the budget for the movie was so low, they couldn't even afford...
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
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Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the first feature film from Monty Python, is a cult favorite. It's also comedy gold made for dirt cheap. Holy Grail had a budget of just $400,000. Even in 1975, that was remarkably tight, especially for an adventure movie like this. Today, I'll look at some of the creative ways the Pythons squeezed every last drop of humor out of their budget. For my other video on Monty Python and the Holy Grail: • they were only allowed...
Written & edited by Danny Boyd
For those who don’t already know, I’m Danny Boyd, and I’m a one-man show. For better or for worse, research, scripts, VO, editing-it’s just me behind the scenes. It’s a lot of work, for sure, but I’m extremely lucky to get to do it. And that’s all thanks to all of you. So I want to thank you for being here.
And of course, if you’re able, and would like to support me and the future of the channel more directly, you can do so through my Patreon at: www.patreon.com/CinemaStix
New perks coming.
-Danny
love ur content!!
keep it up :>
I resonate. I outline, write, develop, edit (all types), illustrate, format, design, and publish all of my work. Sometimes, I even craft the music, and I also do most of the V.O. But I'm absolutely invisible, so... I wouldn't worry too much about your own position, Danny! 🙂 You seem to have a throng of followers, and that's cool. Good stuff, enjoy it, and GL;HF.
🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨
Get back to work, Danny.
I'm not paying you to lolly gag and jabber jaw in the comments section.
What’s the song at the end?
You need a narrator
The one shot of him running that never changes and then says "ahha!" is my favorite joke of the entire movie. It's so stupid
hey?!
one of my favorites as well, it gets me every time
I always think the other guard looks like Conan O'Brien 😅
That's a reference to the neverending field in Culhwch and Olwen from the Mabinogion
@@jsraadt💯Exactly🧠🌈#staychivalrous👑
It's gratifying to see all the complements below. It makes me feel proud to have worked as a member of the camera crew on "The Grail". Looking at the clips now makes it seem only yesterday - even though I'm staring down the barrel of my 80th birthday. It could be at times a pig to work on but well worth it. Ni!
Thank You for helping bring this Master Piece to the World!
Legendary - thanks for your diligent work and for bringing us one of the greatest films of all time!
THANK YOU!!!!! Its still as funny and fresh and crazy as it ever was. And in a hundred years time people will still be talking about it and new generations of fans will discover it, and be laughing till tears roll down their faces....
You were part of a masterpiece that generations will enjoy. Thank you for your gift to the rest of us!
So many cultural iconic products of their era are great, but don't hold up so well over the test of time. I was born in '75, so I can't comment about seeing at release. But the movie held up in 1990 when I first saw it. '00, 2010, and today. Congratulations for being part of something so great!
Imagine being a tourist to a castle and being roped into one of the greatest comedies of all time
That would be the best day of my life.
I have done that on various shoots, two of them being feature films.
I visited Doune Castle last year. It was the thrill of my UK trip to see the location of so many scenes from the movie, so much was immediately recognizable.
Such a great opportunity that must have been indeed! Right time, right place.
On a very different scale, it makes me think of the huge amount of New-Zealanders who ended up taking part in the making of the the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Talk about making things "local" as well!
@@justalonesoul5825 An elderly American couple asked what was gong on at a castle in the Scottish Borders and I took them on set and to wardrobe. The gentleman is in the final edit, standing next to me with a spear and looking fierce.
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government" Brilliant 🤣
"Supreme executive authority is derived from a mandate from the masses, not some farcical aquatic ceremony!"
You can't expect to wield supreme power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!
@@rogerrabt I can't remember the full "moistened bint" line.
But the whole thing in fucking poetry.
@@greenman6141 If I went around, claiming I was emperor, just because some moistened bink (!?) had thrown a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!
Now, where did I park that car.... oh right, in the garage.
@@ZlothZloth Bloody Peasant!
the wedding massacre scene when Cleese was running up to the gate for a seemingly endless amount of time was one of the scenes that solidified this movie as one of my favorites of all time
To me it was the repeating of the coconut/swallow joke. First movie I re-watched and saw that they were tying a coconut to a dove in the background in the Camelot scene iirc, that was amazing.
First time i watched it as a kid i was confused and thought it was starting to drag out and right as i was about to complain he hit the guard and i lost my shit
It gets me every single time hahaha.
it was all of it because the rest of culture was like jimmy saville putting his wet finger inside a child's ear
eg. 13 years of "the goodies" hidden by the bbc because actually Good, not ma5onic.
