Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The film Monty Python and the Holy Grail is (mostly) a parody of Arthurian legend produced in 1975 by Monty Python. Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones shared directing credit with 40 specially trained Ecuadorian Mountain llamas, 6 Venezuelan Red Llamas, 148 Mexican Whooping Llamas, 14 North Chilean Guanacos (closely related to the llama), Reg Llama of Brixton, and 76000 Battery Llamas from "Llama Fresh Farms Ltd" near Paraguay.
The film commences with a spoof British Board of Film Censors certification for Dentist on the Job a film "[..] as more suitable for Exhibition to Adult Audiences". Indeed the film then continues in grainy black and white with the trailers for that particular film (an early version of a Carry On film). The actual credits for the film have (spurious) Swedish subtitles and many references to moose.
The story loosely follows the adventures of King Arthur (Graham Chapman) and his knights of the Round Table across England in their search for the Holy Grail. On the way, the brave knights and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-so-Brave (a complete bloody coward) (Eric Idle) encounter the Black Knight, the perils of Castle Anthrax, the Knights who say Ni (later known as the Knights who say "Ekky-ekky-ekky-ekky-z'Bang zoom-Boing z'nourrrwringmm"), a blood-thirsty rabbit (which they deal with using the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch), and a gigantic cartoon monster (they are saved when the animator suffers a heart attack.) There are other misadventures involving anarcho-syndicalist peasants, an alleged witch (Connie Booth), an enchanter called "Tim", the Bridge of Death and Frenchmen (led by John Cleese) who revel in taunting the travellers, without much success (or, indeed, understanding).
At a number of key places in the film the question is raised, what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? It is introduced in the opening scenes of the film, and remains an open question right up to the end. The only answer which King Arthur gives is: "African or European?" This is as much a running gag as a macguffin.
Sir Robin's minstrels (their leader played by Neil Innes) sing of how brave he would hypothetically be in the face of horrific and graphically-described tortures, and then sing about how bravely he flees at the first sign of danger. Much to Sir Robin's relief, he and the other knights are later forced to eat the minstrels.
The film ends abruptly when a group of police from the 1970s interrupt the climatic battle scene to arrest King Arthur. The Grail presumably is left in the hands of the Frenchmen in Castle Aaaargh.
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1970s in film | 1970s movies | Black Knight | Black Knight (Monty Python) | Castle Anthrax | Connie Booth | CultFilm | Cult Film | Dark Knight | Deus ex Machina | Divine intervention | Eric Idle | Folk Music | Folk singer | Folk song | Folksong | Graham Chapman | Holy Grail | Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch | Iain Banks | Iain M. Banks | Iain M Banks | Ian Banks | Ian M. Banks | John Cleese | Knights who say Ekky-ekky-ekky-ekky-z'Bang zoom-Boing z'nourrrwringmm | Knights who say Ni | LEGO | Legoland | Legoland, Windsor | Legoland Windsor | List of 1970's movies | List of 1970s movies | List of fantasy films | List of fictional horses | List of fictitious horses | List of movies: J | List of movies: J-R | List of movies based on Arthurian legend | Monty Python's Flying Circus | Monty Python and the Holy Grail/Black Knight | Monty Pythons Flying Circus | Neil Innes | Pythonite | Sir Robin the Not-So Brave | Spindle | Stirling (district) | Swan Song | Swan Song Records | Terry Gilliam | The Quest of the Holy Grail | Worms/Air Strike | Worms/Aqua Sheep | Worms/Baseball Bat | Worms/Battle Axe | Worms/Bazookas and Grenades | Worms/Concrete Donkey | Worms/Dark Side | Worms/Dragon Ball | Worms/Full Wormage | Worms/Homing Missile | Worms/Homing Pigeon | Worms/Longbow | Worms/Magic Bullet | Worms/Prod | Worms/Rope Race | Worms/Roper | Worms/Sheep | Worms/Shopper | Worms/Shotgun | Worms/Warmer | Worms (game) | Worms computer game | Worms computer games | Worms computer games/Banana Bomb | Worms computer games/Baseball Bat | Worms computer games/Battle Axe | Worms computer games/Blow Torch | Worms computer games/Bungee | Worms computer games/Cluster Bomb | Worms computer games/Concrete Donkey | Worms computer games/Dragon Ball | Worms computer games/Dynamite | Worms computer games/Girder | Worms computer games/Grenade | Worms computer games/Holy Hand Grenade | Worms computer games/Homing Missile | Worms computer games/Homing Pigeon | Worms computer games/Longbow | Worms computer games/MB Bomb | Worms computer games/Magic Bullet | Worms computer games/Mail Strike | Worms computer games/Nuclear Test | Worms computer games/Parachute | Worms computer games/Pneumatic Drill | Worms computer games/Prod | Worms computer games/Roper | Worms computer games/Sheep | Worms computer games/Shopper | Worms computer games/Shotgun ...
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