The full Monty (Monty Python and the Holy Grail (2 DVDs))

Member Name: x_elff_x

Product:	Monty Python and the Holy Grail (2 DVDs)
Date:	11/03/02 (880 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ni, Ni, Ni

Disadvantages: Noo, Noo, Noo

This opinion is about the double-disc DVD edition. For those not interested in a review of the film, feel free to scroll down to DVDetails.

--The Film--

Certificate: 15

Director: Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam

Writer: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. With music by Neil Innes.
Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Neil Innes, Carol Cleveland, Connie Booth.

Runtime: 86 minutes approx

Made: UK 1975

Film rating: Four stars

The members of Monty Python have become so well-known and successful over the last 30-odd years that it is hard to believe there was a time they didn't command pay cheques with more noughts than most of us can ever expect to see, or have financial backers queuing up to support their projects. So, it is quite refreshing to see Monty Python and The Holy Grail and remember from what small - but very funny - beginnings they came.

There can be few movies which students quote from more, with learning huge chunks of the script seemingly a rite of passage for generations. However, on sitting down to watch this for the first time in years it is amazing how funny and surprisingly fresh it still is.

Typically for the Pythons, this film relies on a fairly loose premise - in this instance the search for the Holy Grail - to string together a series of sketches, some of which are more successful than others. Graham Chapman takes the 'straight man' role of Arthur, maintaining a quiet dignity while John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam horse around in his wake. Some of the scenes, such as an exchange between Arthur and a group of French knights who then fling animals at him, and John Cleese's encounter with the "Knights who say 'Ni' " are hilarious. Others, such as Palin's sub-Benny Hill escapades in Cast
le Anthrax, where he is set-upon by a gaggle of siren-types, have dated badly. Hardcore fans should also watch out for the 24 seconds of added footage - cut from the original, but restored here.

Overall, this is a silly romp through some of the best legends medieval Britain has to offer, intercut with some fabulously surreal animation from Gilliam, featuring one of the most critically debated endings of any film ever - personally, I'm not fond of it, but plenty of people are.

It is a testimony to Jones and, particularly, Gilliam's directorial vision that this film looks much more expensive than the £229,000 it cost to film, and while it slows up in the final quarter, never quite maintaining the comedic pace it sets for itself in the early part, as the trailer says, 'If you are an intellectual midget and you like giggling, you could do worse than watch this'.

----Space to imagine Neil Innes' plinkity plonkity hammond organ with Intermission flashy sign----


--DVDetails--



Region: 2

Ratio: 1:85:1

Sound: Dolby 5.1 and surround

Extras: English (Hard of Hearing) subtitles, subtitles for people who don't like the film (taken from Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part II), onscreen screenplay, commentary by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, commentary by John Cleese, Eric Idle and Michael Palin, animated menus with surround sound, scene selection, Follow the Killer Rabbit feature, Hard of Hearing special feature, How to Use Your Coconuts (educational?! film), Japanese version of The French Castle and The Knights of Ni, three singalongs, feature documentary: The Quest for the Holy Grail Locations, On Location with the Pythons 18-minute BBC Film Night documentary (broadcast December 19, 1974), Theatrical trailers, photos, cast directory, Monty Python and The Holy Grail in Lego, posters, unused locations - how the directors' recce used up the budget, unused ideas (storybo
ards), weblinks and 'old rubbish'.

It becomes apparent within seconds of putting this DVD in your machine that this two-disc package has been lovingly put together, so lovingly, in fact, that what you receive can only be described as the full Monty. Oddly, there are so many extras detailed on the box that you could be forgiven for thinking that they were making them up - or at the very least, embellishing them - and that the whole thing would be a triumph of style over substance. Not so.

The film print itself is surprisingly clear for a movie of this age. There is some grain and scratches in places but, on the whole, both it and the sound have scrubbed up very well, although the sound on the accompanying Quest for The Holy Grail Locations seems strangely muted in comparison with the main feature. Don't expect miracles from the surround sound, either, but, then, this really isn't that type of movie. The menus are a real treat for Gilliam fans, with lots of surreal animation and cries of 'Get on with it' should you dally too long in between items.

Both of the commentaries on the first disc are well worth listening to, with Jones and Gilliam's concentrating more on the formation of the Python team and the logistics of putting the film together - relying on financial backing from the likes of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin to get it off the ground. Cleese, Idle and Palin, on the other hand, talk more about the events surrounding the making of the film, with Cleese coming across as much more austere than the other two. These men's three commentary tracks are run simultaneously on the disc, although it seems that they weren't in a room together at the time. There are advantages to this, in that their individual anecdotes often complement each other or confirm one another's whimsy, but this does have the disadvantage of there being no interaction between them.