I can't tell if he is actually getting firther away each time it cuts to him.
That joke of the animator falling over dead was perfectly executed. I remember getting completely blindsided by it on my first viewing and howling in laughter.
I brought a VHS copy of this home from school and my father watched it with me. He chuckled here and there but between his crap hearing and their accents he had a hard time catching everything so he wasn't exactly into it until the animator died. At that point we had won my father completely over and he was ready to watch it again to try to catch the other jokes. So this day he loves to exclaim "come back here, I'll bite your knees off!" 😆
I love that they also made the "animators deathscene" look... animated by the stiff acting and reducing the frames per second of it. =D
I watched it with my 98yo grandfather and while a lot of the jokes seemed too absurd or grotesque to him, that was the second scene which gave him a hearty laugh.
The first was the scales scene with the witch.
I'm pretty sure that Terry Jones conceived of killing off Terry Gilliam...
"But of course, you mean In the film, Right?"
"Oh, (cough) ahem, Quite right, in the film of course..."
T Jones, surreptitiously places bottle of hemlock back into his pocket and walks away whistling.
A lifelong Python fan here, and when I saw it in the theater, the use of coconuts for horses looked more like a legit Python joke than a budget restriction. Same goes for the rest of the movie.
The German title of the movie translates to "The Knights of the Coconut" because of that joke.
@@countluke2334😄So so curious as to why.... 🤔
Me too, but because of the budget issue, you end up with another iconic joke.
@@stephenbarrette610 A whole set of jokes. Without the coconuts no question where those come from. So no funny philosophical discussion about swallows. Without the swallow discussion no bridge joke.
Anyone who’s seen mp's flying circus or at least "and now for something completely different" gets it. Auntie beeb's budget restrictions sure make for some inventive comedy
the other gate guard casually going "hey!" never gets dull
"I could stay a bit longer."
What kills me the most of that Lancelot running joke is the other guys just casually standing there saying "hey".
He is not paid enough for this
I always love that delivery
wait... I just realized it's a literal "running gag."
I love these guys so much.
For me it’s also the bit where he attacks the wall sconce for no reason.
@@Shadowkey392 oh hell ya haha
“There are some who call me . . . . . . . . . Tim?” Will forever be a part of my and my brothers’ vocabulary
:vigorous nodding: Inexplicably hilarious, even after 40+ years and ~30 viewings.
Fun fact: the character was actually named something more archiaic sounding but John Cleese forgot it and just ad-libbed a confused sounding "Tim?"
Of course the Python lads know a good line when they hear it (even if it's not in the script) so Tim he became.
I always laugh that he forgot his line and they just didn't refilm it because they couldn't really afford to both time wise and money wise and it just stuck at a Monty Python gag that fit their whole persona, much like the entire film.
I knew a Tim who would pronounce his name Tim??? It was a couple of years until I saw this at a midnight showing I got the joke.
@@billwendell6886 Some friends of mine named their first kid Timothy just to call him "Tim?" And that the way we always said it. "Hi...Tim?" "Here's breakfast..Tim?"
“Endings are hard” I’ve always had the feeling that you could spot the moment they ran out of money in this film…
Love the ending. It's perfect Python with surreal subversion of expectations.
@@cattysplat It's honestly the best movie ending ever.
@SPQSpartacus "Offences against the 'getting out of a sketch without having a proper lunch line act'. Namely, simply ending every bleeding sketch by having the fuzz come in!" (The Argument Sketch)
And they had the balls to do it with an entire movie
Our copy was on VHS casette and we'd often end up with recordings of things from TV that ran out of tape or were later recorded over. For years I thought the ending of Grail was one of those problems and that there was a longer cut version somewhere.
It really is the 16-ton weight all over again
Fun fact: the largest paycheck on the film was to Sir Not Appearing in this Film.
He had a very good agent.
In many industries a limited budget can lead to great results because you have to get creative to make it work.
Major plot point in Successful Alcoholics (30 min film free on Vimeo. Very funny. Darn.)
So many video games have invented very resourceful tricks because they only have a very small budget (indies) or limited hardware capabilities (Nintendo).
I have a lot of fondness for these.
A good art direction that was invented to express something while dealing with limitations will often endure the test of time way better than an AAAAAA game going the ultra realistic route (although that is less true lately .. I would expect visually stunning games of the 2020s to still look great 10 years later, we have reached some kind of fidelity plateau).
JAWS and Star Wars are great examples.
Restrictions breed innovation
@ A decade ago, I'd have expected the visually stunning games of the 2010s to still look great today.
