MovieChat Forums > Excalibur (1981) Discussion > Monty Python

Monty Python

posted 11 years ago by carl-norquist
17 replies | jump to latest

I really wanted to like this movie but I found it impossible to take seriously. The art direction and visual style is so similar to Monty Python and the holly grail that every dramatic action seemed narmy.

At first I checked to see if this was the movie that was being parodied but it turns out it came out two years after the holly grail. Heck, a lot of the actors even looked and sounded like the pythons.

Did anyone else feel this way? I wanted to see the epicness of the movie for what it was but I kept hearing the soundtrack for the holly grail when they rode thew the marshes. Did it influence anyone's rating of the film?

[–] toldyousew 11 years ago

It came out six years after "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

I was thinking of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" often while watching this.

Country + RAP = CRAP

Country + ROCK = CROCK

[–] crockett_john 8 years ago

When Arthur first clims the siege tower, I was thinking of Monty Python, too.

Country + Christian = Contrition?

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[–] Blueghost 11 years ago

No, I just think you have a damn poor taste in films. It's not supposed to be an epic, but a fantasy. Admittedly it might have been nice to see a few more battle scenes and bodies, but the film looks incredible as is. Having said that, I do wish there had been a big final battle scene at the end, but money was probably running low.

[–] flaps3 11 years ago

I think that Excalibur owes quite a lot to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and comparisons are obvious. It's not about the comedy though...

Monty Python and the Holy Grail was a landmark film for more-realistic depiction of mediaeval times. Before that film, everyone was wearing unstained white clothing and floating above the mud.

Remember that Terry Jones has a Ph.D. in mediaeval studies. He knows his stuff.

-- flaps

[–] jh66 11 years ago

The others were studying to become doctors or solicitors!

[–] mrmuzikproductions 10 years ago

Monty Python And The Holy Grail - Released 9 April 1975 (London)
Excalibur - Released 10 April 1981 (USA)

Who's That Little Old Man?

[–] hachmom-1 10 years ago

I think Boorman actually tries to avoid some of the conventions Monty Python so gleefully mocked, especially a more realistic depiction of combat and of living conditions.

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[–] jmillerdp 8 years ago

Plus, they get to use actual horses instead of using coconuts!

I. Drink. Your. Milkshake! [slurp!] I DRINK IT UP! - Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood

[–] kincaid-5 9 years ago

It really hit me in the scene where Perceval (?) is crossing the wintry landscape and finds the skeleton in armor. It was probably meant to be a powerful scene, but I couldn't help thinking, "And this must be where they were forced to eat Robin's minstrels, and there was great rejoicing. (Yay hay!)"

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[–] Coolflic 9 years ago

I don't see how any big fans of Monty Python and the Holly Grail could take Excalibur seriously. And like the OP I had to check the release dates of both films because I had visions of the members of Monty Python seeing Excalibur and falling around laughing and then going on to make Holly Grail. But that's not what happened.

King Arthur: I am your king.
Woman: Well, I didn't vote for you.
King Arthur: You don't vote for kings.
Woman: Well how'd you become king then?
[Angelic music plays... ]
King Arthur: The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. THAT is why I am your king.
Dennis: [interrupting] Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

[–] Splarne 8 years ago

i did expect a black knight appearance.

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[–] tbonesays 7 years ago

I don't see how seeing one makes the slightest difference for the other.

[–] jmillerdp 8 years ago

I do like the film, but yeah, if you look at it from that perspective, it's like "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" played straight!

I. Drink. Your. Milkshake! [slurp!] I DRINK IT UP! - Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood

[–] xenopharb 7 years ago

I wonder why ...

Same story.

[–] LepusThreat 8 years ago

Excalibur is a good movie. I soiled my armor, it was so good!