All together now...

Rating: 9/10 (8 September 2002)

"We're Knights of the Round Table, Our shows are formi-dable, But many times We're given rhymes That are quite unsing-able! We're opera nuts in Camelot We sing from the dia-PHRAGHM A LOT!"
The real danger of thinking about this film is that, once you begin reciting a sketch, you won't want to stop until you've finished it. The lines flow after each other so perfectly and naturally that every one becomes the punchline of the one before it. Classic examples are the Politically Aware Peasants, ("Help Help I'm being repressed!") the Logic of Witch Burning, ("If she weighs the same as a duck, she's made of wood- and therefore... a witch!") the warning of Tim the Enchanter ("Death awaits you all; with nasty big pointy teeth!") and so on. The film does have a few dud gags, in particular the tale of Sir Lancelot, but these are far outnumbered by the good ("Allo daffy English Kniggits and Messeur Arthur King who has the brain of a duck you know!"). Despite its self-deprecating tagline, this film feels like an epic, especially since it was made for less than the cost to cater a modern Hollywood film, and is beautifully shot. Perhaps the most innocent and sweet-natured of the Python's films, it still features a liberal amount of sensless murder and bleakness, particularly near the beginning and end. It is still the most addictive of their films.