Terry jones lifting his face guard up every time he speaks or needs to see anything always makes me smile
I never got the chance to thank my dad for showing me and my brother this movie (and Life Of Brian) when we were preteens (late 80s early 90s). We didn't get 90% of the jokes, but dad was so exhilarated it was infectious. We had a lot of fun watching it. Mind you we didn't speak nor understood English so we had to make do with the portuguese subtitles (that were pretty decent tbh). Dad, you've gone long ago, but now that I can properly enjoy and cherish Monty Python, I can cherish your loving memory also for introducing us this gem. Love you, and may you rest in peace and laughter. Yes, endings are hard, indeed
I am sorry for your loss. My dad got me into this movie, too, and I've been a huge fan of it ever since. I think it's one of the rites of passage for nerds to watch it, and could be why one of my main questions to ask new people I meet is "what is the windspeed velocity of an unladen swallow."
African or European? @@samiam9202
Sorry for the loss of your awesome Dad !!
I'm sorry for your loss and happy for your fond memories of your father.
The pain of loss never fully leaves us, but it fades with time… that is a bonito/Beautiful memory of your late father. 😔Abrigado/Thank you for sharing!! 🙏
"John Cleese's wife at the time"
Connie Booth. Co-Writer of Fawlty Towers. One of the greatest sitcoms (farce) ever written.
thank you! Wouldn't have known without your comment
Yeah, that hit me kinda weird, too. I was waiting for the pause and insertion of Ms. Booth's name (especially considering she's far from being an unknown nobody) but it never came. =0/
Not a writer or artist in her own right, just the wife of a famous man.
Leo Tolstoy's wife also worked as his copyright and editor.
Underappreciated women, a tale as old as time itself.
@@dominiques7495 Seriously? You don't know much, do you?
That, and referring to the *iconic* Carol Cleveland as merely one of the nuns of Castle Anthrax just made me sad. Supreme comedy chops like theirs deserve better 😞
I have probably watched this movie hundreds of times, ever since I was a little kid. But the timing of the "Lancelot Running" gag always surprises me and makes me fall over laughing. Thank you for this.
The cherry on top of that scene is the meek “hey” from the guard!
"One day lad, allllll this will be yours"...."What, the curtains?" still quote that to this day...
My brother & me too!!
Evidently the story of the building of Swamp Castle is based in fact.
"Huge... tracts of land" is another favorite quote from that scene.
One of my favorites, and definitely the one I quote the most.
Lancelot: No, you don't understand. You see, I thought your son was a lady.
Well, I can understand THAT.
When I was still in film school, we literally had an entire class about how lack of resources is often the mother of creativity. Because if you don't have the money or the resources to shoot what you originally wanted, you have two options: give up and scrap the whole project or get creative with what you do have.
When I was working on student and low budget films, that philosophy was honestly more important than anything else I learned in school
I think thats the problem with the modern stuff. It's just massive CGi, loads of SFX and they miss the whole point.
@@fuzzblightyear145 I would take it a step further and say the real problem is using huge budgets as a crutch to try to make up for creativity. And that unfortunately has been true since the dawn of film making. The late fifties and most of the sixties were infamous for being the time period of high budget "factory films" that all felt exactly the same. They had big sets and big stars, but they were all about as creative as mud on a stick. It took nearly a decade and a half of audiences being tired of the same samey shit coupled with a rising generation of film makers with a desire to not make the same samey shit for that to change.
But in a way that's the same issue we face now, only instead of the big studio money being poured into sets its now being poured into CGI. The problem sadly isn't new, it's just the focus of the money has changed
I think of the young James Cameron's many low budget effects such as the Galaxy of Terror scene where he electrocuted some maggots in a severed arm to get them to riggle.
In university I ran a cosplay/sewing group. Every semester we ran an event called "Dollar store cosplay" where we'd gather about $25 worth of whatever from a dollar store, $25 of broadcloth, and whatever workshop leftovers we had lying around. Teams would have to share these limited resources (with no way of knowing what would be available in advance) and each make a costume in under 2 hours. They had access to sewing machines, tape, hot glue, and markers. Winning team gets a prize.
It was fantastic! It was fun, low-stakes, super approachable for new people, and incredible to see what people made up. We saw a car from Mario Kart made from a cardboard box, whimsical antlers made from a plastic archery bow broken in half and covered with twine + fake leaves, a belt pouch made from a neck pillow, a white wig made from halloween webs, and more.
I do think this is misunderstanding the orientation of things.
