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149 of 158 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Special Edition is Special, October 12, 2001
Certain individuals have erroniously indicated in these reviews that the Special Edition will not have commentaries or other special features. They are wrong. The special edition will contain the following: A "21st anniversary" cut of the film that is 24 seconds longer, Dolby digital 5.1, a subtitle track for people who don't like the film (with text from Shakespeare's Henry IV), an onscreen screenplay option, audio commentary with Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, John Cleese, Eric Idle and Michael Palin, and Follow the Killer Rabbit option. Disc 2 contains "Three Mindless Sing-Alongs" and "The Quest for the Holy Grail Locations" featurette, "How to Use Your Coconuts" educational film, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail in Japanese" (with English subtitles), the BBC Film Night special "On Location with the Pythonos", an interactive cast directory, still galleries with Terry Gilliam's original sketches and behind-the-scenes photos, "A Load Of Rubbish" with mystery items, unused ideas and other material, and finally two trailers and weblinks. There will be no special features with the special edition? RUBBISH! This is not simply a reissue of the older DVD with new sound and audio as some have implied.
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83 of 92 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of the best comedies ever and dvd extras to rave about!, July 16, 2002
This is what dvds were invented for -- there are so many great features here! So in addition to seeing one of the funniest movies ever made, you can be entertained for hours with the extras, and the extras are terrific: subtitles in English, French or Spanish; audio track choices -- English (the original mono or a brand new full stereo version), French, a directors' (Gilliam and Jones) track or a commentary track with Cleese, Idle and Palin; a copy of the script overlaid on the film; a painstaking, hilarious Henry the IV-ish subtitle for those who don't like the film; a hard-of-hearing feature; killer rabbit easter eggs; animated menus using Gilliam's original animation; karaoke renditions of 'Knights of the Round Table', 'Sir Robin' and the 'Monks Chant'; a delightful 45 minute visit to the locations with Jones and Palin; an educational film about the 'other' uses of coconuts; Japanese versions of the French Castle and Knights Who Say Ni scenes, including references to the 'holy sake cup'; a 1974 BBC Film Night visit to a location site during filming; photos of tickets, press releases, reviews, posters, production stills and original artwork; trailers; cast credits (Palin played over a dozen parts!) with pictures of each character; a Lego knights version of the Camelot scene; pictures of sketches that were never used (a killer snail?!); a web link. A lot of effort went into this special edition dvd, and it shows. I particularly enjoyed seeing Jones and Palin visit locations. They were in a jolly mood, their comments are interspersed with film footage, and they meet affectionate and funny fans along the way. If you like this film you will love this dvd version; if you love the film, you wil adore this two-dvd set. An essential item for your collection. Highest recommendation.
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413 of 487 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not even with an African swallow..., April 3, 2000
By A Customer
This is one of the funniest movies ever committed to film, no doubt about it. Were I to judge this DVD on the film alone, I would have given it five stars. If you are one of the few who have never seen this picture, do yourself the favor of and buy a copy on VHS straight away. Purchasing this title on DVD, however, I have to take marks away from an otherwise excellent comedy. There has been absolutely nothing done to enhance the quality of this 25 year old film, and a DVD system drives the visual and auditory pitfalls home with feeling. The picture is grainy and jittery in many places, and the audio is mudded and full of hiss. I confess, I was looking forward to a sharper, cleaner viewing of one of my all time favorite movies than I had ever had before. I was profoundly dissapointed. It is an hysterical movie, but don't look for an experience above what is delivered on the average bargin basement SLP recorded VHS tape here. If you've never seen it, go run and rent a copy from the local video store, and wait for a remastered release.
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