History Film / MontyPythonandtheHolyGrail

* EatTheDog: Robin's minstrels have to be eaten during a particularly desperate winter. AndThereWasMuchRejoicing. ([[FlatJoy Yaaaaay]].)

A complete skewering of the Myth/ArthurianLegend, it tells the story of Myth/KingArthur and his attempt to build a court at Camelot. [[note]] 'tis a silly place. [[/note]] Once he assembles his crew (off-screen, mostly), he has a vision of {{God}} (or a reasonable drawing of same by Creator/TerryGilliam based on a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._Grace famous cricket player]]), informing him that to cement his name in immortality, he must seek [[PublicDomainArtifact the Holy Grail]]-- the cup used at the Last Supper of Christ, and which caught his blood after the crucifixion. After a long and roundabout search which leads them to the far corners of the Kingdom and past idiosyncratic knights, the world's oldest harem, and a [[KillerRabbit very nasty rabbit]], they discover the Grail is supposedly located in a very old castle, which has fallen into the hands of those heathen enemies-- the French.

** The Old Man from Scene 24, Tim the Enchanter, [[spoiler:the army summoned to fight the French]] appear during the fourth-wall breaking scene in Castle Anthrax. Clearly, they hat the stalling of their scenes.

** Tim the Enchanter and [[spoiler:the army summoned to fight the French]] appear during the fourth-wall breaking scene in Castle Anthrax.

** Sir Lancelot invades the castle right through the front gate. Two door guards simply watch him [[OverlyLongGag running toward them]], unfazed by a man in chain mail charging at them with sword in hand. Lancelot then slaughters one guard before running inside; the other stands and watches, only calling "Hey!" after Lancelot charges past him.

* {{Commune}}: Dennis [[strike:the peasant]] informs Arthur that he refuses to acknowledge him as king, since Dennis didn't vote for him, and getting made king by having received a sword from "some watery tart" (i.e., the Lady of the Lake) is no basis for a system of government. He then goes into a far more detailed explanation of how their governance works, to Arthur's annoyance (eventually culminating in him grabbing Dennis). On the DVD commentary Creator/JohnCleese states this was a parody of radical leftists living in the UK at the time.

* {{Commune}}: Dennis [[strike:the peasant]] informs Arthur that he refuses to acknowledge him as king, since Dennis didn't get to vote for him, and getting made king by having received a sword from "some watery tart" (i.e., the Lady of the Lake) is no basis for government. He then goes into a far more detailed explanation of how their governance works, to Arthur's annoyance (eventually culminating in him grabbing Dennis). This is later stated on the DVD commentary by Creator/JohnCleese as a parody of radical leftists living in the UK at the time.

-->'''Narrator:''' In the frozen land of Nador, they were forced to eat Robin's minstrels. And there was much rejoicing.\\

** [[DirtyCoward Sir Robin]] wasn't so lucky. Same questions [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers until the third]].

** The credits is a subtle example: all of the credits guys were sacked (i.e. fired) at the beginning of the film, so there are no end credits.

* {{Commune}}: Dennis [[strike:the peasant]] informs Arthur that he refuses to acknowledge him as king, since Dennis didn't get to vote for him, and getting made king by having received a sword from "some watery tart" (i.e. the Lady of the Lake) is no basis for government. He then goes into a far more detailed explanation of how their governance works, to Arthur's annoyance (eventually culminating in him grabbing Dennis). This is later stated on the DVD commentary by Creator/JohnCleese as a parody of radical leftists living in the UK at the time.

* CreditsGag

* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: {{Parodied}} when Tim the Enchanter leads King Arthur and his knights to the Cave of Caerbannog after warning them of the beast that guards it. When they show up, Tim alerts them to the beast's arrival...and [[KillerRabbit a little white rabbit]] appears.

* ExtremelyEasyExam: ZigZagged. When the remaining knights have to answer three questions to cross the Bridge of Death:

* HighPressureBlood

--> '''Dennis:''' Come see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!

* MoodWhiplash: {{Parodied}} (like everything else) when King Arthur and Sir Bedevere finally reach the castle where the Holy Grail is kept. The scene even has majestic music playing, until...

* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: Arthur's charge against the Castle Aaaaargh where he mobilises an entire army to attack becomes this thanks to [[spoiler: the police showing up to stop it]].

* OverlyLiteralTranscription: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] while seeing the carved message from Joseph of Aramathea: "He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the holy grail in the Castle of Aaauuuggghhh..."

* SophisticatedAsHell

* SurrealHumor

After the success of ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' in the UK and US, [[Creator/MontyPython the six Ambassadors of Anarchy]] got the right to make films. This 1975 effort was their second go-round (after 1971's ''And Now for Something Completely Different'', which featured redone versions of several sketches from the first two seasons of ''Circus'') and one of their most famous and oft-quoted.

->''"RUN AWAY!"''
-->-- '''King Arthur''' giving out advanced tactics

** Lancelot is only asked for his name, his quest, and his favorite color, getting an easy pass.

** Double subverted when Galahad goes up and he gets the favorite color question again. Subverted again when he ''still'' manages to get this wrong, and is thrown to his death.

* AmbiguousGender: Despite being a prince, Herbert has very pale makeup, long hair, and wears a long tunic. At one point, his father mistakenly calls him "Alice", and even Lancelot mistakes him for a lady.

* TotemPoleTrench: The leader of the Knights Who Say "Ni" was achieved by having Michael Palin sit on John Cleese's shoulders.

** In one scene, (cut from the original theatrical version, but reinstated for TV and video) Dingo turns and talks to the audience, before being admonished by various cast members who aren't involved in the scene.

* {{Feelies}}: At least one edition of the DVD has instructions on the back to use the DVD case to play along with the chanting monks. By holding it firmly in both hands and smashing it into your face.

-->'''Narrator:''' In the frozen land of Nador, they were forced to eat Robin's minstrels. And there was much rejoicing.
-->'''Knights:''' ''(weakly)'' Yaaaaaayyyy...

* AlcoholHic: One of the guards has a hiccup all through the king's speech about how they are supposed to guard the prince.

* EverythingIsAnInstrument: The song "Camelot" has a brief section of one knight playing a tune on the helmets of several other knights.

* AnachronismStew: Although the film is surprisingly faithful to its setting and source material, a good amount of this does still feature for comedy's sake; this ''is'', after all, a Monty Python work. (And also because there's a lot of it in the source material itself.)