It's mostly not that a lack of resources leads to creativity, although that's somewhat true... but that if something has little resources behind it, and still got made, it probably got made because the people making it were really passionate about it.
"[Thunk] Message for you, Sir!" was my email sound for years. I should bring it back out...
Just knowing that this absolute ultra-classic was made entirely on money from English rock stars and labels makes it even better.
Life of Brian was funded almost solely by Beatle George Harrison as he "wanted to see the movie"
@@stewartoutandabout He is the best Beatle, imo. Him being part of The Traveling Wilburys cements it.
@@stewartoutandabout I love the dry logic lol. "Why fund the movie? Because I want to watch it, obviously".
As an American man who was over 30 when this movie came out, who had barely just discovered Monty Python, I would like to say this: I was also a lifelong science fiction and fantasy fan at the time. That was a rare thing in the early 1970s. In between being convulsed with laughing at the movie, I realized that this was one of the best fantasy movies (about old European folklore) I had ever seen! I have watched it 100 times since then. The thing little recognized about the Monty gang is that they actually respect their material and take it seriously. You can see it in their art direction, costuming and photography. There is nothing casual, slapdash, cheap or ignorant about any of their movies or other works. Good job, CinemaStix, and thanks.
ABSOLUTE CLASSIC! Feels like one elongated skit with friends, in that it doesn't feel especially scripted.
I always knew that they had originally intended to use horses, but couldn't afford them, so they switched to coconuts. Made the film better anyway IMO :D
But it still feels like a solid movie when that kind of movie can sometimes not
An old pal, Romilly Squire at 8.56 and he was in many scenes, including being one of 'The Knights Who Say Ni'. He was on most of the shoot and had lots of stories of course. He was an accomplished artist and provided illustrations of coats of arms for official purposes. He was a good guy too. RIP Romilly.
I honestly never knew it was actually low budget, I thought that was all on purpose to be funny
Right! I was twelve when this came out. What did I care about budgets? It was funny and that's all that mattered.
I thought the same. One of my all time favourite movies
@@LQOTW My family was sort of poor at that time so we couldn't afford to go the movie ourselves. But weeks later on the school bus, all the other kids who did see it were repeating the lines and telling the jokes. Years later when I finally seen the movie it was like, 'I know this part, I know this part too and this part is familure...'. It is still my favorite comedy bar none.
@@Kitty-CatDaddy Similar to my experience. My friends quoted the movie so much that by the time I actually saw the movie myself years later, I knew nearly all of it by heart already! 🤣
Good diversion!
😂
Holy Grail is more an overly prolonged Monty Python sketch than a movie, and I love every second of it. These guys simply couldn't fail even when all possible odds were stacked against them. Holy Grail had all the makings of a nightmarish production hell, but they turned that into one of the best comedies ever made through their sheer talent.
I use Lancelot storming the castle to explain what a jump cut is. Students love it, no matter their age. It's the clip they demand to see again and again 😂😂
…Hey!
the jumpiest of all jump cuts! 😂😂
Why the hell did this make me cry?
@@CharlieQuartz maybe because it restores a bit of one's trust in humanity when teenagers immediately love Monty Python without even knowing they existed, before? ;)
This movie is perfect example of restrictions bearing creativity. Their passion was expletive to lack of budget. That's why this movie so beloved.
Fun fact, the science fiction author Iain M Banks was a student at Stirling university and is in King Arthur's army. He once told me he appears in a shot, real blink and you'll miss it stuff. I've never been able to spot him though.
A good friend of ours (sadly deceased) was also in the battle scene. He never spotted himself in the final film. I didn't know Iain Banks was in it too but that makes sense because he mentioned they were at Stirling at the same time.
Iain banks is the goat
You could say he had Use of Weapons.
And now for something completely different-For a tutorial on interstellar travel Google search Pleadian contactee Billy Meiers material with a narrative by Randolf Winters...hit the video icon.You will see crystal clear photos & 8mm film footage of their different types of spacecraft with different approaches to interstellar travel. All done on 0$ budget.Thats a joke.
This is amazing! Love his Sci Fi!
The first time I watched this, at 11, I was pulled away from my friends house 5 minutes before the end with the charge about to happen. I forced my parents that night to rent it, and fast forwarded it to the spot where I left off. I was devastated to learn that after a perfect film to that point it just... stopped. Imagine pausing there for like 90 minutes after your friends had hyped the movie up, after you had so thoroughly enjoyed it, all for it to just... end with a whimper.
I feel that!
