Why News of ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s 4K Release Is Confusing Fans
pricey screening tour, we’re also getting a brand new physical release of the movie from Sony.
This time, the movie is being issued in 4K for the very first time, which will either look great, or make it very apparent that the film was made on a shoestring budget and had to keep using the same castle over and over again.
While Python fans and physical media enthusiasts are clearly excited about this news, one detail in the press release is a little confusing. The disc will contain the “feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision,” as well as a “Near-Theatrical Version of the Film (in HD resolution)” which will allow viewers to “experience a slightly shorter version of the film, as seen on VHS!”
On Blu-Ray.com, s wondered what exactly this is referring to. The theatrical version of the film does differ from many home video releases, but the original is actually shorter. The recent home video cut is around 20 seconds longer. That’s because some subsequent releases contain a scene that was left out of the original theatrical release, in which Carol Cleveland’s character Zoot Dingo breaks the fourth wall and asks the audience whether or not a scene featuring Michael Palin’s Sir Galahd should have been cut out. Several characters from the movie — including God — then implore her to “get on with it!”
Since the scene wasn’t in some VHS releases, perhaps Sony is considering the version with the “Get on with it” scene to be the theatrical cut?
As Terry Jones explained in The Pythons’ Autobiography by the Pythons, they screened The Holy Grail at a film festival in Los Angeles, which was the first time they had shown it to a “paying audience.” Following a “disastrous” screening for investors, Jones became “worried” about this particular scene, and he and co-director Terry Gilliam called the film’s U.K. editor from the airport and “told them to cut it.” But when they got to L.A., the scene “got one of the best laughs in the whole film.” Jones argued that, in retrospect, “the film is much better with it.” So the scene is part of the “theatrical” cut — albeit one very specific theater.
It’s also possible that the “near-theatrical” version on the 4K release will be some kind of joke. The Pythons have been known to mess around with home video releases in the past. One early DVD of The Holy Grail included an elaborate fake-out in which the disc started playing an old movie called Dentist on the Job instead of the film everyone was expecting.
Hopefully they didn’t produce any other fake movie scenes this time, because that 4K is already going to be expensive enough as it is.
