Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Film and Plot Synopsis

In tenth century England, King Arthur travels the countryside to find knights who will join him at his Round Table in Camelot. When God sends them on a quest to find the Holy Grail, a series of individual adventures begins. However, the knights eventually reunite where they face Tim the Enchanter and a killer rabbit. Not even holy hand grenades can save them when Police intervene an put a halt to their quest.

‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ Movie Summary

Monty Python and the Holy Grail begins in the 10th Century AD. Arthur, King of the Britons, and by default, head of the Church of England, trods through the shires of his land with his humble Patsy, Patsy by his side to recruit his famous Knights of the Round Table. He eventually enlists Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Galahad the Pure, Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot, and the aptly named Sir Not-appearing-in-this-film.

Once assembled, God, himself, appears, and sends our brave heroes on a quest to find the Holy Grail as the Church of England is in sore need of some idols to worship. They first come across the French castle of Guy de Lombard, and being good Roman Catholics they already have a holy grail, and it’s very nice. After much taunting and farting in their general direction, Arthur’s band of merry men are repelled, and they decide to split up to seek the grail.

We cut to the present day where a historian narrates the story for us, but his throat is suddenly slashed by an unknown knight riding by on horseback. The modern day police are called in to find this Anglo-Saxon Assassin.

We now hear the tale of the brave Sir Robin, who’s bravery is immediately tested when he meets a three-headed Goliath who wants to kill him. Instead of bravely standing up to the giant, in the name of the Knights of the Round table, he cowers and downplays his importance. As the three heads argue over hygiene and who gets to kill Robin, he quickly turns his tail and flees failing his test.

The next tale is of Sir Galahad the Pure. On a rainy afternoon, Galahad is lured to the Castle Anthrax, by a false idol that looks like a grail. Once inside, Galahad’s purity is tested when he finds the castle is filled with sexually frustrated girls who will attend to Galahad’s every need. Galahad succumbs to their delights, but he is rescued at the last second by the brave Sir Lancelot from a very perilous situation.

Scene 24 takes us to meet a crazy old man who tells Arthur and Sir Bedevere of an enchanter and the Bridge of Death. The old man then disappears, and the two knights find themselves in a mysterious forrest. After much clumping around, they come across the Knights who say, “Ni!”, and they demand Arthur bring them a shrubbery to appease them, or they will be killed. Arthur agrees to bring them a shrubbery, but he refuses to bring another one once the Knights who say, “Ni!” change their name.

Meanwhile, over at Swamp Castle, Sir Lancelot finds a note tied to an arrow when the arrow pierces sweet Concorde’s chest. He mistakenly thinks the note is referring to a lady in distress is being held against her will, and is being forced to marry a man whom she does not love. Sir Lancelot’s bravery is successfully tested as he storms the castle, and saves the effeminate man. He flees in an idiom worthy of his bravery — via a push on a rope to swing across the bleeding masses below him.

The knights finally regroup and journey together to an enchanter named Tim? He leads them to a cave that will reveal the Grail’s location, but before they are able to enter, they must first slay a killer rabbit. After the rabbit repels their first attack, Arthur uses the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch to blow the fuzzy bunny sky high. Once inside, they are again attacked. This time by the mighty Black Beast of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh. Only a fatal cardiac arrest of the animator saves them from this cartoon monstrosity.

All Arthur has to do now is to cross the Bridge of Death by answering three questions from the bridge keeper, who incidentally is the same crazy old guy from scene 24, or they will be tossed into the Gorge of Eternal Peril. I can only hope it’s as perilous as the peril at Castle Anthrax.

The two knights who failed their tests in their mini quests, Sir Robin and Sir Galahad are tossed into the gorge for not knowing the gatekeeper’s questions. Sir Lancelot, Sir Bedever, and King Arthur easily pass, but Sir Lancelot is quickly arrested on the other side of the bridge by the modern day police.

That leaves Arthur and Sir Bedevere to journey to the final castle to retrieve God’s Holy Grail. Unfortunately for our heroes, the castle is occupied by our same French assholes from the beginning of the film, and they begin to taunt Arthur again.

Arthur retreats to get a large army of men, to take the castle by force, but before they can, the modern day police arrive, and break up the army’s charge to the castle. They arrest Arthur and Sir Bedevere…ending the film.

It’s a fair cop.

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