I was also a little kid when I first watched it. My little sister cried and said it wasn't fair, the ending. I was just confused, I knew it was all a joke but it really took me a while for that to sink in.
I think it looks pretty badass when Tim is setting off those explosions. It looks legitimately cool.
It's pretty clear that he could only blow things up that didn't move. Otherwise he wouldn't have been scared of the rabbit.
That ending is sacred, seeing it for the first time was a completely new experience. I never felt so betrayed and yet so compelled to laugh at the same time.
on the third day youtubers came across a new video about Monty Python.... and there was much rejoicing.
Yaaaay.
Yaaaay.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay
yup
Kept trying to sing this to the tune of 12 days of Christmas
Isn't it marvelous how many budget movies were very successful and still are talked about? Whenever financial means is an issue, people become very creative together. Especially if the whole team supports the idea.
Budget restrictions can often bring out the best in film-I’m thinking of some classics from around Grail’s time, like the original Star Wars (ep 4) and Rocky. The moral is, keep going; a great idea with determination can succeed big time-if not financially, then at least artistically.
This. Also, Grail earned something like 28x its budget back at the box office. So.. definitely both in this case.
JAWS. Bruce was completely being uncooperative.
I was going to metion Star Wars, the one and only, too. All these painters, carpenters, model builders all the creative people building this movie, have a big part in its succses..
why is there a moral? the ma5ons will just 5hit on it anyway. there ar eno morals anymore jus tlike there's no society.
Star Wars wasn’t a low-budget production, though. It cost $11 million to make which was about twice the budget of standard theatrical releases at that time
It’s just the most inventive comedy ever. I remember seeing it for the first time in cinema - and already being in stitches from the opening subtitles („Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yër?“). And it just never stops from there.
Lets not forget Ralph the Wonder Llama!
The painted garter stitch (knitted) armor is still my favorite thing about the props
Some of the cavalry were wearing it at the Battle of Hastings re-enactment on the original site in 2000. I was there as a Norman archer, and when they rode past it was obvious to me as I'd previously made my own (chain)mail shirt. Of course, I had a close up view, whereas the crowd were at some distance, so hopefully they didn't notice. I expect the cavalry were mostly English Civil War re-enactors and the outfits had been hired for them.
The dude hanging from chains in the basement, clapping along with the Camelot song. Oh my God. Laughed so hard. Still snicker every time I see it.
heehee, "spoilers" on a 50 year old movie. wonderful work as usual, thank you.
Heh. Yeah :) But ya never know. The number of people I’ve brought the movie up to in the last few weeks who have given me blank looks was a bit… surprising, to say the least.
New people born every year.
One of the many things I love about HG is that the cinematography is actually beautiful (and the production design, art direction). I love comedies that are grounded in realism.
If I had to limit it to 3, it would be Grail, This is Spinal Tap and....(a lesser known but brilliant piece) What We Do In The Shadows.
9:30 "Is that the ending?"
"yes."
"Well that was shit!"
I'll be honest, that was what I thought the first time I saw the movie.
By the twentieth time I watched it though, I began to really appreciate it.
Even in Flying Circus, they would occasionally declare a skit too silly and simply walk off stage halfway through. I was very disappointed at not seeing the imminent battle scene but over time I've come to appreciate its complete Monty Pythonness. These guys are not just comedy geniuses, most of them have actual genius level IQs as well.
Do you always happen to watch movies twenty times before you start to appreciate them?
@@Levanooo I think you are misinterpreting what I was trying to say. It was only the ending that I was upset about. I appreciated the rest of the movie from the get-go.
@@andymanaus1077
Never has the world benefited so much, by the loss of a bunch of "would be" doctors and lawyers.
[Graham Chapman was an actual doctor]
“The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch” has been beloved by bomb disposal people for decades… :)
It also shows up in the _Worms_ video game series.
@@GoranXII wasnt it also in ready player one or do mix up something?
@@creaturion_cosplay Never watched _Ready Player One_ so I wouldn't know. It's possible though.
The influence of that movie cannot be overstated...it was even the inspiration for one of the first ever computer chess games "Battle Chess"...when a knight took another knight, well...I think we can all guess how that dance went (even if you never played the game).
@creaturion_cosplay yes it was towards the end
Despite the low budget this movie has some of the most beautifully-shot scenes ever put on film
Yeah, it looks absolutely amazing on Blu-ray.
One of the things I drill into my design students is the fact that constraints will goad you to creativity you never imagined. This film is a master class in just that.
