The Silliest Film Ever Made...

Rating: 10/10 (27 October 2003)

From a technical viewpoint, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" could be called a seriously flawed and impaired film. Filmed on location in the UK with a minimal budget and regular "Python" cast members, I seriously doubt that anyone working on the project at the time had believed it would spark such a cultural phenomenon. And revisiting the movie now, post its release 28 years ago, is magical.
First-time viewers may be puzzled by the film's odd opening--in fact, stories of those who thought that they had entered into the wrong screening room come in abundance. But as soon as the voice of the coarse British man is audible the viewer realizes that he or she has been duped once again by the Python Troupe.
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table have been sent on a most glorious quest by God Himself--to seek and maintain the Holy Grail, the legendary cup that Christ drank from during The Last Supper, prior to His execution, and which later caught His blood as he was left danging upon the cross.
But the seriousness surrounding the Holy Grail is left wholly untouched by the members of Monty Python--instead, we follow King Arthur and his men as they come upon an odd assortment of characters, including The Black Knight, Dennis, The Knights Who Say "Ni!", and The Killer Rabbit, all of whom hinder the daring soldiers in their quest for the Holy Grail.
Many people will find the humor of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" ingenious, while others will find the exact same jokes and stints repetitive and ridiculous. I myself did not enjoy the film the first time I saw it as a child, but over the years I have come to appreciate its humor a bit more. I still find the jokes a bit too stretched out at times, and certain gags, though hilarious the first ten times, get a bit humorless the twentieth time around (the coconuts, for example, which are amazingly silly when first introduced, soon become tiring when they are treated as the highlight of a joke repetitively). However, often enough the jokes introduced at certain points in the films are merely played in the background further into the film--for example, the fact that the men do not ride on horses is quite a major idea the first time it is revealed, and becomes the central subject of a conversation between Arthur and the man atop the castle battlements. But later on the notion of no horses is played smaller and in the background as so we can concentrate on the current jokes at hand, as well as the missing horses as an added bonus.
There is absolutely nothing to truthfully discuss about "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," other than to say that at first it seems quite obnoxious, but it starts to grow on you. And this movie has definitely made a deep dig into our culture. In fact, on the commentary track for the newer DVD, John Cleese mentions that a pro American football player (or "footballer" as the English call them) and his buddy were thinking of a plan in the midst of a serious game. Their strategy was this on the field: Run away! Run away!
There are countless classic scenes, including the battle between The Black Knight and King Arthur ("I've had worse!"); the scene where Sir Lancelot the Brave (or Launcelot, as the script for the film names him) storms the Swamp Castle in hopes of rescuing a fair maiden and, in result, ends up destroying everything in his path (including the candle mounted along the wall leading to the spiralling staircase), saying that he gets a bit frantic and over-excited in this genre; Sir Robin and the Three-Headed Knight ("...when danger reared its ugly head he bravely turned his tail and fled..."); The Knights Who Say "Ni!" and their request for a shrubbery; the Killer Rabbit's attack on Arthur's merry men. That's just to name a few memorable scenes.
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" may be the silliest film ever put on celluloid. It rarely makes sense, sometimes falls a bit flat, but always puts a smile on your face. And that's an achievement.