Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Directors:

Terry Gilliam
Terry Jones

Writers:

Graham Chapman (written by) &
John Cleese (written by) ...

Release Date:

10 May 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

Makes Ben Hur look like an Epic

Plot:

King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Grail, encountering many very silly obstacles.

Plot Keywords:

Knight | King Arthur | Holy Grail | Camelot | Castle

Awards:

2 nominations

US Showtimes:

(register to personalize)

Cast

Graham Chapman	...	King Arthur / Voice of God / Middle Head / Hiccoughing Guard
John Cleese	...	Second Swallow-Savvy Guard / The Black Knight / Peasant 3 / Sir Lancelot, the Brave / Taunting French Guard / Tim the Enchanter
Eric Idle	...	Dead Collector / Peasant 1 / Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Launcelot / First Swamp Castle Guard / Concorde / Roger the Shrubber / Brother Maynard
Terry Gilliam	...	Patsy / Green Knight / Old Man from scene 24 (Bridgekeeper) / Sir Bors / Animator / Gorrilla Hand
Terry Jones	...	Dennis's Mother / Sir Bedevere / Left Head / Voice of Cartoon Scribe / Prince Herbert
Michael Palin	...	First Swallow-Savvy Guard / Dennis / Peasant 2 / Right Head / Sir Galahad the Pure / Narrator / King of Swamp Castle / Brother Maynard's Brother / Leader of The Knights who say NI!
Connie Booth	...	The Witch
Carol Cleveland	...	Zoot / Dingo
Neil Innes	...	First Monk / Singing Minstrel / Page Crushed by the Rabbit / Peasant #4
Bee Duffell	...	Old Crone
John Young	...	Dead Body / Historian Frank
Rita Davies	...	Historian's Wife
Avril Stewart	...	Dr. Piglet
Sally Kinghorn	...	Dr. Winston
Mark Zycon	...	Prisoner

Also Known As:

Mønti Pythøn ik den Høli Gräilen (International: English title) (subtitle)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French | Latin

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (2001 re-release) | Mono (original release)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (re-rating) (2001) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 | UK:15 (video rating: 1988) | Brazil:18 | Argentina:Atp | UK:12 (re-rating) (2006) | UK:A (original rating) (cut) | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:L | Ireland:15 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Appin, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

Company:

Michael White Productions

Trivia:

The German heavy metal band Blind Guardian sampled the Monk's chant on the opening track of their album "Follow the Blind".

Goofs:

Plot holes: When meeting the Knights who say "Ni" the first time, Arthur says the word "it" several times with no ill effects on the knights, even though in a later scene we discover that "it" is the word that the Knights can't bear to hear. In fact, in the very speech in which the lead knight is alluding to the problem, he uses the word "it" with no reaction from his compatriots ("Suffice to say, it is one of the words the Knights of Ni cannot hear!"). Also after Arthur returns with the shrubbery, the lead Knight says "it" several times ("It is a good shrubbery").

Quotes:

[first lines]
King Arthur: Whoa, there!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Gargoyles: Future Tense (#2.43)" (1996)

Soundtrack:

Magenta

The reason Robin Williams isn't in a nut house.

This is perhaps one of the greatest, funniest parodies in the history of film. I think the greatest definition of irony is that to be believably stupid on screen, you have to be very intelligent. This is a rare occasion where something can be so stupid that it's funny, with the addition of feeling you got your money's worth at the end. Examples of failures would be anchorman, austin powers, scary movie etc. The gore and clichés of three headed, and goofy "NI!" yelling knights are what give this movie discreet beauty.

Did I mention that the acting is also very good for a movie of this sort. All of the main characters, as they do in the series, take on numerous characters, all of whom are well established and each have their quirks about them. This was a well written, well thought out, and perfectly directed, low budget comedy. The funniest of any monty python film, and amongst the top comedies of all time. I laughed from beginning to end and bruised one of my lungs. I highly recommend this film to anyone. This is living proof that all you need is a good script and good actors.