Life of Brian...

[amoral]

...may be a technically better film, but I don't know how anyone could find it funnier than The Holy Grail. There's brilliant stuff in Brian, but nothing that comes close to  the anarchic brilliance of The Holy Grail.

[Noodle Lizard]

I prefer The Holy Grail too, I just think it's funnier overall.  But Life Of Brian ... fuck.  It's good, innit?

That's the end of this bit.

[Shaky]

I concur that Grail's funnier than Brian. I also think it is technically better (or it's aged better, at least) - it still looks gloomily gorgeous, the bombastic stock music works perfectly and the direction is more dynamic than Brian's thanks to Gilliam's influence. The whole thing's got such a lovely, misty, earthy feel to it.

[Serge]

I did go off 'Brian' for a while, mainly due to the fact that I watched it so much as a kid. When I finally got around to getting on DVD a couple of years ago, thankfully I was able to enjoy it again. 'Grail' is definitely my favourite, though, as it has the whole Swamp Castle sequence and the Black Knight in.

[up_the_hampipe]

I always preferred Brian, but Grail is probably better. Yeah.

[mobias]

In my heart I still prefer Grail but in my head I know that Brian is the better movie. Grail does suffer slightly form having the much more naff following of people who think Spamalot is funny. Also I think it does inarguably have a pretty weak final act. After the man eating rabbit the film runs out of a lot of energy. Its tempting to say its pretty clear they were noticeably running out of energy towards the end when they were making it but it wasn't shot sequentially and in one of the many 'makings of' out there I remember them saying the end bits were actually shot first.

This has always been my favourite Grail documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T1WXUchOIo

[Kane Jones]

I absolutely adore Brian, but I haven't seen Grail for years so it's probably due a revisit. I never liked the clip-clop coconut gag, I know that much. And some twat at college used to quote it in a stupid voice all the time which really put me off re-watching it. I will watch it again soon and report back.  I bet you're all on the edges of your seats now.

[mobias]

Part of the joy of Grail is Terry Gilliam's production design and the over all photography of it. Like Gilliam's Jabberwocky it looks kind of like how you would imagine Medieval Britain to look. Really grubby, wet and dark. It adds to the humour in way making the whole thing even more ridiculous but also curiously timeless, which is why it hasn't dated. There's none of the polished clean and overly colourful look you get with so many historical TV shows and movies.

[Blumf]

Brian for me. Grail is fun, and the grubby medieval look is nice, but I just like the bite in Brian.

[Kane Jones]

I just like the bite in Brian.

Agreed, but it's 'the life of'.

[Steven]

LOB is satirical and the humour is usually trying to make a point, whereas Holy Grail is just pure unadulterated silliness and so I've always found it more enjoyable, I can still remember the first time seeing it, and the joy of playing it to various friends who had never clapped eyes on its madness.

One particular line that never oft gets repeated, during the Castle Wedding section the father is showing Lancelot round and boasting "Well, this is the main hall. We're going to have all this knocked through, and made into one big, uh, living room." The idea of him having parts of his castle 'knocked through' like it's a 70s bungalow is hysterical.

There's also a great bit in the original script that was never used, the knights beseech God to help if he expects them steal the grail from castle Argh, so he agrees to drive the getaway car. After completing the robbery the knights jump in the car and it immediately stalls and you hear God repeatedly trying the ignition with everyone complaining, at which point God exasperatedly shouts "But I'm used to automatics!"

[Sam]

Strike him Centurion! Very roughly!

Oh and uh...throw him to the floor, sir?

Oh yes, throw him to the floor, please!

The dynamic and delivery of that exchange between Cleese and Palin is one of the funniest things I've ever encountered. It's one of those bits that just comes to be almost daily while I'm doing the washing up and makes me grin.

[mothman]

I think I'd have to go with the consensus, that Brian is a better film but Grail is just... better!

But I will highlight one element of Brian I always liked: when Biggus Dickus steps in to address the crowd, so many others filming such a scene would insist on showing him lisping through the names on-screen. But the Pythons cut away, then back just to show the aftermath. It's funnier. You've already seen Pontius Pilate weleasing Woger, to watch Biggus try to get to grips with Samson the Sadducee Strangler would be redundant. You know what's going to happen, the Pythons let you use your imagination.[nb]Of course I don't know whether it was a deliberate choice, whether they did in fact film the scene then decide not to use it for reasons of pacing, timing (the overall length of the film), technical problems with the footage, or the reasons I suggest above![/nb]

[Bored of Canada]

Watch Polanski's version of Macbeth if you're into the aesthetics of The Holy Grail. Both have that damp, wet, shit stained, misty view of the middle ages.

Both are quoted by tossers.

