Review of Rutles, The: All You Need Is Cash

Introduction

"The Rutles are a legend. A living legend. A legend that will live long after other living legends have died. This is the semi-legendary story of the Prefab Four, who made the sixties what they are today." So opens this spoof mockumentary All You Need Is Cash, also known as "the best thing Eric Idle did that wasn`t Python". Neil Innes is the musical force behind the story. He was also a Python contributor and founder of The Bonzo Dog Band (Paul McCartney produced one of their songs).

It was made for NBC (they gave Idle a bigger budget than the BBC ever would), and they managed to attract some big names too - Bianca Jagger, Roger McGough, Ronnie Wood, George Harrison, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and globe-trekking Python Michael Palin. The disc details up above tell you all you`ll need to know.

Video

A standard full-frame transfer, as you would expect for something made for TV. Some of it looks like it has been cleaned up, some of it looks intentionally dodgy, and some looks like it could have been cleaned up a bit more. It`s all very watchable though, with the weaving of real Beatles footage and specially shot footage giving a nice illusion that The Rutles might have existed.

Plenty of running gags along the way, and some nice visual gags too, all in keeping with Idle`s brand of humour.

Audio

The original mono replayed over left and right channels, and it all sounds fine and dandy. The region 1 disc has DD5.1 sound, although we aren`t really missing out on much, as it`s a bit of a clumsy remix, and the music often sounds as if it`s mixed too low.

And that`s not good, given that the music is what elevates this above the level of a few cheap laughs at The Beatles and Beatlemania. Innes` songs are absolutely fantastic and you`ll be singing them for ages after and also confusing them with original Beatles tracks. Luckily the music sounds ok on this region 2 disc.

Features

Some extras too. Two deleted scenes, which are just longer takes/unedited versions of the Mick Jagger and Paul Simon interviews. There`s also a commentary from Eric Idle, which is interesting and funny to listen to. There are one or two gaps, and it`s definitely aimed at an American audience (he`s quick to bad mouth certain British things, and also feels the need to explain one or two British-isms).

There`s also a brief intro to the film, filmed relatively recently by Idle at one of the locations used in it.

However, we`re let down when compared to the region 1 version, which also features a photo gallery, selected memoirs, a "play songs only" feature, 2 other deleted scenes and 2 easter eggs.

Conclusion

A fantastic programme presented on a good DVD. If you`re a Python/Idle/Innes/Beatles fan, and you`ve never seen this, then it`s a must. If you have seen it then the DVD is the thing to have as it`s better than the VHS/TV broadcasts due to some scenes being added back in/lengthened. You`ll be laughing and then singing along.

The small fly in the ointment is the fact that there are a few more extras on the region 1 disc. Having said that, the DD5.1 sound on that disc is probably not as good as the DD2.0 sound on this disc. If you wanted to own both, you could do so for less than £20 for the pair (the R1 is very cheap, and the R2 can be had for about £12).

If you want the most extras, the R1 is the disk to go for, but this R2 version is still recommended.