Monty Python
and the Holy Grail

DVD Details: Anamorphic Widescreen Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, Shakespeare Talent Bios/Filmographies Documentary/Lego version/Commentaries 89 minutes

Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The mere mention of the movie itself usually brings a smile to my face. It's one that I was introduced to long ago and have since been quite the follower. It's probably the most well respected of any of the Python's films, and with good reason. A great script, hilarious randomness throughout, and perfect delivery by all the boys, this truly shows off the golden age of Python.

This movie was originally released on DVD with an un-anamorphic transfer and no extras to speak of. I held out and yes, it was rereleased, as a great special edition. The quality of the video is great, better than I've ever seen. It's hard to tell it's a 25+ year old movie in many of the scenes. The sound is great too, but seeing as how I've practically memorized it, it could be far worse before I would notice.

The extras really are packed onto both discs. The main movie disc contains 2 commentaries, one by the Terry's who directed, and another with John Cleese, Eric Idle, and Michael Palin. I finally listened to both, and they are quite entertaining. The directors talk about the trouble with shooting and the tight budget they were on. A lot of "we could never do this now" comments, and some tricks on how they made it look as good as it did. The track with the favorite actors is much more relaxed, and shows that even the people most closely connected to a movie can enjoy watching it again for the umpteenth time. Both are highly recommended.

Also on the first disc are the additional 24 seconds that were touted during the rerelease of the movie. I personally found them to be nothing special, but I guess it's nice to have it back. The extra 24 seconds appear in the Castle Anthrax scene as Sir Galahad is trying to leave. It jumps around to several other characters in the movie who end up shouting the "get on with it!" running gag that the Python's use. Nothing special in my book, but I won't complain. I think it would have been funny had they allowed you to watch the original version, or the extended version by choosing before you began the movie.

The second disc is full of many additional extras, most of which are worth viewing at least once. Sing alongs allow you to finally learn the words to the most popular songs in the movie. An educational film on using coconuts is... educational? The highlight for me was watching Terry Jones and Micheal Palin run around Great Britain and visit the old locations from the movie. Hearing them talk about the troubles they had on location make the movie have a life much deeper than what appears on the screen. Another report made in 1974 by the BBC also shows how the actual production unfolded, and is interesting to see the creation of a cult movie when they had no idea the following it would take on. There is also a high quality version of the internet movie that recreates the Camelot musical with Legos and computer animation. A cast directory helps you match up the pythons to their many roles. I think Michael Palin is always on screen somehow, whether eating dirt or piling up dirt, demanding planting of shrubs in the dirt or being rained upon while walking in the dirt.

In conclusion, this set really gives the Python fan a lot to look at and listen to. For the deaf and blind, this might not be the best gift. But for the normal person, they'll have hours of fun learning much more than they should about this silly little movie. Enjoy!