Also on the first disc is a 'Follow t
he Killer Rabbit' feature, a take-off of the 'follow the white rabbit' idea which originated on The Matrix. By clicking the screen whenever the rabbit icon appears - but, boy, you have to be quick on the draw or you'll miss it - you will be taken to either some storyboards or, more often, an expenses chit costing out the likes of 5 pints of Kensington gore or 82 student lunches. These interludes are fun but, unless you have a very large television, you may find yourself squinting to make them out. Watch out for the rabbit's not-so-subtle change in appearance partway through.

Other features on this disc include the very amusing, Shakespearean-style subtitles for those who hate the film - for which we should all be grateful to Jessica Tipping - and a natty onscreen script, which neatly overlays the action, allowing you to practice that 'hard to remember' dialogue when you come home from the pub.

There are a couple of other small features/jokes on the first disc, which are great fun and which I won't spoil by detailing here. Suffice to say, they're enjoyable and again reflect the 'loving nature' with which this DVD has been compiled.

And so on to the second disc in the package, which is choc-ful of some great, entertaining extras. First up and specially for the after-pub crowd are 'three mindless singalongs', featuring the scenes and lyrics to 'Knights of the Round Table', 'Sir Robin' and, unlikely as it may seem, 'The Monks Chant'. The latter is particularly funny, so don't be tempted to skip it.

The 45-minute Quest For The Holy Grail Locations is a brand new documentary, tracking Terry Jones and Michael Palin as they return to Doune Castle and other locations from the film. This is an enjoyably detailed feature, full of humourous banter and recollection from the two of them and reason enough to own this Special Edition. They both seemed genuinely enthus
ed to be making the film and that enthusiasm is definitely contagious. It's also interesting to compare Jones' comments with those on the BBC footage from the time - back then, he described directing as a thankless task, whereas today he celebrates its virtues, claiming directors have much more fun.

Maintaining the 'holy' theme, the next segment of extras comes under the banner of Sacred Relics. First up is a new skit featuring Michael Palin extolling the values of coconuts in an educative film, demonstrating how they can be used to create an 'authenticity of full equine motion'. Enough said, perhaps.

In the spirit of something completely different, this is followed by a couple of most amusing Japanese clips, featuring subtitles which re-translate the Japanese back into English. As with a lot of Monty Python gags, this doesn't sound particularly funny on paper, but the scenes chosen - The French Castle and The Knights of Ni - make for an hilarious watch. I defy anyone not to find the Knights asking Arthur for a 'Bonsai' one of the funniest things captured on celluloid in a while.

The other most substantial extra on this disc is the 1974 BBC Film Night report, On Location With The Pythons. Stagey and silly, this is well worth a watch as both cast and interviewers horse around. Cleese again comes across as Mr Serious, with Gilliam a seemingly boundless source of energy and the late Graham Chapman apparently on another planet - though, as Jones and Gilliam point out elsewhere on this DVD, he was wrestling with alcoholism at the time, so perhaps this shouldn't be a surprise.

Next we come to the most refreshingly truthful extra on a DVD ever - Old Rubbish - which is, just that, a small collection of press releases and a scathing BFI review (read by Jones) from 1975. Much of the rest of the Sacred Relics extras is standard fare. Artefacts contains a series of posters, Photos are just that, from th
e time of the shoot, Trailers features one from the time and one from the US re-release and the cast biographies are simply a list of each character played by each actor, with an accompanying photograph of each role.


More fun can be found in the Unshot Footage section, however, with my favourite being a version of The Knights of The Round Table, shot using animated Lego men, awww. There is also an utterly silly, mocked-up location recce, basically a selection of exotic library film with an amusing commentary from Jones and Gilliam, and a series of storyboards - Unused Ideas - which never made it to film.

Wittily, there is also a section entitled Excommunication, containing the weblink to their site. And, if all this isn't enough for you and you really want to squeeze the last drop from this DVD, there is even an 'Easter Egg' for you to play with. Select Sacred Relics, hit the right arrow key and then the up arrow to highlight the Holy Grail and press Enter. You will then be treated to the full list of DVD credits - well, I didn't say it would be interesting!

Ultimately, this disc is most certainly worth the money for, unlike many DVDs quickly released onto the market, this has been carefully packaged and thought about. The team behind it have taken the time to not only gather together some of the more interesting extras from the time of shooting, but also to provide both informative commentaries and quirky and amusing new material. The result makes for a refreshingly complete addition to anyone's collection.

PS. On a purely consumery note, this is the best DVD package I've come across since Fight Club


PPS. Review reprinted with permission from my own review on www.insideoutfilm.co.uk... someone should review that site, you know.

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