Of course, the movie's the same. All of the classic gags and silly lines are here, and just as funny as always ... provided, of course, you favor the Monty Python brand of humor. For those that are interested in this Blu-ray release, but have not actually seen the film before, here is a brief rundown.
King Arthur (Graham Chapman) has claimed the title of King of the Britons (even if most of the public doesn't seem to recognize his claim) and he, along with his servant, Patsy (Terry Gilliam), decides to travel across the land looking for the best knights to join him in Camelot. His first new knight is Sir Bedevere (Terry Jones) who attempts to be the scientific mind of the group, but his distorted view of science makes for much amusement. Soon though, Sir Lancelot the Brave (John Cleese), Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Lancelot (Eric Idle) and Sir Galahad the Pure (Michael Palin) all join Arthur at Camelot. After a brief song-and-dance number in the fabled castle though, the group decides not to stay there and are instead contacted by God to find the Holy Grail.
The knights then split up and try to find the Grail in their own way. Robin ventures into the path of a three-headed knight and "bravely runs away," while Galahad wanders into the Castle Anthrax where his vow to stay chaste gets tested ... thankfully Lancelot shows up to "save him." As for Lancelot, his adventure makes him a wedding crasher, in the most literal sense possible and Arthur and Bedevere stay together and track down a couple of leads on their own. Not only do the duo face off against the Knights Who Say Ni, but they also appear in Scene 24 where they are told where to go and what to do in order to find the Grail.
From here, the group gathers and begin the final leg of their journey in a series of challenges that will pit them against a monstrous bunny, an evil, animated menace and a bridge that doesn't like indecision. It all leads to an unexpected ending that is very appropriate for the comedy troupe.
So about those special features, there are a ton of them packed onto the Blu-ray release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Not only does the disc contain most or all of the previously released extras, but there are also some new ones. Older special features include a few scenes of the film in Japanese with some pretty amusing subtitles, a trio of sing-alongs, and an amusing older "educational film" about the proper use of coconuts as seen in the film. I also enjoyed a LEGO stop-action short film reproducing the Camelot song and dance number. Of all of these older special features, the one I found the most interesting was "Quest for the Holy Grail Locations." In it, Palin and Jones revisit all of the filming locations and muse over how things have changed and retell some anecdotes about the filming. This particular featurette clocks in at about 45 minutes.
The new Blu-ray exclusives include bloopers and extended scenes introduced by Jones and uncovered long-lost animations introduced by Gilliam. The last new feature touches on a pet peeve of mine. The box lists an iOS app, "The Holy Book of Days Second Screen Experience" that acts as even more special features to enjoy while watching the film (at least that's what most Second Screen Experience apps are). While I knew that this was an app that needed to be downloaded via iTunes and that you could buy it for $4.99, I had expected a voucher or code in the box to allow me to download the app. So, what the box implies as a built-in special feature is actually a separate, hidden cost. I found this to be really annoying and misleading. So while I still recommend buying the Blu-ray version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail for those big fans out there, don't do so expecting to get this added app in the deal.