Terry gilliams energy is just awesome. Dude seems like a great joy to be around
The person you called the composer and extra was Neil Innes He first came to prominence in the pioneering comedy rock group Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the Monty Python troupe on their BBC television series and films, and is often called the "seventh Python"
He was also one of the Titles.
Damn autocorrect !
He was one of the Rutles
Last Sunday at York my wife and I walking the walls, I standing at the ramparts looking out quoted the "your father is a hamster and your mother smelled of elderberries" like in a outrageous french accent, made my wife and I laugh hard on how silly it was but how fitting to the place we were situated. Absolutely nothing touches it now days, classic one liners ~Trooper
Elderberry was used for spirits, and hamsters are known to be promiscuous.
So "your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries" suggests perhaps maybe at some level,
your father is a drunkard and your mother was easy to get.
One of the oldest medieval "yo momma" jokes.
You have to go back & do the quote right.
Did the same thing a couple of years ago while I studied in Scotland 😂 Good times...
@@captainpoppleton "Go away or I shall taunt you a second time-a"
Careful!!!! Doing that in public in 2024 will get you arrested for being funny! You might upset a minority or a woke warrior....Comedy today is a total loss, and Python is still streets ahead of any comedy today. It was truly unique..
My DVD of HG has a special "Spot the Rabbit" feature: When the killer rabbit icon appears, you can click on it & see items like receipts for things in the movie. For example, the girls at Castle Anthrax weren't paid but the production co. bought them lunch; you can see the receipt.
You know it’s a great day when CinemaStix does
indeed
Does what? 🤣
@@MultiEman21 Endings are hard.
They do indeed.
@@MultiEman21 Idk, maybe CinemaStix does know it's a great day.
Sir Bedevere, elucidating as he lifts the visor on his ridiculous helmet, has always been my favorite. When he hops off the platform in the "she's a witch" scene is my favorite instant in the film, for some reason it just slays me.
The witch scene is my absolute favourite :D and of course 'I thought we were an autonomous collective'
In case you’re as much a lover of physical media as I am, or would just like to get more into it (because it’s never too late), I’ve tagged some product links in the description of the video to the 40th anniversary edition of the Grail on BluRay, as well as the BluRay player that I personally use at home. These are affiliate links. So using them does support me directly.
:)
WE NEED AT LEAST ONE PYTHON VID PER MONTH UNTIL 2034.
THANKS!
there are no such links in the description that i can find.
Hehe. A Python residency.
Hm. I’m not sure why. At least in the mobile app, they appear for me in a special box at the top of the description. Are you on the phone or the computer? In any case, it unfortunately looks like the listing is out of stock anyway. Will update when that changes (this is the issue-physical media being a dying breed).
@@CinemaStix I'm on a laptop. I tried providing a screenshot of the description box but I believe the link caused RUclips to remove my original comment.
I can't even recall how many times I've watched this movie. First time I've seen it might be almost 30 years ago. I'm now 36, from Germany, and I grew up with the humour of the Pythons. In 2019 I've been to Scotland and visting "Castle Aaaaargh" (Castle Stalker) was like the first thing on my agenda. And it was a beautiful experience to see one of the filming locations of this iconic movie in person. 🤩
One of my favorite lines from the movie was used in an animated sequence.
And there were bad times, and they were forced to eat the bard;
And there was much rejoicing!
My favorite line immediately follows that: yaaaaaaaaay
There are so many great lines enough for everyone. "She turned me into a Newt, I got better."
The gorilla hand during the book of the film scene gets me every time. Such a silly little thing. And Lancelot hitting the torch on the steps during the wedding massacre.
George Harrison also took a second mortgage on his home to finance Life of Brian
I find it hard to believe an ex Beatle was scraping together money.
@@TC2290-wh5cb In his book, I Me Mine, there's a photo of a check for £1,000,000 from Harrison to the Inland Revenue. He had good reason to write the song "Taxman".
I honestly think the holy grail is the holy trail of movies.
There's so many jokes that get better on rewatching. Like there are so many films that break the fourth wall but this film it's genuinely like they couldn't afford a fourth wall it's never there. Like my favourite line is something like. "Its that old man from scene 22" which cracks me up every time as python has this deadpan mastery like they didn't just reference a script.
The complete lack of continuity and almost nihilistic way Holy Grail fails to even remotely take itself seriously was incredibly ahead of its time, but also felt earned; randomness that felt purposeful. The decisions they made due to cut costs were all intentional and brilliantly placed, despite not necessarily being the plan from the start.
Literally every scene is iconic. I’ve seen it dozens of times, can quote from it extensively (oh god!), and still laugh like hell to the point of tears.
