Customer Reviews

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Special Edition)

5 star:		(400)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

excellent. Possibly the funniest movie ever made. Who could forget such a line as "I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of eldeberries." This is a great movie and a great dvd edition that gives it justice. This is completely worth the money. A comedy Classic.

One of the best all time classic comedies, now on UMD! I got this just to have on the PSP, and I love it! The format is great on the PSP and great for those long trips/flights!

This movie is hilarious and very entertaining, and is very original. Many of the scenes are completely random and have nothing to do with anything, like the scene where the scenes argue at each other! How do they come up with this?
Unfortunately the people who designed the packaging must have not liked the movie because they made it so no one can watch it! The DVD is nearly impossible to remove from the package! If you do manage to take it out then put it in a different case or at least try and fix it with pliers so you can watch it again.
The special features are very cool and provide hours and hours of extra fun.
The film cell is cool but really doesnt have a point. The Screen play however is probably the best part because you can read monty python wherever you go!

Out of the 4 Monty Python films there is only 2 worth watching, this and the Life of Brian. It has the combination of the Monty Python randomness, the best bits of there comedy, a great adventure and a good story line. A very funny comedy.
If you like random/odd endings (especally Monty Python endings) then you will love this ending, if not you will probably hate the ending. But don't let you think this is a bad film it has laugh's all the way through and is one of the great comedy's of all time if not one of the top ten films of all time. If you like to laugh just buy it..
As for the extra's they are pretty good as extra's go. The best 3 being being Michael Palin and Terry Jones going around the locations of the Holy Grail, The Holy Grail in Lego and three mindless sing-alongs. But as I've said the film is a laugh and a must buy.

This film is definitely silly, but if that is the frame of mind you`re in then Monty Python and the Holy Grail will hit all the right notes. Cleverly made, ingenious, and also visually entertaining, this film has been and will continue to be one of my favourite comedies of all time.

So of course, this is one of the funniest movies ever, and if that were the only issue, I would have given it the full 5 stars. HOWEVER! Due to some insane person working in the design department, I can't get the discs out of the packaging. I managed to get disc 1 out once when I first bought it, watched it, loved it, etc etc. But when I went to watch it a second time a few months later, (I had forgotten how hard it was to get it out) the damn thing broke. So now my movie has an inch-and-a-half long crack in it and I can't watch it anymore.

So unless they've fixed this problem, I wouldn't really recommend this set unless you already have or are willing to purchase a lesser version of the movie (you know, so you can still watch it AND still get all the goodies herein). I, however, am poor and cannot afford to buy movies twice-over.

So now I am sad because I can't actually watch the movie. But I CAN just read the screenplay and act it out myself, which is almost as fun, provided I can find a shrubbery...NI!

I can't recite all of the dialogue from scenes like some of my colleagues can, but I do adore this film. I write this review after reading Michael Palin's diaries, in which he describes the filming of the movie. Re-watching the film with his observations in mind, it's clear that the writing process that the Python's used is reflected in the finished film. Pairs of writers from within the group, or individuals, would write individual scenes and pitch them to the rest of the group in a read through. The collective group would critique scenes, and then the writer would rewrite and sharpen the focus of the scene based on the feedback. The ending of the film reflects the fact that there was no single leader of the Pythons, and unlike The Life of Brian, no one really had an ending for the film. In a script book that I bought in the 70s there was a proposed ending based on a chase scene paying homage to those great Italian films with Austin Mini's racing through narrow streets ending with Arthur and Grail driving off a dock into the ocean. I suspect that idea was too expensive for the financial backers of this film that included Pink Floyd and Led Zepplin. The film is like no other. The fact that so many of us can incorporate dialogue from this film into our daily lives shows how much it's become part of the fabric of pop culture. As a DVD release this has a great version of the film that takes advantage of the widescreen format we are all adopting. It also has some extras, including a documentary that was filmed as the movie was being made and a revisit to some of the old locations by some of the Pythons. I'd recommend this DVD for your collection on a number of levels. It's classic Python, it's a funny look at the legend of Camelot and it showcases the talents of a comedy troupe that would inspire a generation of comedians around the world. Plus, when someone quotes a bit of dialogue from the film, you'll be able to smirk knowing what they are referring to. Just look at the reviews - everyone has a favourite scene, a classic quote. For me, the sequence whereby a woman is put on trial for being a witch defines the intelligence of the Python writing. It's a fair cop!

