Monty Python And The Holy Grail Film Review

When people think of really great comedy films alot of people these days to tend to think of the film Hot Fuzz and rightfully so as that film is still hilarious. However alot of today's movie watchers don't even give the film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today the time of day and yet when they do watch it they find out that it's actually a painfully funny film and so then join me as I review the film that has a quite literal cop out ending with the film in question being called simply just "Monty Python And The Holy Grail" enjoy.

The plot of this film King Arthur and his newly formed knights of the round table are tasked with finding the mythical Holy Grail. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With the films plot being dumb and silly but delightfully so with that being the very thing that does make this films plot all the more fun to watch as you know that it's going to be dumb but be dumb in all of the best ways possible and because of that it does mean that this film does have alot more room for jokes. However on the flip side of this is the fact that this films plot isn't the strongest aspect of the film as you very easily could argue that this film doesn't give alot of focus to its plot and while tat might be the point as it does allow the film to have alot more jokes in it it does also make the film alot less interesting to watch as there isn't a strong enough plot there to keep us the audience watching for very long and while the plot of the film is engaging it is one that could have been better done as the film does for a lot of the time feel like a series of loosely connected sketches whereas if the makers of this film did put more thought and more effort into giving us a stronger plot we could have ended up with a film where the plot is as fondly remembered as its jokes are and yet due to that not even being close to being case we do end up with a film where the main plot is essentially just a premise for the film and nothing more then that with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is this films co-writer Graham Chapman as Arthur, King of the Britons , The Hiccuping Guard , The Middle Head Of The Three-Headed Giant and The voice of God and this films co-writer John Cleese as Sir Lancelot the Brave , The Black Knight , French Taunter and Tim the Enchanter. Also starring in this film is this films co-writer and co-director Terry Gilliam as Patsy , The Soothsaying Bridgekeeper , The Green Knight , Sir Bors and the Weak-Hearted Animator , this film co-writer Eric Idle as Sir Robin the-not-quite-so-brave-as-Sir-Lancelot , Concorde , The collector of the dead , Roger the Shrubber and Brother Maynard, this films co-writer and co-director Terry Jones as , Sir Bedevere The Wise , Prince Herbert , Dennis' mother and The left head of the Three-Headed Giant , Sir Michael Palin as Sir Galahad The Pure , The Leader of the Knights Who Say Ni , Lord of Swamp Castle , Dennis , The Right Head Of The Three-Headed Giant and The Narrator , Neil Innes as Leader of Robin's Minstrels , The Head Monk , A Knight of Camelot and The Servant Crushed by Rabbit , Sandy Johnson as Knight Who Says Ni , Villager at Witch Burning , A Musician at Wedding , A Monk add A Knight in Battle , Connie Booth as Miss Islington , Carol Cleveland as Zoot and Dingo , Bee Duffell as the Old Crone , John Young as Frank the Historian and the Old Man , Rita Davies as Frank's Wife , Avril Stewart as Dr. Piglet , Sally Kinghorn as Dr. Winston , Julian Doyle as Police Sergeant , Charles Knode as A Camp Guard and Robin's Minstrel , Roy Forge Smith as Inspector at End of Film and Maggie Weston as The Page Turner.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. All of this films actors be they more well know like for example John Cleese or lesser known like any member of the films crew alot of whom did appear in the film as they just ran out of money to cast actors all turn in some really good performances in this and even tho alot of this films actors weren't that well known at the time they all do manage to turn in a some good performances that do work for the underdog nature of this film. With the best actor in this film being Graham Chapman as even tho he was really drunk all throughout the making of this film you really can't tell as he does make for a really good King Arthur with him being the right amount of silly and serious when the film calls for it with the fact that he's not afraid to make himself be the fool being something that does make his performance be all the more better as any actor playing that character even in a comedy are nine times out of ten afraid to make themselves look foolish even if its something that the character would do and yet here in this film Graham is more often then not the one thats being the more silly and cheeky of all of this films main characters with it being obvious that he did have the time of his life playing not only Arthur but all of his characters which is something that does shine through in this film as he just has a certain twinkle in his eye whenever he's on screen. With the acting in this film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Whilst there are alot of other better characters in other films interms of just how funny and how well done that this films characters can be you can't really top this film. With ironically enough the films side characters being more memorable and quotable then what the films main characters not that the main characters are badly done characters but for one reason or another the makers of this film almost went out of there to make the side characters be more memorable then the main characters are as the films side characters are some of the more better characters in the film where as the main characters do feel like that there just there to get the scene moving and that's really it. With Arthur himself being the best example of this as he does spend a good portion of the early part of the film just going from scene to scene encounting these crazy people all the while trying to recruit people to join the Knights Of The Roundtable with him not really getting the chance to put across much of what it is that makes him a good leader in the first place where as with a character like Sir Bedevere The Wise we do see that while he can smart in most things when it comes to the more simpler things he is quite dumb with that being the thing that makes him funny and with Sir Lancelot we see that he is over the top in how brave that he is so much so that he won't leave a room unless its in an very the top and brave fashion which is perfect for his character but with Arthur we don't don't get moments like that with him quite frankly feeling more like an afterthought as outside of the early part of the film he plays no major role in the film itself and this is something that does make you wonder why the makers of this film had him be a character in the film as it would be one thing if they were building up to a joke with his character but they don't they just have him fall into the background alot of the time.

