The Last Remake of Beau Geste (Blu-Ray Review)

Reviewed by Jason Lockard

Marty Feldman is an actor that once you see him you never forget him. Mostly because of his  his prominent, misaligned eyes all because of a thyroid disease. Movie fans will never forget his role as Igor in the Mel Brooks classic Young Frankenstein.

Marty was amazing starring in TV shows and movies. In 1977 he was given the opportunity to direct his own spoof comedy film. The film was The last remake of Beau Geste. Now Kino Lorber Studio Classics have given this comedy a Blu-ray release.

When the elderly Sir Hector Geste and his new young greedy wife Flavia return home to meet his daughter Isabel and identical twin sons Digby Geste (Marty Feldman) joins his brother, Beau (Michael York). Little do they all realize that she is really after the famed Blue Water sapphire. But when the gem goes missing the boys join the French Foreign Legion in North Africa in search of the family heirloom.

This film was created and directed by Marty Feldman. It is a fast paced hilarious spoof of the action adventure films of the past. Joining Marty Feldman and Michael York is a stellar cast including, Ann-Margret, Peter Ustinov, Trevor Howard as Sir Hector, James Earl Jones, Avery Schreiber, Terry-Thomas and many more. There is even a special appearance by Ed McMahon.

It is good to note that Marty Feldman was angry with Universal for releasing their cut of his film. According to Michael York, "Marty's version was much funnier." Who knows maybe someday we may get the director's cut.

Now for the Kino Lorber Blu-ray release! The film is presented in 1080p in 1.85:1 aspect ratio and in lossless DTS-HD 2.0 Master audio mix. The transfer looks to be taken from a really good master copy. The colors are nice and the picture is crisp and the audio is clear.

KL Studio classics added some really nice bonus features to this Blu-ray release. take a look at what is included;

• NEW Audio Commentary by "Sledge Hammer" Creator and Feldman Friend Alan Spencer
Alan Spencer's commentary give the listener a lot of information on how different the theatrical film is to Feldman's original vision. This is a very good commentary.

• NEW Audio Commentary by Entertainment Journalist and Author Bryan Reesman
For this commentary Bryan Reesman doesn't have the personal connection with Feldman, but does bring some interesting historical facts about this film! While not as intimate it still is a very interesting commentary.

• NEW Audio Interview with Co-Star Michael York
In this 16 minute interview Micheal York give the viewer his thoughts and memories about the film. This is a very nice addition to this set.

• TRAILERS FROM HELL with Alan Spencer
This is a three-minute video feature in which Spencer give a us the history of the project and details some of the groundbreaking elements of the film.

• 4 Radio Spots
These are 2 minutes worth of spots that hyped the release of this film. Very cool archive addition to this release.

• Image Galleries
Behind the scenes stills in color and black and white.

• Theatrical Trailer

I really enjoyed see this film! I think fans of spoof comedies are going to love this film. Marty Feldman is hilarious and the jokes are still funny! Let's face it there's no expiration date on comedy!

If you would like a copy of The Last remake of Beau Geste I highly recommend adding this Blu-ray to your collection. Head over to Amazon.com and get your copy today.

Out of 4 Film Reels (4 Being the Best) KL Studio Classic's Blu-ray of The Last Remake of Beau Geste receives...