Ni! 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' celebrates 40 years of silliness
So there I was, about to cross the Bridge of Death (it's in the suburbs, don't you know), when I was stopped by a gruff, one-eyed man who looked like the poor old sod on the cover of Jethro Tull's "Aqualung."
"Stop!" he cried. "Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see."
I told him to ask the questions. I was not afraid.
"What ... is your name?"
Sir Stangland of Wheeling, I replied.
"What ... is your quest?"
To buy the new 40th anniversary Blu-ray edition of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," naturally.
"What ... is your favorite line from the film?"
Well, perhaps it's the one about the huge tracts of land. Or maybe it's the answer to the question of how you can tell someone is a king. Or maybe - AAAAHHHHHHH!
Yes, it's been 40 years since King Arthur's indecisive knights were cast into the abyss under the Bridge of Death in one of the most quotable movies of all time. Released on March 14, 1975, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" is the legendary British comedy troupe's most enduring work, a masterpiece of smartly stupid, absurdist humor.
I all but memorized it by the time I was 9 or 10; my parents saw the movie 13 times in theaters before I was born, and added a 14th in the late '90s thanks to a revival screening at Buffalo Grove Theater.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment announced this week an Oct. 27 Blu-ray release of the film, which features a 2015 Q&A with the surviving Pythons at the Tribeca Film Festival in addition to a 4K digital transfer and a bevy of extras you may have seen in earlier home versions. These include commentaries by Eric Idle, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam, deleted scenes and outtakes, extra animated sequences by Gilliam, a Lego segment and more.
For the dedicated collector, a limited edition comes inside a castle-shaped box packed with toy farm animals. Yes, farm animals. ("Fetchez la vache?!?")
Of course, if you're clamoring to watch this Camelot comedy right now ("It is a silly place"), you can rent or buy it digitally from iTunes.
<i>Sean Stangland is a Daily Herald copy editor and the leader of the Knights Who Say Ni. You can follow him on Twitter at @SeanStanglandDH.</i>