Rutling along again

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, also known as "the best thing Eric Idle did that wasn`t Python". Neil Innes is the musician behind the story. He was also a Python contributor and founder of The Bonzo Dog Band (Paul McCartney produced one of their songs, and the story behind that is explained here).

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.

This DVD is a new release, under the title "30th Anniversary Edition". Let's hope that they've put some effort in to make this disc match up to the original region 1 release, which outshone the original region 2 release in certain areas.

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. I think this transfer is probably the same as the previous DVD.

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, again the same as the previous release. The old 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

Let's get the original extras out of the way first.

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 more background to some of the things here in various of Eric Idle's books, which are also worth reading.

There`s also a brief intro to the film, filmed a few years ago now by Idle at one of the locations used in it.

The new stuff here are 2 new widescreen documentaries "Get up and go" - The making of The Rutles and "Inside Shabby Road" - The music of The Rutles. These have been created for this DVD and are both worth watching. They run for around half an hour each and feature interviews with various people involved with the film, including Michael Palin, producer Gary Weis, John Halsey, Rikki Fataar and Neil Innes. The one notable absentee is Idle himself.

We hear a lot from Innes who has the most to say about the film and the music, but that's because he was the musical force behind the film. All very interesting, and probably just enough to make this new DVD worthwhile.

However, we are still missing some things from 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 spoof presented on an improved 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 new 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 new DVD is better than the old DVD, but there are still things missing that are present on the region 1 disc. As with the previous region 2 release, 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).

A worthwhile re-release overall though, and will make a good present for a music/comedy lover in your life...