You know, I saw this many years ago and thought it was the funniest thing in the world. Now, all these years later, I was quite eager to take it in again. Unfortunately, it just didn't hold up for me. I was actually shocked at how bad it was. I kept trying to see it through eyes of those decades ago, before we had comedy types like Robin Williams, Chris Rock, etc. but I just couldn't get past the absurdity of it. Yes, I get all the styles and references, a la "Yellow Submarine," and such with the paste-ups and pastiche humor, but I didn't find myself laughing. I'm sure this stuff paved the way for what we have today but I didn't laugh once when reviewing it again, and I think---correct me if I'm wrong---but that's the whole point.

There are so many things about this (and indeed any) Monty Python movie that one hardly knows where to begin. Nothing is left out of the mix--history, religion, politics, personal relationships, prejudices, intellectual prowess or the lack thereof. My title, of course, comes from an early scene in with Arthur approaches a castle, inexplicably occupied by French k-nigits, who claim to already have a grail.

The Monty Python troupe, led by the creative talents of Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, incorporated John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle and Graham Chapman as King Arthur, the dominant role in the film. No animals were harmed in the filming, not even an African Swallow, non-migratory as they are. A few coconuts bit the dust, however, as did more than a few comic images. Logic bits the dust, too, on more than one occasion. I did a paper once for symbolic logic which I was told ten years later was still being passed about because I had dared to use something so unconventional as this Monty Python movie in the references (I couldn't see why that wouldn't be much more common, and indeed, hope it is today--I use 'Life of Brian' in homilies, so why not this film in logic?).

The particular logical incident (or rather, illogical incident) involves the trial of a woman accused of being a witch. Through 'logic' it is demonstrated that she would be a witch if she weighed the same as a duck (which, surprisingly enough, it turns out that she does -- 'It's a fair cop' she concedes as the general rejoicing commences at the prospect of a bonfire). Those who have benefit of the 'Executive Version of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail' are also treated to an exposition of the logical problems which itself concludes that 'sex is better than logic'. And who could argue with that reasoning?

However, my favourite scene would have to be the liturgical procession and reading of instructions for the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, with the leader's instruction 'skip a bit, brother' -- an instruction which I've searched in vain in the liturgical handbooks, but would vastly improve many readings on some mornings in church. This is a perfect parody of the sonorous but deadening readings that seem to drag on interminably.

A close second would be the scene in which Arthur tries to explain his kingship to members of an autonomous collective (read, peasants without a lord) who view him as just another oppressor, and inform him that watery tarts throwing swords at you is not an adequate basis for the exercise of supreme executive power.

Those who have visions of Great Britain as royal and cultural icons are often amazed-the likes of Monty Python and Benny Hill (among others) show the inhabitants of the UK as just as human (if not moreso) than the rest of the world. And we are all the richer for it. Alas, the Holy Grail is never actually attained by the seekers, who run into trouble with more French k-nigits and the local constabulary. But, the journey's the thing, so they teach me in seminary, and thus, this journey is well worth following to the end.

The DVD comes with many extras, including the Camelot song being sung by Lego-land figures, and extensive commentary by actors and others involved in the production.

Prepare to be amazed! Prepare to be offended! Prepare the popcorn in advance.

Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail is, by far, my favorite movie -and I'm sure it always will be! Being a truly hilariously-random film, this DVD does an awesome job of showcasing this fact to the highest extent. The killer white "rrrrabit" will live on in my heart forever, and I will always be knowledgeable that African swallows are non-migratory. What other movie has a group of knights requesting shrubberies -from King Arthur, no less- to create a 'two-level effect with a path through the middle'? Only Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The movie might sound strange as I mention these things out of context, but I assure you it is much stranger when Monty Python says it!
So, to conclude this review, I definitely give "Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail" DVD a 5 star rating, as I know it will entertain millions for years to come. Enjoy!