|
Saturday Night Live - The Best of Phil HartmanRating:
Release Date: 24 February, 2004 Retail Price: $14.98 OUR Price: $13.48 You SAVE: $1.50! Cast: |
Saturday Night Live - The Best of Phil Hartman Reviews
Great collection
I have to admit that, aside from the original cast, my favorite SNL cast was the Phil Hartman-Jon Lovitz-Dana Carvey era. Such talent, and Phil Hartman was one of the best. Even though some of the targets of his impersonations have faded from memory (Donahue, Adm. Stockdale), his immense comic talent would make them hilarious to one who didn't know who these people were. Others, though, are truly marvelous--Frank Sinatra hosting The Sinatra Group was perhaps my favorite, Bill Clinton visiting a McDonalds was an excellent, if a bit obvious, choice. I smile when I think of his talentless propaganda-movie actor being told by Jon Lovitz that he's not needed anymore, or his Duke of Norfolk talking to Anne Boleyn (Candice Bergen) about possible execution methods. What can one say about his short film with Jan Hooks? It's not necessarily funny, but it is a striking moment, and an indellible image.
Since I was still in grade school when Hartman was on the cast, my only knowledge of his talent before this was the occasional episode on Comedy Central. So, I can't say that I am the ultimate authority on what Hartman did on the show, but that made the DVD more worthwhile for me. I do wish that the Reagan Iran-Contra sketch had been fully included, instead of just a snippet, but I have that one on tape. Although I'm sure that everyone will have their opinion on what they consider to be Hartman's best work, but I think that this DVD represents a good portrait of the man's work, and why he is still regarded as one of the most talented cast members ever on SNL.
A Definite Keeper
While this compilation is not as consistently funny as the Will Farrell ones, it definitely has its moments. Thought he did a great imitation of Donahue (banging the mike on his head, while waiting for an answer was a good touch). The funniest bit (I thought) was the 'Robot Presents' skit. Every time it came back with another title for the show, and the robot explaining that the title doesn't reflect what the shows about, I laughed harder and harder. When he came back with 'Let's Fix, Robots', I literally fell off the couch, because I was laughing so hard! And the Anne Boleyn skit was very well written....especially when she keeps asking what will happen to her head after she is killed (Phil: your body will then be folded up and shot out of a canon....Candice: will my head then be shot at my body?). I also throughly enjoyed the nice sendoff at the end, with him and Jan Hooks imitating an elderly couple, thinking back to their younger days. And knowing he never made it to old age makes it especially touching. I'm not sure, but I think that's Bing Crosby's voice he's singing to.
Some sketches I thought dragged was Clinton in McDonalds. The Barbara Bush skit didn't work, and the Sinatra skit was so-so. The worst one was the opening with Adm. Stockdale....ugh, that couldn't get over fast enough.
So, all in all, a definite keeper. It's nice that you can just fast forward thru the bad stuff, and watch the funny bits.
More Customer Reviews (13 total)
You like Saturday Night Live - The Best of Phil Hartman?
|
© 2004 DVD Booty | Don't Plunder Our Cache of Booty, Matey!
Hosting Provided by Paychecks in Advance