I still love that to this day The Holy Grail is the most authentic depiction of the Arthurian legend, being one of if not the only film to portray Lancelots vision of the grail, as well as being basically the only film in the past 60 years to properly depict period accurate historical armour and heraldry. The fact *any* of the knights wear gambesons and clothed brigandine puts the film even above Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings films at times, despite those films using actual kilometers worth of chainmail while Monty Python used Twine and tweed.
Idk how Lotr relates to this because it is completely different
I watched this as a 9 year old kid at a party. My parents sent me upstairs while the grown folks had their time. It single handedly made me fall in love with off beat English humor and taught me so much about comedy. LOVE THIS MOVIE
I saw this many times, but a memorable was a a big theatre. Outside were these big signs advertising the movie. One sign board said "Makes Ben Hur look like an epic."
Also it was a few times in before I paid attention to the credits. Hilarious 😂.
One of the greatest and often quoted comedies of all time filmed on a TV commercial budget. I have to wonder how much money this film has made since it's release, likely more than enough for it's distributors and backers to bathe in solid gold tubs. I saw this when it was released to theaters, my mom made it a surprise as i was a big python fan. I had to sit through a remake of a shirley temple film "the blue bird", and as we were getting ready to leave she said there was another film to watch after. I still remember that day well.
I tried cutting down the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring, but all I got was a really angry squirrel wielding a pinecone!
Lancelot twatting the castle walls with his sword always gets me.
Love the cop out, it’s so abrupt but fits
Nice phrasing as a non-spoiler. My hat tips to you.
I'm incredibly stupid for not getting that, that was the joke
Also, despite watching this movie repeatedly over the last 40 years, I was just clued in last week that the end is a callback to the beginning. There's no end titles - not even a The End card - because the team for that had all been sacked.
@@rgallitanWell, sort of. Back then end titles were still rare in movies. Star Wars was the movie that began changing that. Also as you’ll remember, they did complete the credits in an entirely different style at great expense and at the last minute.
I recently saw this and then watched Excalibur 1981 and had the idea that what if John Boorman saw The Holy Grail in 1975 and thought: "what if I make the same movie but seriously?" And it turned out amazing as well
I love how excited Gilliam is in that interview.
I met Terry Gilliam a couple of times when I was working on the 12 Monkeys, all of that enthusiasm and childish exuberance we saw in that interview had since evaporated. I ventured to ask about his next project, and he said he was developing an idea for a western, which never happened.
The best scene was when the frenchman pointed out their missing horses and arthur told him the money is tight so they couldnt afford those.
:)
Big Python fan but one general, really dig your stuff! It is so well produced and gets your point across clearly. Rare in the content world even rarer in your genre. Will continue support👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Back when I was a kid, we only had a few pirated video tapes at home, so I ended up re-watching them dozens, if not hundreds of times. One of them was Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The tape was damaged, so I only saw it from the raining ducks and chickens scene. It was dubbed and some of the puns or other jokes were lost in translation. Being a wee kid, I didn't even get some of the references.
It was still _the_ comedy film at home. We watched it so many times with my brothers that 3 decades later we still quote it whenever it's appropriate. Now that I realise how little they had to make this masterpiece, I owe infinite gratitude to everyone still making this possible, from Led Zeppelin to the last uni student. Thank you, folks. You made my childhood a little better.
Now you must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring!
"WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITH!"
it can't be done!
OK maybe if you had a salmon, but really a herring is just silly.
@@KarlRoyale Personally, I'd use a swordfish. Preferably one named Wanda.
@@tetsujin_144Argh! You said the word! The word the knights of Ni cannot hear!
The joke that took me years to get was the ending of the movie, when they've effectively run out of money, was an "arrested development"
The reasoning for the rather "unique" ending in this film is still one of my favourite movie trivia to date.
This movie was pivotal to my growth in understanding humor. I didn't get this movie when I was about 15, but as i got older, the humor started to grow on me, and since then my love of British humor has grown. As a kid I was very much an introvert, so this movie helped me to not only get humor but also to understand other people.