There is a clear effort to make this film feel alot less like the Pythons first film And Now For Something Completely Different. As that film was quite literally just alot of there more well known sketches just refilmed for the big scree and really nothing more then that whereas here in this film there is more of an effort to have an actual plot and while that is great there are times where the film does very much still feel like a sketch show and whilst this is something that can at times be seen as being a bad thing there are also times where it works more in the films favor as it does allow us to get to know the characters alot more and it does allow for there to be more jokes that just wouldn't be possible if the film was alot more plot focused however tho it is hard to argue the fact that this film still does feel like nothing more then a sketch show. While the makers of this film do get alot of credit for at the very least trying to have more of a plot in this film the film can't really get that much into its plot as they have to tell a joke and while that is understandable as this film is after all a comedy and therefore the jokes should always come first there needed to be an equal balance between scenes that advance the plot of the film and those that are there to just tell a joke and nothing more then that as it does feel like that this film does skew a little bit to much one way, whilst this isn't that noticeable the first time you watch the film it is something that you do pick up on the more times that you watch the film and heck the film doesn't even end with them finding the grail it ends with them getting arrested by the police which granted is a good ending to have and it is something that does subvert your expectations in a good way it still would have worked just as well if they did go all the way with its plot and have them find the holy grail but in saying this tho the ending that the film does have does feel a lot more true to Monty Python as they would more often then not have sketches that just end and this film is basically one giant Monty Python sketch.

As was just mentioned this film does have a literal cop out ending with the films ending being a very genius way to end the film. As alot of us heck myself included would have been expecting Arthur to find the holy grail and end there quest and yet to have the rug pulled out from under us at the last possible second is perhaps the most Monty Python way that they could have ended the film as it is an ending that none of us would see coming and heck when I myself first saw the film I waited throughout the whole ending credits just to see if the film was going to continue and yet the fact that it didn't do that and it just ended the way it did is something that does also serve as one final joke as alot of us would have been expecting the film in the mor traditional sense. Yet the fact that it didn't do that and instead chose to end in a very Monty Python way is something that does make this film and it is something that reactions to this film all the more fun to see as you know right away that those people are going to be confused by the ending and while the original ending would have worked just as well as the original ending had the holy grail being found in modern day London as the whole idea for the film was for it to originally take place in both the seventies and in the medevil times that is an ending that still would have worked for Monty Python is at is an absurd enough ending that you do still buy into it and just except it for as it is but the fact that they changed it and when with an equally out the ending does show us that the makers of this film really did know how to string there audience and how to get them to wonder if that was the actual ending or not as alot of people that are watching this film for the first time today do wonder if that was the actual ending and do get confused by it even tho its the most simplest ending for a low budget comedy film to have. 

