Basically an excuse for set pieces, some amusing, others overdone.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
New Times (L.A.) by Gregory Weinkauf
What we have here is an historical document of inestimable value, describing in no uncertain terms the terrible and beautiful times before AIDS.
Nobody ever placed brilliance in the service of silliness quite the way the Python gang did. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is stuffed with both.
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
Has a sense of humor that is intellectual, even academic, at heart.
Baltimore Sun by Michael Sragow
It's still the Holy Grail of crazy comedy.
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
An incredibly silly film of great humor, brilliant design and epic insanity.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
The material is superb, Neil Innes’ music is tremendous and Gilliam’s animations are timelessly brilliant.
Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea
Still stands as a gloriously silly and twisted send-up.
This movie is absolutely hilarious. From killer bunnies to shrubbery raving nights, every moment is wonderfully acted and impeccable panned out to deliver the most possible punch. The story feels like coherent plot but the sketch comedy feel the makes Monty python so fantastic still shines through
It’s unreal how densely-packed the jokes are in the film. It was perhaps inevitable that Monty Python’s (as a sketch comedy troupe) feature films would be a string of absurd and genius sketches, but one can also appreciate a through-line of plot. The plot in this film does, however, take a back seat to the jokes and sketches, and that approach is clearly intentional (and obviously successful). The film takes care to make fun of its world, but it also makes fun of film itself through direct references to the fact that the events being chronicled are, in fact, fiction. A classic to be recommended again and again.