“And there was much rejoicing!” 😜
hooray.
yaaaaaaaaay
To give you an idea of how great the movie was, even the radio spot promoting the movie back in 1976 was hilarious. It consisted mostly of things that were supposed to be in the movie but weren't. The one I'lI remember forever was "See Paul Newman and Robert Redford, together again, as the back legs of Bette Midler"
I did 4 days work with Mr Jones on the BBC crusade's series and it was typical waiting around for the next shot then do what you where doing 4 hours ago!!! We where told not to hassle Mr Jones but Caerphilly castle has a big damp hall with an old out of tune piano, boredom overtaking him he sat down and tried to play it ,one of my mates broke the ice with "oh we didn't recognise you with your clothes on " he took it in good faith and everyone relaxed . At the end of shooting he thanked everyone and we said we didn't want to annoy him with python phrases he said that's ok I have forgotten most of it,this was the que for my friend to present him with a after eight mint and say " it's just a wafer thin mint Mr creosote" he called us **** of all the sketches this is the one that everyone remembers 😄
Thank you so much for this. Being a teenager enjoying Sunday nights PBS broadcast of the show and then going to a theater to watch Grail. Just a bit o heaven.
The knight lifting his shield visor up every other scene 😂
I drove past The Castle Aaaaargh! (Stalker Castle) on my way to Oban to renew my driving licence today.
Thanks for these videos. I remember watching this back in the mid 90s with my friend and loving every minute
8:39 That "film composer" was the one and only Neil Innes, who also helped create such timeless comedy as *The Rutles, Rutland Weekend Television,* and his own show *Innes Book of Records.*
Yeah he gets mentioned later as “an extra”. No extra he.
He was the minstrel for sir Robin, one of my favourite bits.
Yeah, he was their friend and unofficial Python member.
Big fan of the Rutles here.
'Bold, brave Sir Robin' - Neil Innes' utter classic song!
This has been one of my favorite films since the mid 90s when I first saw it.
One of the best comedies out there! During my time, I've had actual incidents that were very Monty Python. One of the best ones were when I was looking for lunch at a Hawaiian Walgreens (yes, they did have a lunch counter once). The counter person was telling me what was in their dishes...and they all had SPAM (except for the edamame one which had very little Spam in it). Yes, I sung the SPAM song as I left.
I had not even heard of Monty Python, when a friend took me to see this movie at the old Exeter Street theater in downtown Boston. I don't know if it was the acid we were on, but it was one of my favorite movies of all time!!
10:00 alright fine ill watch the Holy Grail again for the third time this week.
I saw this file when it came out in theaters. I was 13 and unfamiliar with Monty Python at the time, but still loved it. Not long after, the local PBS station started airing the show and I was already a fan.
I remember when I first watched this movie and the last "battle" scene started with all the preparations and drums and everything and .... yeah I was laughing so hard my stomach started hurting xD
Extremely restrictive funding in the cinema arts also brought us such things as the Transporter in Star Trek. It costs way too much to film them constantly going up and down to the planets using shuttles. So, they came up with the idea of the Transporter.
30 odd years ago I had the pleasure of having lunch with Terry Jones and the conversation drifted towards "The Holy Grail" (as it often does). I asked him about the opening titles, frugal as they were, and he answered that when the film was shot they simply had no money left and so had to come up with the cheapest solution. The result as we know is of course anything but cheap.
Great video! It shows how much you love these works of art and how they were made ❤
One thing about this I find so fascinating is that even while they weren't filiming they were still speaking with british accents, so dedicated I love it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The first time I watched this movie was by accident, but I immediately realized that the world would never be the same again.
It's like a moose bite.
Hands down one of the greatest comedies ever made. It's as funny the fiftieth time I watched as it was the first time!
Regardless of how much shit they’ve been through, they’ll all be remembered as comical geniuses.
- This monty python movie is my absolute favourite, and the very first I ever watched.
Making this movie very memorable and a comical gem for me, and in my opinion, the poor quality of the whole thing makes it 100x better.
Much of what allowed them to make so inexpensive a film would not have surprised Roger Corman, who died just last week.
My Dad showed me this movie when I was about 7. I watched it nearly every day for about 10 years, every time there was something new to laugh at. The random stuff going on in the background, like the woman smacking a cat off a wall for no reason. Why does Sir Bedevere even lift up the front of his helmet, he can already see!
Thanks for making this video. It was not fun producing the film but it was worth it in the end . For the full story read The Seventh Python
an easter egg doth appear?
I've only had "Ugh, Message for you sir!" as my text message alert for , but it's at least a decade, probably longer.
In all the years, only once has anyone ever recognised it and called it out. I do wonder how many recognise, but say nothing due to politeness and/or uncertainty :|
My dad’s text notification for the longest time was the arrow hitting him, until everyone decided to keep their phones on silent. Pretty sure if I asked him, it still is, though.
@@SuzieNerds No, you must change it. "There can be, only One!" 🙂