In 1979, Monty Python unleashed The Life Of Brian on a somewhat unsuspecting public. The film followed a parallel messiah in the form of a guy named Brian whose life had some uncanny similarities to what the Bible tells us Jesus Christ went through, all the way up to his crucifixion. Thirty years later, Eric Idle (with some help from Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, both of whom have brief cameos in the production), who did an excellent job of bringing Monty Python And The Search For The Holy Grail to life on stage as Spamalot proves lightning can strike twice with He's Not The Messiah. Performed live on stage in London, England in the historic Royal Albert Hall in 2009, this unlikely candidate for a musical adaptation turns out to be as inspired a slice of comedic lunacy as the film that inspired it and a production well worth the time of any self respecting Monty Python fan, old or new.

The musical version of the movie once again follows Brian (William Ferguson), a regular guy born just down the street from Jesus. His mother, Mandy (Rosalind Plowright) has never thought him to be the messiah and really there's nothing all that remarkable about Brian at all but that doesn't stop the local populace from mistaking him for their savior. This is all in spite of the fact that he wasn't born by Immaculate Conception and has never claimed to be the son of God. When he tires of the ensuing nuttiness that envelopes his previously mundane life, he hightails it out of Jerusalem and joins an underground resistance group called The People's Front Of Judea, lead by a radical named Reg Christopher Purves). It's here that he meets Judith of Judea (Shannon Mercer) and quickly falls in love with her. All Brian really wants to do is help The People's Front Of Judea get rid of the Romans, but his messianic destiny will soon prove impossible to escape.

So basically what Idle and his team have done here is to simply remake The Life Of Brian in musical form, it really doesn't deviate from the story told in the film much at all and many of the jokes do remain exactly the same. Those who know the movie well will have a pretty serious sense of déjà vu as they watch this, but at the same time, Idle has done such a good job with the musical side of things that the familiarity becomes almost a plus. On top of that, not one iota of the original film's lunatic sense of off the wall humor has been lost, and despite the fact that this is being done as a live theater piece it hasn't been overly classed up at all - at least, not to detrimental effect.

The music works well in the context of the story. It takes things just seriously enough and plays it all just straight enough that it's not only funny but really catchy and musically astute. There are plenty of catchy melodies that you find yourself humming along to as the movie plays out, or even after it's finished. Of course, the finale has to be the highlight, and the rendition of Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life actually rivals the version performed in the film not only in its comedic effectiveness but in its sheer sing-a-long-ability. On top of that, unlike some musical adaptations of silver screen classics, the songs here actually work really well in the context of the production in that they further the story and fit in with the narrative, as opposed to simply feeling like a forced musical interlude.

All of the expert musical numbers and fantastic showmanship would be for not if the material weren't captured right for a home video presentation. Thankfully, the crew responsible for filming and editing the production have put a lot of work into that side of things and their efforts have paid off. The production is very nicely shot and well put together, making it easy to follow what's happening on stage and enjoy things from pretty much the perfect angle every time. If you've ever wanted to see Monty Python's Life Of Brian done as a musical with a full blown symphony orchestra - and let's face it, we all have - this is the way to do it!

Video:

Not The Messiah debuts on Blu-ray in a strong AVC encoded 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen 1080p high definition transfer. Generally speaking, the picture quality here is very good. Some shots look a bit flat, which is probably a result of the stage sets being as limited as they are in spots, but detail and especially texture, which you'll notice in the costumes and wardrobe immediately, are both very strong and far above what standard definition could offer. Color reproduction looks nice and robust while black levels are strong, if occasionally just a little bit noisy in spots. Flesh tones look good, occasionally altered (and understandably so) by the different colors used in the lighting set up for the production, while contrast and brightness all look to be set appropriately. The appearance of the production doesn't necessarily lend itself to a reference quality high definition showcase, but given the minimalist appearance of the performance, this transfer looks very good indeed.