This 1975 cult classic is directed by Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam and stars Jones, Gilliam, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, and Michael Palin. King Arthur (Chapman), along with his not-so-noble knights, set out on a God-given quest to find the Holy Grail. Along the way, they face many silly obstacles, such as the swallow-savvy castle keepers, the limbless knight, a prince who just wants to sing, the knights who say Ni!, and a riddle-loving bridge keeper. It's obvious that this film doesn't try or pretend to be anything else other than an outrageously silly, historically inaccurate adventure from one of Britain's most famous comedy groups. In fact, the entire film plays out as one long sketch show, with each obstacle being its own separate sketch. I enjoyed many of them -- the opening credits are laugh-out-loud, can't-breathe hilarious. The swallow-savvy castle keepers are also very funny, as are the Knights who say Ni! and the riddle-loving bridge keeper, among others. There are a few sketches, however, that were just too silly for me. But I can very much appreciate the amount of imagination and creativity that it takes to make a film like this -- I know I could never do it. Even though the film is extremely low-budget (a fact even worked into the film's plot, in the form of an absolutely hysterical coconut sequence), the actors are all so brilliant that they are more than able to achieve their goal of making an uproarious comical romp.
Should you see it: Yes
Grade: A
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