Monty Python boys, Bud Yorkin's Start the Revolution Without Me is a perfectly cast mini-epic that features outstanding production design and terrific cinematography by Jean Tournier. Featuring sporadic "hosting" and narration by the one and only Orson Welles (playing himself), it follows two sets of identical twins from different social classes who swap identities right before the French Revolution. Now well over 50 years old, this ahead-of-its-time production has been given new life by Warner Archive via their welcome Blu-ray edition, which replaces earlier DVDs from 2003 and 2011. But anyways, back to good old 1789.

"And on my right, the Paul Masson estate."

Our four main characters are on opposite ends of the social spectrum: aristocratic brothers Philippe and Pierre Di Sisi (Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland) grew up surrounded by luxury and privilege, while peasant brothers Claude and Charles Coupé (Wilder and Sutherland) endured a much less glamorous lifestyle. They're likewise separated by radically different personalities... but appearance is everything and, as their native France approaches the opening moments of its infamous revolution, circumstances bring the two sets of twins together for repeated cases of mistaken identity, with the resulting confusion creating a series of comic reversals in which multiple aristocrats, peasants, revolutionaries, and members of the royal court struggle to determine who is who. Princess Christina (Ewa Aulin) and Mimi (Helen Fraser) add romantic complications into the mix, while Helene Di Sisi (Rosalind Knight) and other esteemed members of the aristocratic and revolutionary circles gradually become entangled in the rapidly escalating chaos.

Fast-paced and relentlessly silly, Start the Revolution Without Me deliberately treats history as pure comic material instead of presenting anything close to a serious account of the Revolution. Its humor draws on familiar elements of French historical fiction, including stories of mistaken identity, secret plots, royal decadence, and popular rebellion, while the sporadic hosting and narration by Orson Welles adds another layer of parody. Collectively, its structure and tone consistently stays light yet somehow retains something of a grand, authoritative tone befitting a "legitimate project" (whatever that is) while its characters subvert the seriousness with increasing acts of absurdity.

The formula works more often than not, sometimes even in spite of itself, but bonus points must surely be awarded given its early place within the pantheon of historical-minded satires brought to the big screen. Start the Revolution Without Me isn't necessarily a laugh-a-minute film but it's light, breezy, and overwhelmingly charming, with excellent dual lead performances by Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland (the latter of whom could've easily worked in comedy much more often) and an equally well-cast roster of supporting players that all seem up to the challenge. Its production design also deserves special mention, as the film's outstanding costumes and locations are all beautifully appointed and clearly help sell the illusion of life in late 18th-century France. Jean Tournier's cinematography supports it strongly with a stately but workmanlike approach that could've been used on, well, an actual historical epic.

A long-time cult classic that's not cited often enough for its contributions to comedy, Start the Revolution Without Me is now ripe for (re)discovery thanks to Warner Archive, who as usual give it the white-glove treatment with yet another rock-solid catalog restoration that makes this deceptively good-looking film sparkle like new.

Start the Revolution Without Me Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As evidenced by these direct-from-disc screenshots, Start the Revolution Without Me looks handsome indeed on this new 1080p transfer from Warner Archive. As usual, it's sourced from a recent 4K scan of the original camera negative and was treated to a round of careful manual cleanup that preserves its original 35mm textures while looking clean as a whistle. Given the varied locations, lighting levels, and other elements of its production design, it's a marvel that this film looks as consistently impressive as it does here in regards to black levels, fine detail, and color balance. There's not a bad-looking scene in the bunch and no visual hiccups or compression issues were spotted along the way, thanks to the boutique label's solid encoding and the use of a 50GB disc to ensure a consistently high and supportive bit rate. As always, buy with confidence and know that you're getting a great-looking disc for a fair price.

Start the Revolution Without Me Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Equally impressive is the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio, which ports the original one-channel source into a split container for wider playback and almost defies the boundaries of this traditionally modest format. It's true that portions of Start the Revolution Without Me would be even more convincing with a full-fledged 5.1 surround mix as heard on countless CinemaScope epics, yet this scaled-back presentation still achieves a decently grand scale that keeps everything nicely prioritized despite all the confusion, action, excitement, and chaos. No age-related damage was heard here, not a whiff, which means that this similarly strong audio restoration is equally deserving of a five-star rating.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are offered during the main feature only, not the bonus features listed below.

Start the Revolution Without Me Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with vintage poster-themed cover artwork and a few choice extras.

• Audio Commentary - Not originally advertised on Warner Archive's press release, this DVD-era commentary features director Bud Yorkin along with stars Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland. While it's evident early on that that track is cobbled together from separate interviews rather than a full-fledged reunion (which would've been more than possible in 2003 when it was assembled), there are nonetheless a great number of stories, memories, and other warm insights provided here that fans of the film will surely enjoy.

• Napoleon Bunny-Part (7:11) - Though it arrived in theaters more than a decade before Start the Revolution Without Me, this highly enjoyable 1956 Merrie Melodies short fits this release like a glove for obvious reasons. The decent-looking HD master seen here was last seen on two separate Blu-ray releases: Warner Bros.' great Bugs Bunny Collection as well as Warner Archive's release of Helen of Troy.

• The Scarlet Pumpernickel (7:06) - Ditto, except this memorable 1950 Looney Tunes cartoon stars Daffy Duck. It last appeared on Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume One.

• Theatrical Trailer (3:07) - This vintage promotional piece can also be seen here.

Start the Revolution Without Me Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Bud Yorkin's Start the Revolution Without Me was certainly ahead of its time in early 1970, back when Monty Python's Flying Circus was just getting started and Mel Brooks only had one film under his belt. And while this surely wasn't the first production to take aim at stuffy historical epics, it was clearly a trendsetter and still holds up well today more than 55 years later. Warner Archive's welcome Blu-ray edition primes the film for (yet another?) well-deserved comeback, thanks to its superlative A/V merits and a solid collection of extras too. Firmly Recommended.