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Los Caballeros De La Mesa Cuadrada 

Monty Python And The Holy Grail 

1974 

United Kingdom United Kingdom

Comedy 

88 min 

Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones 

Monthy Python 

Monthy Python 

Mark Forstater, Michael White 

Terry Bedford 

Sony Pictures 

DVD 

3980 

1.66:1 

Dolby Digital 

English, Spanish 

Super Deluxe Edition 2 Discs 

King Arthur (Chapman), along with his faithful servant Patsy (Gilliam), is recruiting his Knights of the Round Table throughout England. He is frustrated at every turn by such obstacles as anarcho-syndicalist peasants, a Black Knight who refuses to give up in a fight despite losing both his arms and legs, and guards who are more concerned with the flight patterns of swallows than their lord and master. Finally he meets up with Sir Bedevere the Wise (Jones), Sir Lancelot the Brave (Cleese), Sir Galahad the Pure (also called "the Chaste") (Palin), Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot, who had nearly fought the fierce dragon of Angnor, almost stood to the vicious chicken of Bristol, and personally wet himself at the Battle for Badon Hill (Idle), "and the aptly-named Sir Not-Appearing-in-this-Film" (a picture of Palin's infant son). They declare themselves the Knights of the Round Table. When "riding" to Camelot (by strutting and banging two coconut halves together), they are given a quest by God (represented by an animated photograph of legendary cricket figure W. G. Grace) to find the Holy Grail.

They encounter a castle with a Frenchman who randomly taunts them with names like 'Silly English knnnnnniggits' and odd insults such as, "I fart in your general direction!" and "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!", together with some mangled Franglais, notably "Fetchez la vache!" (Fetch the cow, in correct French Amenez la vache). The Knights then retreat, weathering a barrage of livestock and executing a poorly thought-out plan to sneak into the castle while concealed within a crudely built giant wooden rabbit (a Trojan Rabbit) which the French throw back at the knights. Arthur decides that he and his knights should search for the Grail individually. After they split up, Sir Robin travels through the dark Forest of Ewing with his favourite minstrels, and encounters a Three-Headed Giant, Galahad follows a Grail-shaped light to the perils of Castle Anthrax (the girls of which are very interested in being spanked and having oral sex with him), Sir Lancelot massacres a wedding at Swamp Castle, and Arthur and Bedevere encounter the dreaded Knights who say Ni, who demand a shrubbery as tribute. They each overcome or avoid their individual perils in a variety of ways, then reunite to face a bleak and terrible winter, the happenings of which are told in the form of a Gilliam animation. Next they venture further to a pyromaniacal enchanter named Tim, who leads them to a cave guarded by a killer rabbit.

After killing the vicious Rabbit of Caerbannog with the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, the knights face the Legendary Black Beast of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh in another animated scene, escaping this peril when the animator suffers a fatal heart attack. Their final task is to cross the Bridge of Death, which is guarded by "the old man from scene 24." The man in question then asks each person three questions (the first two are invariably "What is your name?" and "What is your quest?" and, if they are unable to answer, or hesitate when answering the last one, they are picked up by a mysterious force and thrown off the bridge). Sir Robin is killed when he is unable to answer "what is the capital of Assyria?" and Sir Galahad is killed when he hesitates while answering "What is your favourite colour." When Arthur comes up for his turn, he turns the tables on the old man, who asks "What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?" by asking "What do you mean? African or European swallow?" The old man, who was unaware of the apparent difference, is confused and, upon saying "I don't know that," is hurled off the bridge by his own magic. Although Lancelot also survives the confrontation (he went first), he mysteriously disappears before the others can catch up to him on the other side. Arthur and Bedevere reach the gates of Castle Aaargh, only to find themselves facing the French taunter once more; the whole quest has in fact been a wild goose chase. As Arthur leads a great army in a charge against the castle, a group of present-day police officers suddenly arrive on the scene, disrupting the film's climax. They have been investigating the murder of a "famous historian," who was earlier cut down by an unidentified knight while he was presenting a television program on a topic from the film's supposed era. Lancelot has already been taken into custody, and Arthur and Bedevere are promptly arrested as well. One of the policemen covers the camera lens with his hand and the screen goes blank for several minutes, with music playing in the background, until the viewer realises it is the end of the film. 

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Los Caballeros De La Mesa Cuadrada 1974 United Kingdom Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones DVD 3980. Uploaded by Mike-Bell