King Arthur (Graham Chapman) is seeking brave and true knights to join him at his round table in Camelot. He gallops across the British countryside accompanied by his loyal squire, Patsy (Terry Gilliam), who trots behind him clapping coconut shell halves together to create the sounds of hooves. They are, in fact, on foot. Arthur's subjects show him less respect than is shown Rodney Dangerfield. Undeterred, the good king assembles a band of trusty knights: Sir Launcelot the Brave (John Cleese); Sir Robin the Not- Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Launcelot (Eric Idle); Sir Gawain (Terry Gilliam); Sir Bedevere (Terry Jones); and, Sir Galahad the Pure (Michael Palin). Together they ride to Camelot. Then turn away. "'Tis a silly place."

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Instead they are tasked by God with a quest to seek the holy grail. They travel together. They travel apart. They face great dangers and tribulations. Vicious rabbits. Saucy Sorcerers. Voluptuous virgins who're cunning linguists. Pompous pious priests. They pile up the bloody body count faster than you can say Paul Verhoeven. And woven through the live action are Terry Gilliam's fanciful animations and the wonderfully incongruous intrusion by the twentieth century. Lively. Laughable. Laudable.

This release is an extended version of the film. A stunning twenty- four seconds, never before seen by the eyes on man (except, perhaps by the many thousands who enjoyed last year's theatrical re-release), have been lovingly restored and seamlessly spliced in. You can't even see the joints!

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Columbia TriStar has created a new transfer for this release and Holy Grail has never looked better. The theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 is presented in anamorphic video, downconverted from high definition. Undeniably, the film elements are in need of some restoration. Dirt and scratches are evident from time to time; and, the film's green dyes seem to have faded more than the reds and the blues. But this transfer is a vast improvement over Columbia's September '99 non-anamorphic widescreen release. The image is a touch on the soft side, but retains a film-like look thanks to the near absence of edge artifacts in the form of halos. Brightness and contrast vary quite a bit, but much of the haze one finds in the film is due to the overly enthusiastic use of smoke during the shoot. Skin tones are quite natural and Terry Gilliam's animations are vivid. Chroma noise is not visible. Compression artifacts are not noticeable. In general, a very nice transfer.

Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?

A new Dolby Digital 5.1 track was mixed for this release. Since the original was monaural, expanding the sound to a multi-channel presentation was a bit of a challenge. The DVD's producers apparently opened up the sound by replacing the mono music with stereo and enhancing the effect by bleeding the score into the surrounds to broaden the soundstage. On a rare occasion when a sound effect can be isolated that would best emanate from the surrounds, it's mixed there. The best 5.1 sounds on the disc are within the menus and during a gag that immediately precedes the film. And for those that have EX decoding, the clever bit on disc one that explains how to find the supplements, decodes perfectly into the center surround. I'm left with the impression that with the exception of a bit of equalization and noise reduction, all the film's dialog and sound effects are original. The music is very much improved, but still sounds a bit dated. Deep bass is not present.

For the purist, the original monaural track is also included on the disc. There's an alternative audio track in French. Subtitles are available in English, French, and Spanish. There are two other clever subtitle options: the first permits you to superimpose the screenplay on the film, so you may read along; and, the second is for people who don't like the film. This option activates subtitles drawn from William Shakespeare's Henry IV Part II. I'd like to be sufficiently knowledgeable of Shakespeare to offer a definitive confirmation of the source material, but I'm not. My impression is that specific lines were culled from the play and associated with film dialog in as close a context as possible. It's like reading a bad translation, and the effect is very droll.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Both of the two discs included in this Special Edition set feature wonderful Gilliamesque animated menus with full Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The surround channels are used aggressively to tickle you, and the menus are so entertaining that you definitely should sit and watch each until the endless loops restart. Very clever. As for content, Columbia TriStar has included a generous selection of extras sure to please everyone. (If you'd like to hear the Main Menu selections read to you, simply choose The Hard of Hearing. And even though the extras are on the second disc, don't forget to select Extras from the Main Menu. There are twenty-eight chapters within the feature film.)

