Rising Damp The Movie - good or bad? Page 2

Well I liked it.

Didn't see the point of it TBH, but it's ok.

Better than other similar God awful TV spin off movies around that time.

All those On The Buses, Are You Being Served? and Man About The House type movies - awful dross.

Quote: Stephen Ryder @ November 21 2011, 8:09 PM GMT

Well I liked it.

Mr Strauli evidently didn't if one reads his CV + comments on his website . . .

Quote: lofthouse @ November 21 2011, 9:40 PM GMT

Didn't see the point of it TBH, but it's ok.

Better than other similar God awful TV spin off movies around that time.

All those On The Buses, Are You Being Served? and Man About The House type movies - awful dross.

I agree nowhere near the worst although it was just recycled and added nothing.
Wasn't there a good joke at the end that wasn't in the series, when Phillip confesses he's from Croydon?

Both good and bad. It's not bad if you haven't seen the series because so many of the sketches are lifted straight from it. The new dream scenes are quite good.

It's not good if you've recently sat through the whole series because so many of the sketches are lifted straight from it. The absence of Richard Beckinsale is a definite minus, I think they must have picked Strauli because he looks vaguely like his predecessor. No comment on his abilities but sitcoms are all about expectations and the characters/actors who inhabit their roles.

Quote: lofthouse @ November 21 2011, 9:40 PM GMT

All those On The Buses, Are You Being Served? and Man About The House type movies - awful dross.

But enjoyable dross imo.

Watchable

Quote: Poirot @ February 16 2013, 8:59 AM GMT

Both good and bad. It's not bad if you haven't seen the series because so many of the sketches are lifted straight from it. The new dream scenes are quite good.

It's not good if you've recently sat through the whole series because so many of the sketches are lifted straight from it. The absence of Richard Beckinsale is a definite minus, I think they must have picked Strauli because he looks vaguely like his predecessor. No comment on his abilities but sitcoms are all about expectations and the characters/actors who inhabit their roles.

Yes I agree there, this sitcom film looked like it just had to be made because of contractual obligations or something and the writer had nothing left in the drawer for it. It would have looked odd at the time if Rising Damp, one of the 1970s' most loved sitcoms did not do a film spin off because most of the other major sitcoms did (with the notable exception of Fawlty Towers).

And you don't turn good work down as a writer, so Chappell probably had to recycle his best bits. But if you look at the last series the quality had dropped a lot, so really a Rising Damp movie made in 1980 wasn't going to be RD at its best. Had the film been made in 1975ish then it may have been much better.

It is watchable but I think now in 2013 - it's very dated.

It's probably better than series 4, which didn't have Alan/Beckinsale in either and was a bit different in tone because of it. The best series are 1 and 2, after a three year break it seemed to have lost its edge when it came back.

good

Not horrible, but not particularly good, either.

I really thought the change of scenery was distracting. Apart from more spacious, it was also quite a bit brighter, which was a departure from the dingy atmosphere of the original series.

I was thinking I'd already seen it when watching the Denholm Elliott storyline. Clearly lifted from The Perfect Gentleman, even calling both characters, Seymour.

It was also strange that they threw in a brief nude scene.

I'm not disappointed that I watched it, but it certainly could've been better.

I've just rewatched the film and have to say I was really impressed this time around. Last time I saw it I think I must have watched the series very recently so the reused lines and scenes stood out all the more.

Either way, it provided a good few laughs and I enjoyed from start to finish. With Rossiter, Warrington and de la Tour on form, who couldn't?

I loved the TV series. Saw the movie some years ago but recently bought a copy on DVD, it really was as bad as I remembered! Whole sections lifted wholesale from TV episodes and roughly nailed together. Rossiter looks all at sea and Richard Beckinsale badly missed. Christopher Strauli does his best but looks a square in a round hole. Poor.