Much like a pampered Bordeaux, this film just gets better with age. Perhaps its the latent cinematographer in me, but I always found the way it was shot to be fascinating (that low-light, grainy murkiness lending Dark Age flavor to every scene), and the opening score was incredible at establishing the most notorious mood swing (daunting dread to silly symphony) ever recorded. Sure, it helps to be into absurd sight gags to truly appreciate GRAIL; luckily, one of the best comedy troupes ever formed was able to pull off SO MANY of them in one setting (and on a frayed shoestring of a budget). Start with the sorely-missed Graham Chapman's King Arthur (accompanied by the coconut-clomping Patsy of animator Terry Gilliam), the ornithological lessons at the first castle, the political persuasions of the mud-gathering peasants ("ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system!"), the crazed bravery of the Black Knight, the witch-burning mob of dullards, the gorilla's hand that turns book pages, the musical fun of Camelot ("it's only a model"), the abrasive French castle guards, Galahad's encounter with Zoot and her "eight-score of blondes and brunettes, ages 16 through 19-and-a-half" at Castle Anthrax, Lancelot's wedding-day rescue of the forlorn songsmith Herbert, Robin's minstrels and their comestible fate in the wilderness ("and there was much rejoicing.....YAAAAY!"), the Knights Who Say "Nee" and their landscaping assignments that included Roger the Shrubber, the thick-accented Tim the Enchanter and the foul-tempered rodent that defended the Cave of Cair Bannog, Brother Maynard and the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, the Bridge of Death overlooking the Gorge of Eternal Peril, and the arrests made at the ending: not a single misfire among the lot of 'em! Drooling fan or not, you HAVE to credit something with enough staying power to inspire a Broadway musical 30 years after its release. Perhaps the summit of British contributions to this artform.