Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Yellowbeard Blu-ray Movie Review

When "arrrrgh" becomes "ugggh."

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 25, 2015

By the 1980s, the members of Monty Python's Flying Circus had begun moving on to projects not associated exclusively with the comedy troupe. 1983’s Monty Python's The Meaning of Life was the only official new feature film the group put out in the decade as an aggregation, but starting with 1981’s Time Bandits various members of Monty Python’s Flying Circus could be found working together both in front of and behind the camera. Some of those outings, notably 1988’s A Fish Called Wanda, were substantial successes, offering bright, funny screenplays and very appealing performances. Others, like 1983’s Yellowbeard and 1989’s Erik the Viking, offer less consistent hilarity and some unevenness in tone and performance style, but for diehard Python aficionados each has certain pleasures in store, at least in dribs and drabs.

It’s probably instructive that both Erik the Viking and Yellowbeard were pet projects of Terry Jones and Graham Chapman, respectively. Chapman co-wrote Yellowbeard (with co-star Peter Cook, among others) and evidently had a passel of other stars in mind at one point or another before he finally took over as the titular pirate who has stashed away tons of illicit loot shortly before ending up in prison for two decades (for tax evasion, in time honored Al Capone style). Commander Clement (Eric Idle), the head of Britain’s Secret Service, hatches a plot to discover the whereabouts of the treasure by convincing Yellowbeard, who is finally about to get out of stir after twenty long years, that his sentence has been increased by an absurd degree. Clement is counting on Yellowbeard to rebel and escape, which of course he does, and the chase is on.

Interestingly, Yellowbeard doesn’t just provide parts for Python alums Chapman, Idle and John Cleese (as a supposedly blind beggar), it reunites some Mel Brooks players from such iconic films as Young Frankenstein, offering up Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, and Marty Feldman providing colorful if sadly sometimes fairly unfunny supporting bits. The eclectic (to say the least) cast also includes Cheech and Chong, along with Peter Bull (in drag, no less), James Mason, Michael Hordern and Susannah York, so the problem with Yellowbeard is not in star power or even acting acumen (two different things, not to state the obvious), but in how everyone is utilized.

Perhaps part of the fault lies with director Mel Damski, who has since gone on to some notable television work (Psych), but who was in 1983 still relatively early in his career and perhaps not yet able to adequately tame what was probably an at times out of control cast. The main problem is simply one of writing, with gags falling flat far outnumbering those that land. Part of the strangely languid feeling of this film, despite a frenetic energy running through most of it, is due to some editing choices that seem determined to defeat punch lines.

While the film is probably not quite as horrible as some of its famous co-stars (notably Cleese) have gone on record as stating, Yellowbeard, while occasionally amusing, is probably at best a wasted opportunity. The cast seems quite game, and in fact manages to be relatively winning most of the time, but there’s just a kind of stagnant lethargy that overhangs so much of the ostensible comedy that Yellowbeard never completely finds its sea legs.

Taking a cue from Monty Python’s own insouciant attitude toward their impending mortality, as evidenced by the subtitle of their post- Chapman death reunion Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go, perhaps I can be forgiven for indulging in a bit of black humor and saying that Marty Feldman, who died unexpectedly during production of Yellowbeard, may have fared best in some way. He at least was not around to witness the critical browbeating and subsequent round of incriminations that various participants in the film indulged in after it crashed and burned (sank?) subsequent to its brief theatrical release. Seen now with a bit of perspective, there are bits here that work, albeit fitfully. There just aren’t nearly enough of them.

Yellowbeard Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Yellowbeard is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. While generally quite watchable, there's somewhat variant quality to this release, with some moments looking relatively (emphasis on relatively) sharp, well defined and saturated (see screenshot 1) and other moments being decidedly fuzzier and with a more pronounced grain field (see screenshot 11). While close-ups can provide at least reasonable fine detail (see screenshot 9), the overall somewhat soft and modest presentation suggests this may be sourced off an older master, one which in turn utilized elements with quite a bit of age related wear and tear. Colors are reasonably robust throughout this presentation, with blues and reds popping rather well, but flesh tones acquire a slightly rosy, pink ambience which may indicate slight fading. For the bulk of this presentation, grain (which spikes pretty appreciably in some sequences) resolves naturally. Some longish dark sequences (notably right after Yellowbeard escapes from jail) offer pretty anemic shadow detail and at times outright crush (one scene with Chapman and Feldman looks like free floating heads since costumes fade into the darkness.) This has the typical Olive look of "no restoration, no digital intrusion." When all is said and done, this is certainly watchable if not overly impressive. I'd probably bump the score up to 3.25 if I were able to. Fans of the film should be satisfied if not delighted with the results of this transfer.

Yellowbeard Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Yellowbeard features a nice sounding lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that offers an at times rather surprisingly full low end (good for some of the battle sequences), and an overall appealing rendering of all frequency ranges which help to support both John Morris' playful score as well as the glut of equally playful sound effects that dot the picture. Dialogue is cleanly presented, though this is an at times overly noisy film where snippets of lines can get buried in other sonic business happening at the same time. Fidelity is fine and there are no issues of any kind to report.

Yellowbeard Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1080p; 2:59)

Yellowbeard Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Python completists or those with a special love for some of the Mel Brooks performers featured in this film may well want to check Yellowbeard out, but it's a surprisingly unfunny piece quite a bit of the time, one hampered by actors struggling too hard to overcome deficits in the writing, direction and who are not helped by some strange editing choices. Technical merits are okay (video) to fine (audio) for those considering a purchase.