There aren’t many better things to do after a long and exhausting day than sitting down in front of the TV and watching a comedy. And Britain has a very specific kind of humour, which has been entertaining audiences around the world for decades. One example of that humour is a film that many have branded the funniest comedy ever made.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, released in 1975, is a British film that was written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group – Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin – and directed by Gilliam and Jones in their feature film debuts.
It’s a surreal parody of the King Arthur legend, filled with ridiculous characters, silly songs, and jokes that fans are still quoting nearly 50 years later.
The film grossed more in the US than any other British film that year, and its reputation has only grown.
It was officially voted the second-best comedy of all time by US viewers in an ABC and People magazine poll, narrowly beaten by ‘Airplane!’.
In the UK, Total Film readers ranked it fifth, and Channel 4 viewers placed it sixth in their list of greatest comedies.
But despite not taking the top spot in those polls, many fans say it is the best comedy film ever made.
Online reviews back that up. One person said: “Every scene, character, line, shot and song in this movie is iconic and hilarious.”
Another wrote: “Always a blast to watch. The laughs don’t stop. Quite possibly the best comedy movie ever made.”
Someone else said: “I’ve never laughed so hard. It’s the funniest comedy ever made.”
Another added: “Basically a perfect movie. The most funny random movie I’ve ever seen. Just hilarious.”
Others called it: “Easily one of the best comedies of all time, and simply put an iconic masterpiece,” while another said: “I don’t know what these guys were on when they wrote this movie, but the result is one of the silliest and funniest movies ever made!”
The film’s impact has been huge, inspiring the hit stage musical Spamalot and earning strong critical praise.
On Metacritic it holds a score of 91, and on Rotten Tomatoes it boasts a 92% critic rating and a 95% audience score from more than 250,000 reviews.
Even Empire magazine said: “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.”
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is now available to stream on ITVX Premium.