Monty Python's The Meaning of Life poster

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

It took God six days to create the heavens and the earth...and Monty Python ninety minutes to screw it up.

7.3(2,197)19831h 47m10

Life's questions are 'answered' in a series of outrageous vignettes, beginning with a staid London insurance company which transforms before our eyes into a pirate ship. Then there's the National Health doctors who try to claim a healthy liver from a still-living donor. The world's most voracious glutton brings the art of vomiting to new heights before his spectacular demise.

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Status
Released
Budget
$9M
Box office
$42.7M
Language
English
  • sense of life
  • comedian
  • satire
  • sketch
  • breaking the fourth wall
  • aftercreditsstinger
  • duringcreditsstinger
  • vignette
  • the meaning of life
  • anarchic comedy

Top billed cast

Behind the camera

Director

Terry Jones

Produced in

United Kingdom

Where to watch

All options

Availability for India. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.

Gallery

Still from Monty Python's The Meaning of LifeStill from Monty Python's The Meaning of LifeStill from Monty Python's The Meaning of LifeStill from Monty Python's The Meaning of LifeStill from Monty Python's The Meaning of LifeStill from Monty Python's The Meaning of LifeStill from Monty Python's The Meaning of LifeStill from Monty Python's The Meaning of LifeStill from Monty Python's The Meaning of LifeStill from Monty Python's The Meaning of LifeStill from Monty Python's The Meaning of LifeStill from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

Videos

Release dates

  • United StatesUS

    • TheatricalR31 Mar 1983
    • PhysicalRMCA/Universal Home Video #71016 [VHS] 108 minutes1 Jan 1996
  • United KingdomGB

    • Theatrical15Originally 18; downgraded 200023 Jun 1983
  • AustraliaAU

    • TheatricalM12 Aug 1983
  • ArgentinaAR

    • Theatrical189 Jan 1986
  • BrazilBR

    • Theatrical12 May 1983
    • TV18Universal6 Jul 2000
    • Physical18DVD/VHS Universal22 Oct 2004
  • CzechiaCZ

    • PhysicalDVD1 Nov 2000
    • Theatrical (limited)UProjekt 10016 Jan 2002
  • DenmarkDK

    • Theatrical151 Jul 1983
  • FinlandFI

    • TheatricalK-165 Aug 1983
  • FranceFR

    • PremiereCannes Film Festival9 May 1983
    • TheatricalU22 Jun 1983
    • TheatricalReprise19 Jun 2002
  • GermanyDE

    • Theatrical1626 Aug 1983
  • GreeceGR

    • Theatrical1622 Jun 1983
  • IrelandIE

    • Theatrical1522 Apr 1983

Frequently asked questions

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life was released on 31 March 1983.

Audience reviews

4
  • G

    Gimly

    4/12/2019

    6/10

    Doesn't hold up as well as some of Monty Python's other work, but there's enough classic moments in here to make it worthwhile watching. _Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go._

  • F

    Filipe Manuel Neto

    5/8/2023

    4/10

    **I expected much more: this film is a shadow of what it should have been.** I think it's redundant to say what everyone already knows: the Monty Python represents the pinnacle of British humor, and if each of those comedians is excellent alone, seeing them together is always an added bonus. This film, however, is a late work by the group, when each of them was starting to have a solo career and the group's notori…

  • C

    CinemaSerf

    2/25/2025

    6/10

    Well, I suppose if anyone was ever going to be able to get to grips with the meaning of life, it was going to be the “Monty Python” lads but for me their brand of comedy never really worked. This starts with it’s equivalent of a B-reel: a bunch of geriatric insurance processors who react with unexpected violence when one of their number is fired. Next thing their building is a weapon of war wreaking havoc on the glit…

  • M

    misubisu

    11/5/2025

    10/10

    ## **Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) Review: A Glorious, Unflinching 10/10 Finale** If *Holy Grail* was a medieval romp and *Life of Brian* a pointed satire, then *The Meaning of Life* is Monty Python's grand, chaotic, and philosophically unhinged thesis statement. It is their most ambitious, most visually stunning, and most brazenly offensive film — a series of sketches loosely tied to the seven ages of…

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