I'm only a young 'un, so missed the Pythons when they originally came on the scene. However, my dad isn't quite so young and always used to go on and on about how fabulous the Monty Python films were, so it wasn't long before I was clamouring to watch them, and it seems I inherited his love for them.
And so it was I found myself aimlessly wandering around the music and video section in ASDA with a sad, little, crumpled up tenner in my pocket, when my eye happened to stumble upon none other than this very DVD. Well, I knew I only had that sad little tenner and not much else to last me out for a fortnight, but then again, there was the Holy Grail shining up at me, with the priceticket of £9.97 calling to me from the shelf! Before I knew it, I was sitting in my bedroom, clutching onto my DVD and wondering whether I'd have to resort to desperate measures to earn myself some money for the rest of the fortnight.
Basically, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the story of King Arthur and his knights who decided that Camelot was a silly place and then suddenly God popped his head out a cloud and told them to go and search for the Holy Grail and, since it was a particularly slow day, they took him up on the offer. The film follows the knights as they encounter temptresses, three-headed monsters and killer rabbits. Of course, it being Monty Python, a huge deal of the movie is choreographed nonsense, but that's just what makes it so irresistable. Michael Palin is wonderful as Sir Galahad the Chaiste, Eric Idle plays an amusing Sir Robin the Brave. Graham Chapman plays King Arthur and I think the guy needs to be commended for the fact that he manages to keep a straight face while reciting his lines considering he's pretending to ride an invisible horse and has someone clanking coconut shells together beside his ears.
The songs in the film are hilarious. Sir Robin's minstrels provide as with a song about their leige's bravery and then change it to suit the occassion when he sneaks past a villian without putting up a fight. Of course, the knights of Camelot drum up a catchy little song and dance routine, too.
The DVD is nicely packaged. It has a colourful cover with some of the instantly recognisable Monty Python artwork on the front. More importantly, it has a fantastic array of special features. It has commentaries, a spoof documentary entitled "How to Use Your Coconuts", a sing-a-long section, a documentary of the filming of the film, a 'follow the white rabbit' feature that allows you to click on the rabbit that appears on the screen during the film to be shown some interesting tid-bits. The lads really have thought of everything, even providing "subtitles for people who don't like the film" and have even re-filmed a scene using lego. This, I feel is a touch of genius! I really did think I was going to kill myself with laughter watching the little lego men dance and sing the "We're Knights of the Round Table" song.
Admittedly, the ending to the film is a little disappointing, in my opinion, but the film, although not a spring chicken by any means, is still hilarious and doesn't seem particularly dated at all. I'd recommend this film to anyone, and definately think that 2 DVDs for less than a tenner was good value for money. It is rated a 15, though, so it's not a film for the little ones. Be warned, though, if you watch this movie you might find yourself quoting it for weeks afterwards!
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Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Director: Tony Dow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: John Challis, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong
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