[Endicott]

Clearly we are comparing the two best movies by one of the funniest groups of comedians ever to exist. They are different beasts. I think Brian works better as a story, with a beginning, middle and end. Grail works more as a stream of consciousness. I like them both, I think the message Brian carries probably tips me towards it. Bit of a tough call really.

[DrunkCountry]

The way Chapman says sacred castle here always makes me laugh.

https://youtu.be/9V7zbWNznbs?t=4m43s

[mycroft]

One particular line that never oft gets repeated, during the Castle Wedding section the father is showing Lancelot round and boasting "Well, this is the main hall. We're going to have all this knocked through, and made into one big, uh, living room." The idea of him having parts of his castle 'knocked through' like it's a 70s bungalow is hysterical.

That's my favourite part, alongside Palin's line seconds later, when the guests spot Lancelot: "Oh. Bloody 'ell."

[mobias]

That whole castle scene is definitely the centre piece of the film I think. My favourite line is probable the euphemism 'whats wrong with her? She's got huge tracts of land'

[Queneau]

Grail does suffer slightly form having the much more naff following of people who think Spamalot is funny.

That seems like an odd comment to make about the comparison of the two films in question. How does The Holy Grail suffer because of a shit spin-off cash-in musical?

[mothman]

Oh, there are plenty of other examples of follow-ups tarnishing the good name of the originals onw hich they were based. I just can't think of any at the moment. You know, you watch, um, say, Pitch Black again and you think, "This is really good, Vin Diesel really inhabits this part, they should make a sequel... oh, wait, they did and it sucked." And then your enjoyment is ruined. See also the Star Wars prequels.

[kngen]

That whole castle scene is definitely the centre piece of the film I think. My favourite line is probable the euphemism 'whats wrong with her? She's got huge tracts of land'

The line - as insubstantial and silly as it is - 'What? The curtains?' - always gets the biggest laugh from me. Terry Jones manages to affect the accent and demeanour of someone I know very well, so it adds a particularly enjoyable dimension to it all.

[Jake Thingray]

Afraid that while Grail is lovely, Americans tend to prefer it to Brian and have made it part of geek culture, which automatically makes me prefer Brian.

[Tiny Poster]

You hipster.

[Attila]

Holy Grail ran on PBS back in the mid 70s originally, and as a li'l Attila, I ran into the family room in excitement because my non-tosser brother was laughing helplessly at something on the tv. He didn't and doesn't laugh like that very often, but when he does, it means something good is going on!

I found him lying on the floor, twisted up with laughter, at a scene that had me horrified, thinking he was watching some sort of video nasty: when the Black Knight is getting all of his bits cut off.

It was about four years until I actually saw the film properly, because I was convinced it was some sort of snuff film.

There's bits of the Grail I'm fond of, but probably prefer Brian more. The captions for the theatre (Children's Matinee) always did me in. I was also the only kid in the theatre who knew how to fix Brian's terrible grammar. Oh, and Eric Idle's 'Anyway, go on with your story' to Terry Gilliams's madman's perfectly civilised response is a lovely little throwaway gag.

Plus, Michael Palin as an ex-leper > Michael Palin as Sir Galahad.[nb]phwoarr[/nb]

[Jake Thingray]

You hipster.

Don't expect me to join the Metropolitan Police, though.

[Replies From View]

If one of these films was blighted for me by tossers quoting it, it's 'Life of Brian'.  For years before I even saw it I kept running into people who insisted on reciting the "naughty boy" line at me and laughing maniacally about their ability to use their own memories so brilliantly well.

[Attila]

If one of these films was blighted for me by tossers quoting it, it's 'Life of Brian'.  For years before I even saw it I kept running into people who insisted on reciting the "naughty boy" line at me and laughing maniacally about their ability to use their own memories so brilliantly well.

For me, it's Holy Grail, especially my countrymen attempting to recite it in 'British accents.'

I did go see Spamalot a year or so back, and ugh, just ugh, with the fanboys scattered throughout the theatre attempting to shout out punchlines before they came, loudly and knowingly announce which skit it was, and guffaw with loud 'Yes, I'm in the know more than you are' laughter (that was aimed more at impressing the other fanboys than the non-combatants.) I had one of these creatures next to me who kept reciting the punchlines, literally falling out of his seat 'with laughter,' and then tried to throw his arm around me to get me to join in with one of the songs. Gah, nasty.

Also Bonnie Langford was in it.

[QDRPHNC]

I think LOB is better. Idle trying to say the line, "Not as nasty as something I just thought of," got rewound about 500 times.

[Old Nehamkin]

"Where are you two from? Nose City?" always makes me laugh a lot.

[kngen]

'Yes, we're all different!"

_{'I'm not."}

That blew my fucking mind when I was eight or so.