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Monty Python and the Holy Grail |
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This classic Monty Python comedy, directed by Pythons Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, is a hilarious send-up of the grim circumstances of the Middle Ages as told through the story of King Arthur and framed by a modern-day murder investigation. When the mythical king of the Britons leads his knights on a quest for the Holy Grail, they face a wide array of horrors, including a persistent Black Knight, a three-headed giant, a cadre of shrubbery-challenged knights, the perilous Castle Anthrax, a killer rabbit, a house of virgins, and a handful of rude Frenchmen.
In addition to the set pieces, the film also includes the same kind of surreal animation that Gilliam contributed to the television series. Throughout the irreverent adventures, the Python crew eschews realism in favor of anachronistic social satire, a recipe it later returned to in the 1979 biblical farce MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN. Melding the ridiculous with the sublime, the film quickly inspired a cult following, generated a host of ... |
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| Key Information | |
| Directors | Terry Gilliam |
| Stars | Monty Python Cast |
| Actors | John Cleese |
| Genre | Comedies |
| Subgenre | Recommended • Spoof • On-The-Road • British • Satire • Animals • Medieval • Classic Fight Scenes • Legends • Witches And Wizards • Poverty • Essential Cinema • Comedy • Theatrical Release |
| MPAA Rating | PG (MPAA) |
| Available Formats | DVD: "Extraordinarily" Deluxe Edition; 2-Disc Set |
| UPC | 043396922532 |
| Release Date | 1975 |
| Running Time | 1hr 30min |
| Languages | |
| Original Language | English |
| DVD Editions | |
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Format: DVD: 2-Disc Collector's Edition, 1hr 29min Release Company: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (September 16, 2003) UPC: 043396012936 |
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| VHS Editions | |
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Format: VHS, 1hr 30min Release Company: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (February 26, 1992) UPC: 043396922532 |
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| Credits | |
| Screenwriter | Graham Chapman |
| Professional Reviews | |
| (04/28/1975, p.34, Vincent Canby): "...A marvelously particular kind of lunatic endeavor....The gags are nonstop..." | |
| Quotes from the Movie | |
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"It's just a flesh wound."--The Black Knight (John Cleese) to King Arthur (Graham Chapman), after Arthur has cut off his arms "I don't wanna talk to you no more, you empty-headed animal food trough wiper! I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"--French Guard (John Cleese) to Arthur "Sir Launcelot had saved Sir Galahad from almost certain temptation."--Narrator (Michael Palin), upon Sir Galahad (Michael Palin) having been "rescued" from the castle of virgins "We are the Knights Who Say...'Ni'!" --Head Knight (Michael Palin) to Arthur "One day, lad, all this will be yours!"--Father (Michael Palin) "What, the curtains?"--Prince Herbert (Terry Jones) "We are now...no longer the Knights Who Say 'Ni.'"--Head Knight "Ni! Shh!"--Knights of Ni "Shh! We are now the Knights Who Say 'Ecky-ecky-ecky-ecky-pikang-zoop-boing-goodem-zoo-owli-zhiv.'"--Head Knight "Look, that rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide! It's a killer!"--Tim the Enchanter (John Cleese) "And the Lord spake, saying, 'First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three. No more. No less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.'"--Second Brother (Michael Palin) |
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