Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Being brought up on Python going to see this movie on its original release was one of the highlights of my movie going childhood. For many years I thought 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' was the funniest movie ever made. Now over twenty five years later repetition and familiarity may not have ruined the movie completely but they have spoiled my enjoyment somewhat. Even so it's still a comedy classic and I envy anyone who is watching it for the first time. Python (Cleese, Chapman, Palin, Jones, Idle and Gilliam) were on top form throughout, and apart from one or two less successful bits it's hilarious stuff, and arguably their most consistent movie. (I still think their TV work was their best, the non-linear sketch format suiting their style more than extended pieces). Python bores can quote this verbatim but don't let them put you off. This is one wacked out romp full of fun and surprises, and still has more laughs than 90% of today's so-called comedies. Highly recommended.

This has got to be one of the side-splittingly funniest films of all time.No one can deliver such cerebral humor as the pythonians,and this is truly their finest hour(OK,so its about an hour and a half).This film doesn't even wait for the show to begin to start you laughing,it goes for the throat during the opening credits(sorry I don't want to ruin it for you).It made me laugh till my tears were crying.If you are a single chap, and you want to know if a certain girl is right for you,then try this.Bring her to your home,cook her a wonderful meal,complete with a great bottle of wine,then plop her down in front of the telly and start this video(or DVD,whatever).If she is not laughing hysterically within ten minutes,then turn off the box,and break up with her immediately,as she has an impaired humor center in her brain(and will only cause you tremendous misery in the coming years).I only wish I had known of the "python Challenge" during my dating days.It would have saved me years of unremitting heartache(as well as thousands in legal fees). Please trust me on this one,it might just save your life.I give this movie an unrepentant 10,but would give it a 20+ if it were an option.

Can I commit heresy by making a small confession? I don't find Monty Python very funny. Neither is Black Adder, and Sgt.Pepper isn't the greatest album ever made. Python is commendable, of course. The sketch show was interesting, and made innovative use of the television format. (I would say groundbreaking but I've seen Spike Milligan's "Q"). Yet funny? Python has always struck me as the very worst kind of undergraduate humour, the sort of indulgent "comedy" that's uncool to dislike in any University. In reality, of course, I suspect the somewhat obvious sight gags and formula juxtapositions are liked by a very small minority. But the ultimate in Emperor's New Clothes causes black t-shirted, Wilde-quoting students to break into peer-pleasing hysterics at a knight who goes "ni!" A worry is that if you don't laugh then you'll be called "thick" or told that you just "don't get it". But I do get it, and it's nowhere near as clever as it pretends to be. The repetitive jokes (Knights on pretend horseback; ironic detachment to death; characters who talk too much), coupled with the attempt at a singular narrative make Holy Grail an exercise in tedium. It doesn't help matters that the six members of the group aren't exactly natural comedians. John Cleese, the supposed comic genius of the team is possibly the least funny. I mean, he's too posh, surely? Posh people aren't funny, that's the rule. Seeing middle-class boy Cleese bullying foreigners and the working classes in the overrated Fawlty Towers inexplicably amuses many. Michael Palin would be a straight man in any other troupe, and is far more suited to travelogues. Terry Gilliam, arguably the most talented and a hugely important director, would be the first to admit he's not that hot as a performer. And Graham Chapman, the tall camp one, must get bored playing the same character all the time. That leaves Eric Idle and co-director Terry Jones as the only members who can genuinely raise a smile. I was amazed to find that this is regarded on the IMDb as the strongest Python film, as I have seen a lot better. Holy Grail is symptomatic of every flaw in the series, with hardly a single joke coming off. Even Gilliam's surrealist animation is lacking here, and the songs are a chore to sit through. The few good gags involve a Trojan rabbit which the knights forget to hide in; Neil Innes singing the uncomplimentary tale of Sir Robin; a copyright disclaimer signed by Richard Nixon, and a Yorkshireman King. However, the only part that made me laugh out loud was the truly hilarious killer rabbit. Five funny jokes. 85 minutes. Oh dear. 4/10.