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Black Adder III Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 5 Reviews)

Funny Stuff
I'm not a huge fan of English humor, but Black Adder is extremely hilarious. Very sophisticated humor, none of that slapstick stuff. Rowan Atkinson at his best, too. Five stars

Blackadder The Third....
Is EASILY the funniest run of the BA series! Atkinson's handling of the role as a resentful, scheming butler serving an idiotic Prince regent and dealing with all the vain, odd characters of 18th century England is a wonder to behold! The episodes come off like well done period comedy plays, perhaps written by the likes of Jonathan Swift or Washington Irving. There is definitely a very theatrical look and "feel" to the episodes, and I am put in mind of the field trips to Princeton's McCarter Theatre back in the 60s, where we saw "Faust", "Uncle Vanya" and "Candida". B-II had some of this feel as well, but in B-III, for some reason, it is more pronounced.

"Sense & Senility" is probably the funniest ep. here, with Edmund hiring two actors that have caught the fancy of the dim Prince, played by Hugh Laurie. The actors are the very soul and image of foolish, rococo vanity and pomposity, with over-rouged cheeks and reddened lips, ridiculous powdered wigs and the manners of rich old dowagers. Edmund teases them by endelssly repeating the name of the play "Macbeth", which is anathema to the superstitious, foppish men. A series of events seals their doom as they lead Baldrick to believe that they are plotting to kill him and the Prince. Edmund, who hates them, has them wrapped up as traitors.

Another great ep. is "Amy & Amiability", in which a financially overextended Prince has to marry wealth to be solvent again. Miranda Richardson joins the cast again for this episode as the apparently sweet and innocent intended young lady, who holds an incredible secret. A few scenes involving squirrels and the girl's overprotective father will have you on the floor laughing.

"Nob & Nobility" is probably the weakest ep. here as Edmund and Baldrick get involved with the French Revolution and the Scarlet Pimpernel. "Red Dwarf's" Chris Barrie and B-II and IV's Tim McInnerny make guest appearances in this one, but it doesn't help a fairly gagless story that has a lot of people faking VERY bad French accents.

The rest of the episodes are excellent and make this arc stand out as the high watermark for the series, edging out B-II only by a HAIR...

Buy this and B-II and prepare to laugh yourself silly!

Screamingly funny
One of the funniest things I have ever seen on the screen. Taking place in a more recent historical context and having been a history major helped me "get" some of the jokes that only those in the UK might have appreciated in the earlier series'. Much better than Blackadder 1 and the equal of Blackadder II in that Rowan Atkinson's wit is honed to a razor sharp edge throughout all the episodes. I leant this to a friend of mine and she literally threw up laughing. It's too bad most American still think British humor ended with Monty Python and quote it ad nauseum when Blackadder lurks in the corridors.
"Look behind you, Mr. Caesar!!!"

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