Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Holy Grail keeps up with Life of Brian with ease. It’s hard to pick the best sketch, too hard in fact, because every second of the runtime is a deadly joke. But if I still have to... Would it be a horseless carriage ride, but with coconut shells? Or the collection of the dead? The Knights who say Ni? The killer rabbit? Tim? Brave Sir Robin? Lancelot, who gets kidnapped? The defenders of the French castle? No, I can't do it. The entirety of Grail is great.___P.S. Today on the occasion of the 40th anniversary from when it was seen in the movie theater and... Well, what can I tell you? Simply an hour and a half of continuous hysterical laughter to tears. (18/09/2007)

Apart from a few classic sketches (The Black Knight, The Bridge of Death), the "let’s grab some costumes and good ideas... Well, let's shoot something," is really evident here. After years pass, the whole loses its charm, and only flashes of python genius remain. The Holy Grail doesn't have Brian's brilliantly conclusive subversiveness or the emphasized cynicism of The Meaning of Life. It's a journey out of from nowhere to nowhere with occasional stops in an excellent parody of medieval folklore or historical films. No wonder the film didn't work originally and was helped by the addition of really retarded heroic music. The more I watch The Holy Grail, the more it feels like awkward transitions that lack both the madness and surreal image of Python sketches. I hate to say it, but... I'm bored with it... and I consider myself a big fan of the Circus. (26/01/2004)

I didn’t like Life of Brian at all, but King Arthur galloping on his invisible steed had undeniable charm. The humour is again terribly wacky and the script comes across as an absurd whirlwind of crazy dialogues that take on very modern social ethnicity, but this time the film left a much more holistic impression on me and made me laugh in every second scene. The Pythons simply had their own style, which is obviously a great success and which is so unconventional, strange and unreadable that it can reliably surprise the viewer at any time. Either negatively, as I felt with Brian's aforementioned adventure, or positively, which is the case with Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, who on their quest for the Holy Grail have to overcome the mysterious knights who say "Ni" or a deadly monster guarding the entrance to a remote cave. And all this with that amazing insight, disapproving remarks directly into the camera and a really unique conclusion that basically says it all. Just thinking about it puts me in a better mood. (31/08/2012)

I was incredibly bored with Life of Brian, so I wasn't expecting anything better from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and in fact I wasn't surprised at all because I got exactly what I expected. Monty Python humour just passes me by in a big way and I will certainly never count myself among their fans. If there was any scene where I genuinely laughed, I really don't remember it. The only thing that (really) caught my attention were the animated inserts into the story. In short, the type of movie I'll probably never fully understand. (29/03/2012)

Again. Again I’ve tried to find my way through the humour of Monty Python, and again without success. I understand the jokes, I know where they aim at, I know why they’re supposed to be funny, but I don’t find them funny by the most part. Yeah, I laughed a couple of times, but a film without a plot that’s only a sequence of “funny” scenes should have me constantly laughing to deserve a higher rating. I don’t think I’ll give Python another chance. (09/12/2010)