Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Difference between revisions

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The film's reputation grew over time. In 2000, readers of ''[[Total Film]]'' magazine voted ''Holy Grail'' the fifth-greatest comedy film of all time.<ref name="BBC News" /> The next Python film, ''[[Monty Python's Life of Brian|Life of Brian]]'', was ranked first.<ref name="BBC News" /> A 2006 poll of [[Channel 4]] viewers on the [[100 Greatest (TV series)|50 Greatest Comedy Films]] saw ''Holy Grail'' placed sixth (with ''Life of Brian'' again topping the list).<ref name="Channel 4"/> In 2011, an [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] prime-time special, ''Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time'', counted down the best films chosen by fans based on results of a poll conducted by ABC and ''[[People (American magazine)|People]]''. ''Holy Grail'' was selected as the second best comedy after ''[[Airplane!]]'' In 2016, ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine ranked ''Holy Grail'' 18th in their list of the 100 best British films (''Life of Brian'' was ranked 2nd), their entry stating, "[[Elvis Presley|Elvis]] ordered a print of this comedy classic and watched it five times. If it's good enough for the King, it's good enough for you."<ref>{{cite news |title=The 100 best British films |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/100britishfilms/ |access-date=4 September 2019 |work=Empire |archive-date=4 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904144411/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/100britishfilms/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a 2017 interview at [[Indiana University Bloomington|Indiana University]] in Bloomington, John Cleese expressed disappointment with the film's conclusion.<!--Recheck quotations as cited in source. DO NOT change double-quotations that are required by Wikipedia since Cleese's remarks are quoted in the cited article itself. Also, DO NOT alter Wikipedia's preferred standard quotation marks, replacing them with any different style. A personal opinion that "Cleese has become a curmudgeon" is entirely irrelevant to editing any source-cited text of his documented remarks.--> "'The ending annoys me the most'", he said after a screening of the film on the Indiana campus, adding that "'...It ends the way it does because we couldn't think of any other way'".<ref>Keck, Mary (2017). [http://news.iu.edu/stories/2017/10/iub/05-matters-mcrobbie-john-cleese.html "Comedian John Cleese talks Monty Python and the secret of happiness with IU President McRobbie"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113215241/https://news.iu.edu/stories/2017/10/iub/05-matters-mcrobbie-john-cleese.html |date=13 January 2020 }}, campus news article, 5 October 2017, Indiana University Bloomington. Retrieved 15 September 2019.</ref> However, scripts for the film and notebooks that are among Michael Palin's private archive, which he donated to the British Library in 2017, do document at least one alternative ending that the troupe considered: "a battle between the knights of Camelot, the French, and the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog".<ref name="NYMag">Wright, Megh (2018). [http://www.vulture.com/2018/08/monty-pythons-michael-palin-reveals-cut-holy-grail-scenes.html "Comedy's Holy Grail, Lost Monty Python Scenes, Found in Michael Palin's Archive"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630011148/https://www.vulture.com/2018/08/monty-pythons-michael-palin-reveals-cut-holy-grail-scenes.html |date=30 June 2019 }}, 1 August 2018, Vulture, the culture and entertainment website for ''New York'' magazine. Retrieved 15 September 2019.</ref><ref>Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (2017).[https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/jun/13/michael-palin-donates-notebooks-to-british-library-monty-python "Michael Palin donates 22 years' worth of notebooks to British Library"], ''The Guardian'', UK and US editions, 13 June 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2019.</ref> Due to the film's small production budget, that idea for a "much pricier option" was discarded by the Pythons in favour of the ending with "King Arthur getting arrested", which Palin deemed "cheaper" and "funnier".<ref name="NYMag"/>

Review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]] offers a 91% approval rating from reviews of 126 critics, with an average rating of 8.40/10. The consensus reads, "A cult classic as gut-bustingly hilarious as it is blithely ridiculous, ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' has lost none of its exceedingly silly charm."<ref>{{Citation|title=Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/monty_python_and_the_holy_grail|language=en|access-date=2025-04-01|archive-date=20 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120115359/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/monty_python_and_the_holy_grail|url-status=live}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a score of 91 out of 100 based on 24 critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/monty-python-and-the-holy-grail|title=Monty Python and the Holy Grail Reviews|publisher=[[Metacritic]]|accessdate=12 March 2022|archive-date=3 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403135628/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/monty-python-and-the-holy-grail|url-status=live}}</ref>