Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 1975.
Directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones.
Starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.
SYNOPSIS:
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is celebrating its 50th anniversary with this handsome Steelbook (the Pythons would have a field day with that description) featuring a remastered version of the film on 4K Ultra HD. You also get a Blu-ray with the film and a big batch of bonus features, including a new retrospective. There’s no code for a digital copy, but that’s okay.
I could start this review with any of the 42 zillion quotable lines from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but you know all of them already, don’t you? Monty Python played a huge role during my formative years, when episodes of the Flying Circus series played uncensored — naughty bits on display! — on my local PBS station.
Thankfully, I had a father who appreciated their bizarre British humor too, so it was easy for me to later take in the comedy troupe’s series of movies. Holy Grail was their second film, after the collection of sketches called And Now For Something Completely Different, and it was their first original story for the big screen.
As in the TV series, the members of the troupe — Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin — played a variety of roles, with Gilliam and Jones handling directing duties. The film proved to be a springboard for Gilliam and Jones’s directing careers. Sure, Gilliam’s directing career has been higher profile, but Jones was no slouch in that department either.
I won’t bother reciting the plot, since you also know that already, and the story is really there to string along a bunch of hysterical moments anyway. I know some people don’t care for the ending, but I think it’s brilliant, honestly: it’s very on-brand for the Pythons, as they say. Holy Grail is a movie worth revisiting during these trying times.
This new Steelbook celebrates the film’s 50th (!) anniversary with a new 4K remaster that’s probably as good as this film will ever look. The previously-issued Blu-ray, which is included here too, looked pretty good too, but why not squeeze out of this print every last bit of improved video and audio quality you can? In true Python fashion, they should release an old-school pan-and-scan VHS tape next and claim that it’s the ultimate in A/V quality. (I know, Alien: Romulus was issued recently on VHS, which was … an interesting choice.)
The bonus features for this film have also been mined pretty extensively in previous Blu-ray and DVD editions, but Sony gave us another reason to double-dip here with Tis but a Tribute: 50 Years of the Holy Grail, a 16-minute retrospective featuring not only the surviving cast members but also Suzzie Eddie Izzard, Marc Evan Jackson, Paul Fieg, Craig Ferguson, and other comedy luminaries. Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian also pops in to say the film had an influence on the band’s name.
The other new extra is, appropriately enough, the Near Theatrical Version of the Film, a cut that’s only a minute shorter than the one found here. I think it’s the version found on VHS, which would be a perfect joke, but I’m not sure because this is one of those movies that I would say is modular: besides the key scenes, you can pull various bits out and put them back in as you wish.
Everything else found here was ported over from previous editions, but I don’t know if anything is missing. Probably. You probably want to hold onto those discs just to be a completist, right? I know I will. Anyway, here are the rest of the extras:
• Audio Commentaries: Two of them are included, one with co-directors Gilliam and Jones and the other featuring John Cleese, Eric Idle and Michael Palin. Unsurprisingly, both of them are must-listen tracks full of fun facts and jokes.
• 2015 Tribeca Film Festival Q&A (30 minutes): Gilliam, Jones, Cleese, Idle, and Palin participated in this Q&A that was held for the movie’s 40th anniversary.
• Outtakes and extended scenes (19 minutes): Like I said, this is a modular movie, and any of this stuff could be reincluded and most fans would be thrilled. Jones provides an intro here.
• Lost Animations (13 minutes): Gilliam talks about the animated bits that didn’t make it into the movie.
• Quest for the Holy Grail Locations (47 minutes): I suppose a British comedy troupe had to be the one to spoof the Arthurian legends, given all the amazing shooting locations the country offers. And here’s a tour of them!
• Lego Knights (2 minutes): The “Camelot’s a silly place” but recreated with Lego bricks.
• Japanese Version (9 minutes): Ever wonder what the film sounds like in Japanese? Get a taste of that here.
• Coconuts (3 minutes): The coconuts are a perfect example of a constrained budget leading to something wonderful, so why not take the joke even further with this film from the “Ministry of Foods”?
• BBC Film Nights (17 minutes): This is an interesting piece of archival footage from 1974, when the BBC visited the movie during production.
• Sing-Alongs (5 minutes): Host your own karaoke night with the onscreen lyrics for nights of the “Round Table,” “Sir Robin,” and “Monks Chant.” And then figure out what else to do for the rest of the evening, since this bonus feature is only five minutes long.
• Subtitles for People Who Do Not Like the Film: This fun option might satisfy the curmudgeons with lines from Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 2.
A photo gallery and the theatrical trailer round out this one.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
