Review of Boxed Set only (film itself = 5 stars)

This classic Monty Python comedy, directed by Pythons Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, is a hilarious send-up of the grim circumstances of the Middle Ages as told through the story of King Arthur and framed by a modern-day murder investigation. When the mythical king of the Britons leads his knights on a quest for the Holy Grail, they face a wide array of horrors, including a persistent Black Knight, a three-headed giant, a cadre of shrubbery-challenged knights, the perilous Castle Anthrax, a killer rabbit, a house of virgins, and a handful of rude Frenchmen.

In addition to the set pieces, the film also includes the same kind of surreal animation that Gilliam contributed to the television series. Throughout the irreverent adventures, the Python crew eschews realism in favor of anachronistic social satire, a recipe it later returned to in the 1979 biblical farce MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN. Melding the ridiculous with the sublime, the film quickly inspired a cult following, generated a host of ...

Cast: Michael Palin, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Neil Innes, Sandy Johnson, John Young, Sandy Rose, Bee Duffell, Rita Davies, Terry Gilliam, Mary Allen, Connie Booth, Carol Cleveland, Monty Python, Patsy Kensit, Sally Kinghorn, Tim Knight

Director: Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam

Genre: Comedy

Release Date: January 1, 1975

MPAA Rating: PG

Screen Writer: Michael Palin, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam

Runtime: 1hr 29min

Studio: Columbia Pictures