# Holy Grail vs. Life of Brian **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 1, 2006, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524 "2006-02-01T17:33:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/1 "2006-02-01T17:33:33Z")
I have been reading [The Pytons: Aurobiography](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312311451/sr=1-1/qid=1138814407/ref=sr_1_1/103-6523903-8215844?%5Fencoding=UTF8) and their is an interesting comment by John Cleese (I believe). He says the _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ is more popular in the US and _The Life of Brian_ is more popular in the UK. I am not so much concerned about the UK/US dichotomy as opposed to Dopers opinions in general. Personally, while I think that HG has the funnier bits, I think the LOB is the overall better movie. LOB is much more a properly structured story, it actually is a commentary on something important - organized religon, and it is very funny. HG seems like a loosely connected bunch of sketches. HG seems to be more quotable, but there really isn’t much of a story, which I think is hgihlighted in the way it ends. LOB has a protagonist who goes through the standard character arc, which creates a more staisfying overall movie. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/2 "2006-02-01T17:42:39Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > Personally, while I think that HG has the funnier bits, I think the LOB is the overall better movie. LOB is much more a properly structured story, it actually is a commentary on something important - organized religon, and it is very funny. HG seems like a loosely connected bunch of sketches. HG seems to be more quotable, but there really isn’t much of a story, which I think is hgihlighted in the way it ends. That’s pretty much exactly how I feel. I like both films, but _Grail_ is funny in a zany, wacky, anarchic way, and as such is closer to the TV series. But _Brian_ is much more satisfying as a movie (although it is still a bit episodic), and is the one I’m inclined to watch more often. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/3 "2006-02-01T17:49:18Z")
Yep. That pretty much sums it up. I can quote HG word for word, but I laugh the hardest at LoB. They definately matured? as film-makers. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/4 "2006-02-01T17:50:34Z")
LoB is more cohesive and consistant. HG loses a lot of steam by the end. I much prefer LoB. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/5 "2006-02-01T17:52:02Z")
I’m with the OP. _Grail_ is funny, but _LOB_ is funny and has real characters, a solid plot, and something interesting to say. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/6 "2006-02-01T17:58:21Z")
I agree with all of that. _Holy Grail_ is silly, and funny, and has some good songs in it, and a lot of quotable bits. _Life of Brian_ has most of that, plus a more coherent plot, and it’s genuinely good satire, and not just on organized religion The scene with John Cleese as the head of the People’s Front of Judea (or is it the Judean People’s Front?) complaining about the Romans, except for all the good stuff they contributed, is one of my favorites. Also Graham Chapman, who was a pretty good actor, is mostly wasted in _Grail_. And anything that reveals uptight fundies’ tendency for baseless hysteria is okay with me. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/7 "2006-02-01T18:01:25Z")
> [@h.sapiens](#): > > Also Graham Chapman, who was a pretty good actor, is mostly wasted in _Grail_. In more than one sense of the word! ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/8 "2006-02-01T18:07:30Z")
Right then, I agree with everyone thus far. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/9 "2006-02-01T18:17:49Z")
Yeah, splunge for me, too! ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/10 "2006-02-01T18:19:16Z")
I’m going to have to agree with everybody else, as well. _Grail_ is hilarious, quotable, and everything else, but I’m usually ready to shut it off shortly after Dennis gets oppressed. _Life of Brian_ saved the best song for the end, so I have to wait. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/11 "2006-02-01T19:01:46Z")
I think I have to recuse myself from judging. Brian (and so is my wife) ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/12 "2006-02-01T19:11:50Z")
HG is far more superior and effective for me as a comedic movie. LoB is objectively effective satire, but often simply fails to be funny and feels like a Saturday Night Live sketch that has gone on too long. There is an odd difference in comedic timing or editing in LoB when compared to HG of Meaning of Life that causes many of the sketches to fall flat. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/13 "2006-02-01T19:14:56Z")
**Centurion:** Understand? Now, write it out a hundred times. **Brian:** Yes sir. Thank you, sir. Hail Caesar, sir. **Centurion:** Hail Caesar ! And if it’s not done by sunrise, I’ll cut your balls off. ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/14 "2006-02-01T19:17:35Z")
Ok aside from being funnier , less sketchy and more coherant what has Life of Brian really done for us? By the way as for the majority of teh opinions I too say Splunge. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/15 "2006-02-01T19:20:02Z")
I’ll agree with the op’s assesment. LOB was a better movie overall. That being said, I still have to cast my vote for HG in this poll. Even though it’s fractured, I find HG just has more flat-out hilarity than LOB. On a side note, I just saw Spamalot in December (the return of Hank Azaria) and I thought it was fantastic. The additions really added to the classic tale. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/16 "2006-02-01T19:21:39Z")
Now, look you don’t all have to say “splunge”. You are all individuals! You are all different! ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/17 "2006-02-01T19:30:03Z")
I agree that Life Of Brian is the more accomplished work. Hey, I even appeared in a stage adaptation of it in college. But if I feel like some Python yuks for more than half an hour, I go with Holy Grail. That’s the one I own on DVD. Brian is exceptionally well-made, but its self-awareness of the importance of the issues it addresses are plain. Not prominent, mind you, or the comedy would be lost entirely, as it reportedly was in “Wholly Moses”, another religious spoof of the period. That’s certainly not the case with Brian. Hilarity (as well as penis) ensues throughout. I’m just saying it’s there to see. And the production values between the two Python films are not even comparable. Grail is more insane and piecemeal (although not as much as their earlier script for it), and I find is more fun to watch more often. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/18 "2006-02-01T19:30:50Z")
I’m not. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/19 "2006-02-01T20:27:32Z")
It’s impossible for me to choose. I think Grail has higher heights, but also lower lows. The ending is so incredibly annoying… agh. But the subtitle humor it kicks off with - lovely. On the other hand, I don’t care for the credits sequence in Brian, but it has an incredible ending. I’m going to have to go with ‘The Meaning of Life’. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/20 "2006-02-01T20:46:45Z")
I own both, heck I own the Entire series too, so I am deranged. Neeeeee! Oh, the question at hand. I think Holy Grail is much funnier and has more catch phrases and made a wonderful play too. LoB was good and a more normal movie, but HG is one of my top 10 comedies. LoB is the next tier down. Jim [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524.md?page=2)