Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Viewed: DVD

The 1975 Holy Grail of comedies. Monty Python one of best comedy troupes ever; they are silly, ridiculous, silly, hilarious, and silly. This movie is quintessential Monty Python, and Monty Python is quintessential British humor. The story is about King Arthur gathering up his knights (ki-niggits, as the French taunter calls them) and questing for the Holy Grail.

I first saw this movie in the early 1980s, and it had me and my friends in stitches the entire time. I used to have a cassette tape of the audio from this movie, and I played it in my car for innumerable hours over the years. This week, I bought the DVD. The quality (or lack there of, as intended) and humor stand the test of time.

For Dungeons & Dragons players, this movie is essential viewing — some piece of dialogue can fit just about any D&D gaming scenario, and I’ve never been in a D&D group that at least some players would not recognize the reference. If you play D&D, you should watch this movie; your gaming experiences will be enhanced.

The king and his knights (I can’t help but think, “ki-niggits,” every time I type “knights”) travel about pretending to ride horses while their henchmen clap coconut halves together to make the riding sound. There’s even a long discussion, in the movie, about this gag. They have individual and group escapades:

• Sir Galahad the Chaste being tempted by 150 naughty girls “between the ages sixteen and nineteen and a half.”
• Sir Lancelot responding to a message for help and mistakenly slaughtering a wedding party, “Very sorry. I just get so worked up.”
• The whole clan fleeing from a vicious, little white bunny.

There are so many gags in this story, short one-offs and extended or repeated multiple parters, that it really doesn’t do the movie justice to just mention a few. If you like silly humor, especially in the British style, you will love this movie. If you don’t, this movie will do nothing for you. It is either laugh out loud hilarity, or it is sit with a non-expression, wondering what any idiot could get out of it.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com