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Are You Being Served? The Movie

Are You Being Served? The Movie

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $17.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Introduction for AYBS!
Review: If you have never viewed Are You Being Served? on television, this movie is a great way to introduce yourself to this television classic. Many of the movie's jokes come straight from the show, which is kind of bizarre to those of us who have watched AYBS for years, but it is still a classic. Buy this movie!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Do Not Buy This DVD
Review: If you love the series you will hate this movie. How it could be this awful but still have John Inman and Mollie Sugden in it is a mystery. It is painfully, PAINFULLY, bad. Not at all funny and a complete waste of a very talented group of actors.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: don't bother
Review: If you're a true fan of AYBS, then you've seen all if not most of the episodes. All the humor in this movie is taken right from the series. The same jokes. Nothing new here.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: If your an AYBS fan then you need to also have this movie:-)
Review: It is a great addition you any AYBS fan's collection. Starring the origional cast with Grainger and Lucas (however it has Mr. Harmon rather than Mr. Nash from Maint.)

The voices seem a little different in the movie rather than the television series, and you do miss the laughter from the audience - however it is still classic Are You Being Served and good for some great laughs!

If you are an AYBS fan buy this movie - if you are not a fan, well you should be! ;-)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great comedy viewing
Review: Just essentially an extra-long episode without the audience laugh track, it's still a great film, one that all fans should see.

The staff receive a free trip to the Costa Plonka, because of the store being remodelled. The staff are more than pleased, although annoying Mr Harmon is tagging along. Mrs Slocombe says "I didn't think we'd be mucking in with the maitenance staff!".

However, the hotel is a cheap and shoddy affair (it's free, after all!), and the staff soon wish they had stayed home.

Featuring the entire cast, with John Inman as Mr Humphreys, Mollie Sugden as Mrs Slocombe, Wendy Richard as Miss Brahms, Arthur Brough as Mr Granger, Trevor Bannister as Mr Lucas and Frank Thornton as Captain Peacock.

Top stuff.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I saw it multiple times and it got better...
Review: Originally I found the AYBS movie a bit weak. Many of the jokes are repeated from the episodes, and the store looks different. Also, the plot is a little far-fetched. However, after viewing it several times (thanks to occasional boring Ohio winter days), I came to appreciate it much more. In fact I was laughing hysterically after watching it the third time.

The original cast is there, plus a few extras. The holiday to Spain idea is pretty creative, since we always hear the cast talk about holidays on the show. Certain jokes are new, and they are rather funny. Even if the movie doesn't strike you as original, or even funny, owning the movie is essential for any AYBS fan. Its like owning a piece of history, since the series only ran for 69 episodes.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: DATED COMEDY
Review: The staff of the clothing section of a department store all go on holiday to the Costa Plonka. A spin off movie of the famous 1970s British sitcom series of the same name is little more than an extension of a standard episode of the seires only it looks slightly more realsitic being made in film. Humphries causes some amusement as his overly camp and flamboyant character, whilst Mollie sugeden gets a few of the laughs too. The film really lacks any sort of direction and never once are you treated to outdoor, exotic locations. so basically all of the action takes place in the hotel. Rather like a substandard Carry On film. Fans will undoubtedly be delighted whilst people unfamiliar with the series will remain unamused. On the whole, mediocre at the most with a few laughs along the way but in all honest the whole thing seems terribly dated now. Recommended to fans of the series regardless.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Terrible
Review: The worst of the original TV series (which is classic) is ten times better than this tired, uninspired junk. Do not bother with it.

Gone is the department store, the clever dialogue, the laugh track (yes sometimes this is needed), and a sense of direction.

It is silly without being funny. A tremendous opportunity utterly lost.

Buy the complete series DVDs instead.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Old routines are both fun and flat...
Review: This is the 1977 movie version of that venerable old Britcom, "Are You Being Served?", the staple of so many public television pledge drives. Deservedly so, for the series is hilarious even after multiple viewings.

After 1977, several cast changes occurred on the show, including the loss of Young Mr. Grace, old Churchill-esque Mr. Granger, and worst of all, the randy Mr. Lucas. Each was replaced on the show by a series of less-than-adequate stand-ins. So in a way, the movie serves as a snapshot of the series up to that point. It was at this time that the cast was both the best and at it's peak.

In the story, Grace Brothers is closing for remodeling. The only way to get the entire staff to agree to take their vacations at the same time is for Mr. Grace to provide holiday packages for each department.

While the film is a fun romp, it just isn't up to the standards of a typical episode. The cast certainly tries their best, and a lot of mileage is gotten out of John Inman's character, Mr. Humphries. Trevor Bannister is also in top form as the swinging Mr. Lucas, as is the rest of our much-loved cast.

But, something is just not quite right.

The first problem the fan may notice is that, without the live audience (and even to a degree, taping the action on video), the ambiance of the show is somewhat missing from the film. Think of watching your favorite sitcom without a laugh track... it's just strange.

Second, we've seen some of these routines before (the "Dear Sexy Knickers" letter, for instance). Happily, this sort of rehashing of material is kept to a minimum, and is understandable since the routines were so popular.

Third, and probably most damaging, is that the cast is removed from their natural environment, Grace Brothers' Department Store. Only the first ten minutes or so are placed in the store with what looks like similar (but not original), sets from the show (in fact, the sets look strangely even more cheap than the ones used for TV!). The balance of the film is set in Costa Plonka, a banana republic holiday resort perpetually in a state of revolution.

All in all, it just doesn't work. The movie, on the whole, turns out to be both fun and somewhat flat. Removing the cast from Grace Brothers may have seemed like the only solution for a film version, but it might have been better to have a series of vignettes that take us through a typical day at Grace Brothers.

This is a must see film for the "AYBS?" fan, but it may also be a bit disappointing. Full marks for the cast, but only a C- for the material they had to work with.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Wonderful Addition for any AYBS fan
Review: This movie is a must have for any AYBS fan. Please bear in mind that the movie is somewhat different from the series--the sets are MUCH different and the audience laughter is missing but it is still classic AYBS. The movie takes a bit of getting used to but on the second run it is as hilarious as the series.


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