Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered
List Price:
Our Price: $21.99
You Save: $27.99 (56%)
Availability: Usually ships in 3 days
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth, John Cleese, Prunella ScalesBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); German (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Box set, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 360 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-10-20
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Worldwide
Product features:
- Coming to Special Edition DVD for the first time, it s the complete Fawlty Towers collection with all-new commentary from John Cleese! Hot off the runaway success of Monty Python s Flying Circus, John Cleese embarked on his now-legendary sitcom, Fawlty Towers, creating one of the most memorable and best loved characters in all of British comedy, Basil Fawlty. Basil Fawlty is a much put-upon, hard-
DVD Reviews of Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered
DVD Review: Nope, it's not a dream. We're stuck with it!
Summary: 5 Stars
Nothing really needs to be said about this classic British sitcom, except that it contains some of the most brilliant, most hilarious, and most humiliatingly ghastly moments in the entire history of television.
And "Fawlty Towers Complete Collection" brings together the entire series in all its embarrassing avalanchal glory. It's one of those universally funny TV shows, all about the undignified exploits of a perpetually hostile, repressed and tetchy hotel manager, and the more competant staff who try to keep thngs sane, written with demented zeal ("That's Brahms! Brahms' Third Racket!") and excellent comic acting.
Basil (John Cleese) and Sybil Fawlty (Prunella Scales) run a moderately-sized hotel in Torquay, with the assistance of the clever waittress Polly (Connie Booth) and the Spanish waiter Manuel (Andrew Sachs) whose grasp of English is a work in progress. The hotel is home to a dotty old soldier, fluttery spinsters, and a revolving door of very dissatisfied customers.
Basil Fawlty (Cleese) puts out a snotty ad to attract a "better class of customer," which attracts a pleasant aristocrat. Basil fawns revoltingly over the man, neglecting the other guests. But savvy waittress Polly (Connie Booth) discovers that another guest (who Basil snubs because he's Cockney) is a member of the CID -- and that Basil is in danger of handing his valuable coins over to a con man.
And it's not the last disaster that Basil only manages to make much worse: an inept gang of builders are called in while Sybil is away; a bunch of couples seem to be cheating on one another; four Germans arrive at the hotel just in time for Basil to suffer a brain-scrambling head injury; a deaf woman causes general hotel mayhem; and the creme-de-la-creme of Torquay society arrive for a "Goumet Night," just in time for the chef to get drunk after Manuel rejects his advances. Hilarity (and roast ducks) ensue.
An American tourist who demands a Waldorf salad -- after the cook leaves for the day -- ends up tangled in Basil's web of lies; an overnight guest expires in bed, leading to a frantic cover-up; an anniversary party is wrecked when Sybil storms out just as the guests arrive. And after a health inspector condemns Fawlty Towers, Basil discovers that Manuel has a pet rat ("Is Siberian hamster -- a filagree!") -- which is soon running wild through the hotel.
Anyone who's sick of the recycled sitcoms ("Hot Young Urbanites Fall In Love and Have Misadventures") that pepper the TV landscape every single season might want to try "Fawlty Towers" -- the humour is still fresh, the writing is hilarious ("If the guest isn't singing 'Oh What a Beautiful Morning,' I don't immediately think 'Oh, there's another snuffed it in the night'"), and the actors were great at physical comedy.
Basically every episode is about a bad situation that Basil makes infinitely worse, until the entire episode is a landslide of lies, offenses and disasters. Each episode is full of gags (Basil strangling the gnome), misunderstandings ("There's a kipper sticking out of your vest"), and plots that revolve mainly around Basil's increasingly frantic efforts to keep everything "normal." Everything gets crazier as the episodes wind on.
And Cleese's writing is typically brilliant here -- Basil gets most of the great lines ("Always reminds me of somebody machine-gunning a seal"") but there are some glorious bits of dialogue from others ("Will you stop talking about the war?" "Me? You started it!" "We did not start it!" "Yes you did -- you invaded Poland!").
Cleese plays Basil as a slightly deranged, high-strung, incompetent guy who treats his customers like so many itchy spots, and Prunella Scales serves as the more competent, vaguely contemptuous counterpoint to him. Connie Booth's Polly is the only truly smart and clever person in the entire hotel, and usually gets sucked into Basil's freaky schemes ("Flying Tart!"); and Andrew Sachs is rather cute and sweet as the much-abused Manuel, whose half-learned English provides quite a bit of humor ("I am from Barcelona!").
The new edition may be worth the dip for fanatical Fawlty fans -- apparently the entire series is being restored. Additionally, Cleese has gone back to record commentaries for ALL the episodes, and there are interviews with everybody in the main cast. Sounds like it's going to be good.
"Fawlty Towers Complete Collection" is one of those shows that shone brightly and briefly, like a fireworks display. Hilarious, uproarious, and utterly timeless.
Description of Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered
Coming to Special Edition DVD for the first time, it?s the complete Fawlty Towers collection with all-new commentary from John Cleese! Hot off the runaway success of Monty Python?s Flying Circus, John Cleese embarked on his now-legendary sitcom, Fawlty Towers, creating one of the most memorable and best loved characters in all of British comedy, Basil Fawlty. Basil Fawlty is a much put-upon, hard-working hotel manager whose life is plagued by dead guests, hotel inspectors, and riff-raff. Of course his biggest headache is his ?little nest of vipers,? his nagging wife Sibyl. Together they run their hotel, Fawlty Towers, with a little help from the unflappable Polly and the trainee waiter from Barcelona with marginally more intelligence than a monkey, Manuel.-Exclusive commentary by John Cleese
-2009 extended interviews, including exclusive interview with Connie Booth
-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 (short documentary film)
-Cheap Tatty Review
Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Father Ted: The Definitive CollectionWarner Brothers; Release date: 2008-02-19; DVD
Best price: $37.99
Price in other shops:
Yes, Prime Minister: The Complete CollectionWarner Brothers; Release date: 2011-01-04; DVD
Best price: $27.49
Price in other shops:
Wonder Woman: The Complete CollectionCARTER,LYNDA; Release date: 2007-11-06; DVD
Best price: $35.49
Price in other shops:
Yes, Prime Minister: The Complete CollectionWarner Brothers; Release date: 2011-01-04; Published: 2003-08-01; DVD
Best price: $21.98
Price in other shops:
Are You Being Served? Again! (The Complete Series)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2011-01-04; DVD
Best price: $12.49
Price in other shops:
Are You Being Served? The Complete CollectionWarner Brothers; Release date: 2009-08-11; DVD
Best price: $47.99
Price in other shops:
The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus 16 Ton MegasetA and E Home Video; Release date: 2005-09-27; DVD
Best price: $42.49
Price in other shops:
Black Adder (Remastered Ultimate Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2009-10-20; DVD
Best price: $53.99
Price in other shops:
Keeping Up Appearances: The Full Bouquet - Special Edition DVDWarner Brothers; Release date: 2011-01-04; DVD
Best price: $57.49
Price in other shops:
Jeeves & Wooster: The Complete SeriesA and E Home Video; Release date: 2009-05-26; DVD
Best price: $17.85
Price in other shops: