Untitled Blackadder Millennium Project

I'm all for another series to be made provided it doesn't come out like the film. It was good to watch but definately did seem to have lost the wit and Hilarity of the series. I loved the series and found series 2, 3 and 4 to be the funniest. Blackadder is the very greatest tv sitcom in the world and is definately as good as Fawlty Towers. Lets just hope the writers, Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, have a cunning plan for a new series if there is to be one. Overall i'd give it 7 out of 10 but don't let this stop you from viewing the series.

Blackadder was one of the greatest comedies of the 80s - and this superb special one-off episode does not let it down. The episode looks a heck of a lot more modern than the old Blackadder series - and the idea to have Blackadder and Baldrick sailing through time in a newly-built time machine in order to win a bet is one that is original and fits well with Blackadder's historical background. Blackadder brings modern life into the Elizabethan era in an extremely funny way (he shows a Tesco Cashcard to Queen Elizabeth I - absolutely hilarious), beats up William Shakespeare, kills the Duke of Wellington and Baldrick's pants wipe out the dinosaurs. All of these outrageous moments are successfully incorporated into the plot rather than them just being there for humorous effect - and that is what makes this episode great, as Blackadder sets off on his adventures. More hilarious one-liners and situations do not let down the original Blackadder legacy, and though Blackadder Back & Forth lacks the cruel wit and sarcasm of its predecessors, its big budget and hilarious script ensure it is one to be reckoned with. Absolutely hilarious! 10/10

I'm sorry. I just couldn't like this. It's not that I disliked it, I just didn't like it. Blackadder's humour is gone in this. The characters are not like in the series, most notably Queen Elizabeth, who was much more harsh and unhappy than in the series. It was nice to see the characters, though. And it's odd seeing them all older than in the series, because now I recognise them for different roles. Most prominently, Atkinson reminds me of Mr. Bean here, not Edmund Blackadder, Stephen Fry reminds me of QI, not his many roles in Blackadder, and Laurie reminds me of Gregory House here, not of his two roles in Blackadder. This episode just came off as a big disappointment. I honestly thought I'd like it for one reason or another, but it felt like a completely different show. Usually I'd be ecstatic at the return of a show, but this really should have been left alone. They even removed the much needed laugh track. The spark is just not in this episode. However, it is good as a stand alone episode and if it wasn't Blackadder I'd still think it was alright. It's just not the quality I was hoping for; much, much less. Least favourite episode.

This being hyped as the last Blackadder story is a great end to a very funny series. The plot has Edmund Blackadder trying to con his friends (played by series regulars Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie Miranda Richardson, and Tim Mcinnery) by claiming he has built a time machine on the eve of the new century, the year 2000. That opening alone is a tip of the hat to the classic George Pal film, "The Time Machine" where Rod Taylor as George does the same thing at the turn of the century the year 1900. But what Edmund thought of as just a con turned out to be a real time machine, put together by his usually incompetent servant Baldrick. The two travel thru time and change history in hysterical ways to funny to mention here. The ending is classic and will have you applauding at the end. My favorite series of Black Adder was a tie with the "Blackadder III", and "The Blackadder Christmas Carol", but now this one surpasses them. I can't believe the comments that I read on this site, who didn't like it or felt it was far from the best, because I thought they have done a great job with this show. I think it might be that they would rather had a full series on TV and not have to pay to see it at the Millennium dome as they had to. I just saw this on my local PBS station and I now want to go out and buy the tape of it. I recommend this show to all fans of Black Adder and of good time travel stories as well. It's a hoot.

As nice as it is to see a reunion of the entire cast of the Blackadder franchise, this is only so-so entertainment(and poor Byrne, getting such forgettable lines). It's interesting to see this as produced as something other than a sit-com, with well-done cinematography, special effects and editing. The plot isn't bad, and the concept allows for the writers to mock time periods that they hadn't before, and while this freedom puts the pressure on them to utilize it, they do so most of the time. The story does drive this one so much that little room is left for laughs, unfortunately. Pacing is solid. The production values are quite high. Everything looks great and we believe that we are where and when we are told to be visiting. Acting is all good. The "guests" are magnificent. Atkinson is marvelous as always as the cynical, greedy and self-righteous Edmund. The comedy is fair. Too much reliance on sight gags, and silly, occasionally violent, humor(even some of the gross-out material of the latest season, what gives?), though, and so little(though there is still a note-worthy amount) of the verbal comedy that we know and love this series for. As we are by now used to from these, the shortcomings throughout history is poked fun at through matter-of-factly stating in a satirical manner. This has some of the clever wit of previous productions, but not as much as we're used to. On the plus side, the excellent theme song returns, with a new, fitting text. The DVD comes with the Cavalier Years and Baldrick's Video Diary, that expands into a making-of featurette with behind-the-scenes footage, interviews(with every performer, very cool) and deleted scenes. It's fairly informative. A final goodbye to those that we've come to know and love, but could have been rather a bit better. I recommend this to all fans of the title character. Just don't expect the greatness as we've become used to from his side. 7/10

This short reformation of the Blackadder gang came ten years after the final series, and was put together to run in the ill-fated Millennium Dome, that Greenwich white elephant opened to celebrate the arrival of the 21st century. Blackadder has built a 'time machine' which he has put together to impress his appalling dinner guests. Taking Baldrick with him he plans to bring back an array of disgusting items to prove he's been away - of course, it is initially a scam, but ... Through their time travel, our heroes manage to change the course of history in more than one epoch - Edmund steals Maid Marian from Robin Hood (an OTT Rik Mayall with more than a whiff of Flashheart about him); he convinces Shakespeare - a morose Colin Firth - not to be a writer (and punches him for all the boring plays he wrote); he causes Napoleon to have slightly different fortunes than history dictated (Napoleon played by the stage actor Simon Russell Beale); and so on. All the usual cast are back - alongside Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson there's Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Tim McInnerny, and Hugh Laurie. There are in-jokes, too - Jennie Bond appears in her guise as Royal Reporter, but in a different era (just as Vincent Hanna did election reporting for Baldrick v William Pitt the Even Younger in Blackadder the Third). Overall, though, this short episode is a bit sparse on ideas, and feels strained. After the long wait, and the long build-up, it was just disappointing when it finally appeared.

When the Millennium was coming close they built a special building in London called the Millennium Dome, they made this special film to be played in the cinema of the Dome. Richard Curtis and Ben Elton's wonderful comedy sitcom characters have returned after ten years to do a special final edition to the saga (the final member of the Blackadder family, to date). Rowan Atkinson as Lord Edmund Blackadder and his friends George (Hugh Laurie), Melchett (Stephen Fry), Darling (Tim McInnerny) and Lady Elizabeth (Miranda Richardson) sit down to dinner to celebrate the New Year, new Century and Millennium. The very good Baldrick (Tony Robinson) is also there providing a disgusting dinner. Blackadder then tells his chums he has made a time machine, he shows them and he bets them £10,000 each that he can time travel and bring back historical items. They all except the bet and ask for separate items. It's after Baldrick and Blackadder get into the machine and pull a lever that they do actually time travel, but it was meant to be a prank! Also starring Rik Mayall as Robin Hood (Woof!), Colin Firth as William Shakespeare, Kate Moss as Maid Marian and Patsy Byrne as Nursie. It was nominated the BAFTA Situation Comedy Award. Edmund Blackadder was number 3 on The 100 Greatest TV Characters, and he was number 3 on The World's Greatest Comedy Characters. Very good!

It was awful. Three jokes made me laugh - three. And Atkinson said in the the "making of" that each line was written to be funny. No way. It was so bad it was predictable - something never present in a good comedy. After seeing the main episode I went on to see the special features to hopefully find something else funny - the scenes that were cut were funnier than what was left in. This is the last and unfortunately the worst possible episode of Blackadder. It is completely untrue to the utterly brilliant TV Series that shined so often throughout its invention. Don't see it unless you want to be hurt by the expectatus nihil humoratus. 1/10 -LD _____________________________________________ my faith: http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/jbc33/

This 'film' is available now on video and DVD, and has been showing at The Millennium Dome in London throughout this year. I saw it at the Dome and I have to say that I felt it was an unstructured, rushed and messy affair. The main story is that Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) tries to play a practical joke on his 'friends' by pretending that he has built a time-machine to the exact specifications of Leonardo Da Vinci. However, he discovers that Leonardo's machine does in fact work and he is transported to the Jurassic era, facing a T-Rex. The rest of the story follows the attempts of Blackadder and Baldrick (Tony Robinson) to get back to their own time, visiting a number of periods of history on the way. This storyline, which could be used as a synopsis for an entire series, is squashed into a feature only about 40 minutes long, with each period visited given only about 5 minutes. As for the humour - this feature follows on from where Blackadder Goes Forth finished off. Blackadder is an arrogant and sarcastic know-it-all, with Baldrick being the vehicle for the majority of the gags. Unfortunately the British public, that used to demand more ground-breaking and subtle humour, now seems content with sarcasm and ridicule - which is why the final Blackadder series was so popular. Compared to the first two series of Blackadder, this film is complete dross with little in the way of characterisation or subtlety. The film was used at the Dome, presumably to represent British humour at the outset of the Millennium. When you consider how many classic comedy series Britain produced in the 70's and 80's (including Blackadder and Blackadder II), the timing of the new era couldn't have been worse.

I saw this not long after it debuted and I remember feeling a bit disappointed. However, as I have just bought the Blackadder mega-set, I thought I'd give it a try once again. Well, now after having see this hilarious special, I must assume back when I first saw it, I was out of my mind, as it was absolutely wonderful from start to finish! The show begins in the present. It's New Year's Eve and Edmund is having a few friends over to celebrate--and to rob them blind. His plan is to construct a fake time machine and use it to dupe his friends out of money that they will bet him. However, surprisingly, Baldrick's reconstruction of a supposed DaVinci machine actually works and the two of them are, for some time, stuck in time--unable to find their way back. In the process, unfortunately, they do some significant things to alter time and when they return, the British are all subjects of France--as, thanks to Edmund, the French won at Waterloo and subsequently invaded Britain! There's a lot more to it than this--with probably the best ending of any Blackadder series. It's then up to them to undo undo the damage they caused. I won't say more--it would spoil the fun. Exquisitely written and laugh out loud fun, this is a show not to be missed by fans of these lovely shows.