What alot of people might not know is that all but maybe one of the castle scenes where all filmed in and around one castle in Scotland. This is something that you won't pick up on as the makers of this film do go to great lengths to make sure that you can't really tell that it's just the same castle being shown from a different side or if its inside its the same corner of the castle just being redressed but it is still a fun thing as it does show you that the makers of this film had to get creative as they did originally have a bunch of castles all lines up until about two weeks before when someone high up in Scotland said that they couldn't use any of there castles and therefor they had to get creative and find one that was privately owned and mainly just film at that castle. This is something that did force the makers of this film to get creative and it is something that does work for the film as when creative people have to come up with a creative solution thats when we get to see gold and it is something that film makers today just won't have to deal with as alot of them are making these big budgeted films that can afford anything and therefor when a problem does arise that will force them to be creative they won't have any idea on what to do and yet due to the fact that this film only had a tiny budget and couldn't afford to go to anymore castles they had to find a creative solution with this having the add on effect of giving the makers of this film the tools to come up with more creative solutions in the future as now they would know what to do should another problem like this come up again, this is something that you don't really see in the film as the makers of this film were so good at hiding it in the first place but it is something that does make appreciate the art of film making all the more as nine times out of ten when your making a film you will run into problems that require a creative solution and if you don't know how to handle that then you will struggle when another issue that requires a creative solution comes up again.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and thirty two minuets and seven seconds. This is pretty much the exact running time that you would expect a comedy like this to have and to be fair to this film this is a film that really does need that amount of running time as the film does throw so many jokes at you in every single scene that you need it to br this long just so it can also fit in its plot and tell what little plot that it does have in a way that does do justice to the films plot as a whole with this film having more the enough there interms of plot to really cover that amount of running time in the first place. While this film kind of doesn't use its running time all that wisely as the film doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot its plot this is something that really isn't an issue with a film like this as this is a film that does thrive when it doesn't give you time to question why certain things are happening in the plot which is something that would be the case if the film did take the time to add things to its main plot whereas just letting the plot be this dumb and silly little thing that is more happening in the background does allow for the film to focus more on its jokes but at the same time tho it would have been nice if the makers of this film did take the time to add things to its plot that did make it feel more well developed however it is clear as day that the makers of this film did put alot more thought and effort into the films jokes then they did in giving the film a more well thought out plot. This is something that does kind of effect the films character development as while it would have been nice if the film did give any of its characters some character development as that again would make them feel more thought out this is something that doesn't hurt the film as the main focus of the film is just seeing these characters do these silly things for one hour and thirty two minuets and seven seconds and that's all they needed to be but at the same time tho it is clear that the makers of this film did put more effort into the films side characters then they did into giving the film more well thought out characters but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With this film having dozens of jokes in quite literally every single scene of the film and while a film like Hot Fuzz will have jokes that don't land but will then very quicky follow those up with two of three in a row that do land all of this films jokes not only land but land hard and will have people busting a gut laughing as they alot of the time just that funny and while yes there are some jokes that are better then others but even this films bad jokes are still better then alot of the good jokes in other comedies. With it really being hard to say just what the best joke of the film is as really all of this films jokes could make that claim and it would be totally justified but if push did come to shove the best joke in this film would have to be the scenes with the French Taunter as he does get alot of the best one liners in the film so much so that alot of his taunts have become very well known to mainstream audiences with the thing that sells the character and makes him even more funnier is the fact that John Cleese does put on this over the top French accent with his over the top performance as the character including a really funny double take being the thing that makes this already funny character be a silly one with that kind of the top silliness being the thing that makes the character be as funny as he is with the rest of the films jokes being just as a good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 

Overall whilst yes Hot Fuzz is a really good film no one will ever deny that this film is alot more better as the films jokes do hold up alot more and the fact that people to this very day both still quote the film and still watch the film does tell you just how good that this film is as it really does hold up really well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review well then that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 9.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.