Monty Python and the Holy Grail (3 April 1975)
directed by Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Connie Booth, Carol Cleveland, Neil Innes
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MPAA rating: Studio: Michael White Productions, Python Pictures Limited Script: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin Music: Neil Innes Running time: 91 minutes Tags: Adventure; castles; Comedy; Holy Grail; King Arthur; knights; quests Tactical strength: [9/10]
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God sends Arthur and his knights on a quest for the Holy Grail. Arthur gathers up a troupe of able bodied knights, but we don't have much hope that the knights will succeed since instead of horses the knights' squires follow their lieges pounding together two coconut halves. As the knights seek the Grail, numerous silly and hilarious skits ensue, as only the Monty Python troupe could produce. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is classic comedy that's funny every time you watch. As with other Monty Python productions, the cast each take on numerous roles within the sketches, and in general, the acting is fairly good. Just like the television show and other Monty Python movies, you see a series of comedy sketches, but Holy Grail carries the grail quest as a unifying theme so the skits produce a comedic synergy that create a whole funnier than an individual skit.
Although obviously produced on a low budget, Jones and Gilliam have filled every scene with rich background material. You can often see something new with every viewing, such as peasants bashing cats against walls or filling buckets with mud. Also, every scene has quotable moments or memorable jokes that just about everyone who speaks English can recognize: migratory coconuts, African or European swallows, three questions at the bridge of death, the killer rabbit, "I'm not dead yet," "I got better," taunting Frenchmen, the black knight fighting without arms and legs, the knights who say "Ni," Lancelot killing just about everyone in Swamp Castle, and many more.
The special edition DVD with an extra 30-seconds doesn't add much value to the film, but the interviews with the cast and especially the tour of the locations with Michael Palin and Terry Jones give some interesting insights into the production. For example, after touring Scotland, Jones had selected about six different castles as locations. Unfortunately, the equivalent of the national parks service denied the request to film at these locations citing possible damage to the sites. Instead, Jones had to film all the castle scenes at a single privately held castle, and the DVD interview details how they used many different angles to make the one castle seem like many different castles. And the Lego version of the "Knights of the Round Table" song in Camelot is hilarious as well.
Although I have met a few individuals that don't like Monty Python, just about everyone likes Monty Python and the Holy Grail. If you buy only one comedy on DVD, make it this classic.