The first disc includes two feature-length screen- specific audio commentaries: one is by directors Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones (which I understand was licensed from Criterion); and, the other is a new track by Michael Palin, John Cleese, and Eric Idle. Gilliam and Jones describe the shoot and offer a bit of humor. Much of the background of Python is discussed. Gilliam dominates; he's notably more open concerning this first effort, suggesting what he might have done differently. I was startled to learn how many scenes had been filmed in essentially one room of one castle, yet effectively creating the illusion of a multiplicity of rooms in several different locations (more explicitly demonstrated in the documentary). Palin, Cleese, and Idle reminisce, offering anecdotes based on their experiences. There are noticeable gaps in their commentary and the occasional chuckle as these three Pythons watch the film for the first time in years. Each commentary is engaging, despite my distinct impression that none of the three Pythons were in the same room during the recording of the new commentary.

Killer Rabbit is a variation on a theme first seen in The Matrix. Activate this feature and a white rabbit will appear from time to time in the center right of the screen. Press Return or Select or Enter while onscreen and you'll see either some of Terry Gilliam's conceptual sketches, essentially story boards, or droll accounting information (the rabbit will have had a green, British Pound symbol superimposed for those). Never avoiding the opportunity for a gag, the rabbit is quite bloody after the cave sequence.

Insert the second disc for the rest of the supplements. For the Karaoke-inclined, you'll find Singalong. You may choose from each of the three songs from the film - "Knights of the Round Table", "Sir Robin" and "Monks Chant." Each is shown with subtitles. The next choice is a forty-seven minute documentary shown in anamorphic video and entitled Quest For the Holy Grail Locations. In this newly produced documentary, co-director Terry Jones and actor Michael Palin visit some of the film's locations. This is surprisingly informative and entertaining. I particularly liked the Python exploitation by the owners of one of the castle gift shops, the instant recognition these two enjoy so many years, and the kitchen table discussion at the privately owned Castle of Aaaaargh.

Sacred Relics is a cornucopia of kitsch. Coconuts is a brief (three minutes) documentary produced by the Ministry of Foods, Coconut Information Division. This very funny little featurette explains quite clearly how one may put coconut shells to good use. Japanese Version offers two sequences from the film that run a bit under nine minutes, dubbed in Japanese, and supplemented by a literal English translation in subtitles. Cute.

BBC Film Night is a location report originally broadcast in December of '74. During this seventeen-minute fullscreen film, a hapless interviewer tries to solicit a few serious answers from the Pythons. They'll have none of it, getting up to their usual silliness. Old Rubbish offers a few screens of tickets, press releases, and a review supplemented by an audio track. The pompous reader quotes from a rather harsh review in an endless loop. This is clearly intended to give the reviewer a revengeful finger, since the film has a strong following and has endured nicely, thank you very much. Artifacts shows international posters and one- sheets. Photos is an impressive collection of about one hundred stills from the production formatted for anamorphic video. There are two non-anamorphic trailers: one was originally shown in the United Kingdom; the other was from the U.S. re-release of '01. Each is shown in fullscreen and you might think that they're identical until you come to the last few seconds of the re-release trailer.

Select The Cast and twelve of the players' names will come up on a menu screen. Select any and a list of that player's characters is shown. Click on any character name and a picture of the player in character is displayed. A minor Easter Egg may be found on the Sacred Relics menu. Click on the grail to the right of the scroll to find several pages of DVD production credits.

Back on the Main Menu, selecting Unshot Footage offers three choices. Lego Knights is a witty little stop-action animation version of Knights of the Round Table featuring an all Lego cast. Location Recce is a tongue-firmly-in-cheek featurette that runs about two minutes. The co-directors narrate vintage travel log footage for exotic locales. You'll then understand why there were only two hundred thousand pounds left to make the film. Unused Ideas is a collection of Gilliam storyboards.

The final choice on the Main Menu is Excommunication. This takes us to a page that reminds us to visit of the Pythonline website. This is also one of the sites offered to the computer user when disc two is loaded into a DVD-ROM drive. Autoload will open a window with several web-based choices: Pythonline Website, the Holy Grail Movie Website, and the Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment Website. Click and go. Lastly, the 2-disc set is housed in a keepcase placed within a slipcase.

Parting Thoughts