Movie Debate #156: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

[RH | 4,966]

5 hours ago, T-Pac said:

I watched this for the first time when I was in college - not because I was genuinely interested, but because I wanted to understand all the references people constantly make to this film.

It wasn't very memorable, but it wasn't bad either. I'm glad I watched it in any case.

[T-Pac]

Yeah, I had the same general experience but as with most British humour, to me most of it isn't funny until about the second or third viewing.

The first time I saw it, I thought it was dumb and then didn't get it.  Then I heard people quote it just in general and a few months later people were watching it again.  I had more chuckles that time.

The next year on another viewing, I found it more enjoyable by a wide margin.  I wouldn't say it's the best comedy ever, and I've probably not seen it in over a decade, but it was definitely fun to watch more than a few times.  Regardless, that first viewing felt rough and I just didn't get it.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,580]

There's a psychological case study in there somewhere

[Sumez | 2,992]

No latter how you feel about it, Holy Grail "not being memorable" is one of the craziest claims I've read today for sure

[T-Pac | 7,587]

On 4/24/2024 at 9:49 PM, Sumez said:

No latter how you feel about it, Holy Grail "not being memorable" is one of the craziest claims I've read today for sure

Well I vaguely recall the heckler on the castle wall, a knight in a forest who kept losing limbs, and some kind of volcano place at the end of the movie? (But maybe I'm confusing it with something else).

That's pretty much it. Granted, I've only seen it once and that was at least 5 years ago, so ... I'd say that qualifies as "not very memorable" to me at least.

[T-Pac]

[Reed Rothchild | 9,580]

1 hour ago, T-Pac said:

Well I vaguely recall the heckler on the castle wall, a knight in a forest who kept losing limbs, and some kind of volcano place at the end of the movie? (But maybe I'm confusing it with something else).

That's pretty much it. Granted, I've only seen it once and that was at least 5 years ago, so ... I'd say that qualifies as "not very memorable" to me at least.

[T-Pac]

 

[Hammerfestus | 3,882]

[Gentlegamer | 174]

*the posters who have disparaged the film have been sacked*

[JamesRobot | 5,825]

A Møøse once bit my sister... No realli!

[Tabonga | 2,334]

3 hours ago, Gentlegamer said:

*the posters who have disparaged the film have been sacked*

 

[Dr. Morbis | 2,091]

13 hours ago, T-Pac said:

That's pretty much it. Granted, I've only seen it once and that was at least 5 years ago, so ... I'd say that qualifies as "not very memorable" to me at least.

Explaining yourself was appreciated, but I'm still dumbfounded that anyone could call this movie "not very memorable."  It's got to have the highest quantity of memorable scenes of any movie ever made in the history of cinema, and easily the most quoted dialog of all time to go with it.

I know you're pretty young relative to the average age of participants on this forum - perhaps you were still a kid when you saw it for the first time, such that much of the humor went flying over your head??? 

[mbd39 | 2,029]

On 4/26/2024 at 9:58 AM, T-Pac said:

Well I vaguely recall the heckler on the castle wall, a knight in a forest who kept losing limbs, and some kind of volcano place at the end of the movie? (But maybe I'm confusing it with something else

[T-Pac]

How can you not remember the famous breaking of the fourth wall at the end of the movie? Or the killer bunny? Did you fall asleep?

[T-Pac | 7,587]

12 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

Explaining yourself was appreciated, but I'm still dumbfounded that anyone could call this movie "not very memorable."  It's got to have the highest quantity of memorable scenes of any movie ever made in the history of cinema, and easily the most quoted dialog of all time to go with it.

I know you're pretty young relative to the average age of participants on this forum - perhaps you were still a kid when you saw it for the first time, such that much of the humor went flying over your head??? 

V V V

On 4/24/2024 at 6:59 AM, T-Pac said:

I watched this for the first time when I was in college - not because I was genuinely interested, but because I wanted to understand all the references people constantly make to this film.

It wasn't very memorable, but it wasn't bad either. I'm glad I watched it in any case.

[T-Pac]

 

2 hours ago, mbd39 said:

How can you not remember the famous breaking of the fourth wall at the end of the movie? Or the killer bunny? Did you fall asleep?

The bunny rings a bell now that you mention it.

And I really don't know what to tell you guys... but it feels like you're mis-associating "not memorable" with "not good".
It was a fun movie and I certainly enjoyed watching it - I just didn't retain much for whatever reason. Maybe it's worth noting that this isn't really my type of humor, either. I'm usually into much more subtle, ironic stuff.

[T-Pac]

[Sumez | 2,992]

1 hour ago, T-Pac said:

but it feels like you're mis-associating "not memorable" with "not good".

Actually the other way around tbh. Python humor is pretty silly and even though it has aged well for how old it is, I can totally understand especially younger people not attaching well to the jokes.

But even if I didn't like the movie, it's so off the wall and shock full of unique iconic scenes that I'd have a hard time forgetting most of them. And I'm really bad at remembering anything I've seen.

[Tulpa | 3,534]

2 hours ago, Sumez said:

Actually the other way around tbh. Python humor is pretty silly and even though it has aged well for how old it is, I can totally understand especially younger people not attaching well to the jokes.

But even if I didn't like the movie, it's so off the wall and shock full of unique iconic scenes that I'd have a hard time forgetting most of them. And I'm really bad at remembering anything I've seen.

Eh, some people remember different things. If the humor doesn't land with some people, I can see how they forget some of the things.

I like Holy Grail, but I stand by my overrated statement.

On top of that, the quotes from the movie get rather grating when it isn't one of the Pythons doing it. Yeah, you're not being funny just going "Ni!" all the time. Yeah, I'm talking to you. Yes, you. You know who you are.

[G-type | 2,520]

I'm constantly getting fooled by those grail shaped beacons.

[Tabonga | 2,334]

1 hour ago, G-type said:

I'm constantly getting fooled by those grail shaped beacons.

 You just like Castle Anthrax and that bad bad naughty Zoot,

[Sumez | 2,992]

7 hours ago, Tulpa said:

On top of that, the quotes from the movie get rather grating when it isn't one of the Pythons doing it. Yeah, you're not being funny just going "Ni!" all the time. Yeah, I'm talking to you. Yes, you. You know who you are.

Fwiw I can agree on this. A lot of the jokes aren't really funny out of context. So much of it (hell, all of it) is really in the delivery and the context set up by the Monty Python cast.

It's also one of the reasons I prefer Life of Brian. The movie has a lot of stuff going on beyond just segmented gags.