Monty Python and the Holy Grail

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'And Now For Something Completely Different' ended up doing a pretty damn good job introducing America to the likes of the Python troop. But as I said before, if that wasn't your introduction to Monty Python, odds are, it was this. It has become a cult classic comedy, for many. I'd go as far as to say that if you hear anyone quote Python, the chances of the quote being from this film, among any other, is pretty damn high.

On a personal level, I consider this to be my favourite comedy of all time, and it's what I use to try to introduce people to the whackiness of Python. However, I generally mention how incredibly strange and random it is, and if you can't get through this film, then Python is just not for you. It takes throwing your brain out the window and just sitting back for the fun of it in order to enjoy it. No one making this stuff took it seriously at all, nor should any viewer. Python was simply about the laughs, and this film is LOADED with some of the best.

Unlike 'Completely Different', this film actually divides the different sketches up, using a narrative. King Arthur (Graham Chapman), his trusty sidekick, Patsy (Terry Gilliam), Sir Bedevere (Terry Jones), Sir Lancelot (John Cleese), Sir Galahad (Michael Palin) and Sir Robin (Eric Idle) are one day charged from God with a sacred quest, to find the Holy Grail. They all set out on their separate ways in order to find clues that will lead them to it, but come across a handful of comical characters instead.

Among the more famous, people will have probably heard of the Black Knight, the French Taunter, Tim the Enchanter, the Knights who say "Ni", and even a killer rabbit. The whole thing ends up being incredibly silly in the end, but in every good way Python does it. No word of a lie, and without spoiling much, the end of the film quite literally stops dead. For some reason, what they decide to do, works incredibly well for what this is.

Again, much like most things Python, one is gonna need the right frame of mind going into this. Basically, if you want to criticize and nitpick about how stupid this is, it's absolutely futile. In the troop's own way, they want you to think it's ridiculous - in fact, the more ridiculous, the better. But if you can manage it, I'll always highly recommend this film to fans of comedy.

As a matter of fact, if you love comedy and you've never seen this, then you're missing out on a whole, wonderful and random branch of classic comedy. While it may not have won much in the way of awards, is still worth viewing, especially if you like all things "silly". 

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