La bestia del reino

I was flicking through the stations looking for my favourite type of film - low budget comedies and b movies. Lucky me to find Jabberwocky!

I missed the beginning but soon realised I had strayed upon a gem of a film. Michael Palin in a ridiculous outfit in a filthy wretched medieval city! The scenery is perfect and on one level is quite realistic. Starving people, outside 'toilets' and general squalor - but this is a comedy and the characters are hilarious!!!

I noticed Warren Mitchel (Alf Garnet) and Bernard Bresslaw (from the Carry On's) in there too making for a very funny film

There are many memorable scenes and the humour is in a monty python style with plenty of slapstick and toilet humour

The low budget wasn't really noticable, and I thought overall had a more produced feel than the holy grail which really was low budget film!

I would definately recommend this film to anyone who likes crazy off beat comedies

Its not exactly a kids film because its gory in places and the princess at one point seems to lose her clothes, but older kids will probably love it... a bit like how the Goonies was almost too scary to be a kids film

I give it 5 turnips out of 5

There's been lots said about this film in relation to Python on IMDb already, so I won't bother making comparisons. Jabberwocky is a messy, but extremely entertaining film, full of sly satire and crass scatological slapstick. It's an extremely grotty movie - everything is squalid and grotesque. Even the King's palace is falling to bits, and all the characters are either stupid, violent, or both. The film spends a long time farting about, exploring various daft notions and barely-related events, before getting down to its titular business in the last 20 minutes or so. But there are some sublime jokes in there and it's an interesting Gilliam "period piece". You can see the twinkle that later grew into the likes of Time Bandits, Brazil, Baron Munchausen etc.

Watch out for Terry Jones doing a ludicrous cameo as a poacher, pulling some of the most ridiculous faces ever seen on screen.

This often neglected first solo directing effort of Gilliam's is certainly much better than its maligned reputation would have you believe. While it is though sledding the first time through, it gains appreciably with repeated viewings, but does demand you pay attention. Amongst all the excrement, garbage and filth, Gilliam and his co-writer actually have a little something to say about big business, but mainly JABBERWOCKY is very, very funny. Strong stomachs are required, however.

Terry Gilliam's fantasy satire (looks like a spoof, but it's a satire) is halfway between "Holy Grail" and "Time Bandits", and about half as good (which ain't bad). The wit is sardonic, and the story pretty well reverses every rule of the fantasy genre -- a dimwitted "champion", out to secure the hand of his 300+ lb. "princess" by killing the evil Jabberwocky that is making life tough for the local peasantry (but very pleasant for the merchants).

Great photography, decent production values. The direction is very good, and although the script's wit is shining, there are not enough really funny jokes (mostly it's stuff you'd have to think about to laugh at). I particularly like, though, how a lot of the good jokes come out of how the value of something is relative -- Palin carrying around a rotten potato discarded by "Griselda", which he prizes for sentiment, but which the townspeople want for food.

Superior medieval satire shows Gilliam was on the right track towards his masterpieces.

A Python spin-off, owing much to the earlier 'Monty Python and The Holy Grail', Jabberwocky is a fine film in its own right, featuring a tremendous cast of British stalwarts, a regrettably high percentage of whom have since died. Harry H Corbett, John Le Mesurier, Max Wall, Bernard Bresslaw and Brian Glover all feature and none is still with us.

Disinherited by his father and therefore unable to win the hand of the appalling Griselda Fishfinger, who snacks on raw potatoes, gormless but optimistic Dennis Cooper (Michael Palin) sets off for the city to make his fortune. The city is somewhat under siege by the vicious Jabberwock(y), a beast influenced by Lewis Carrol's doggerel poem of the same name. Dennis, in the time-honoured tradition, is ultimately required to rid the city of the threat and accordingly claim half of King Bruno the Questionable's creaking kingdom and the hand in marriage of his beautiful daughter, notwithstanding the dubious but apparently lingering attractions of 'Greasy' Griselda.

The riotous succession of eccentric characters encountered along the way is what it's all about, of course, with a memorable string of ridiculous situations and occurrences and liberal spattering of mud and gore to be undergone. This film rewards repeated viewing, when previously unappreciated subtleties emerge. The Fishfinger family's changing attitude to Dennis, according to his perceived fortunes, Dennis narrowly escaping death or serious injury on a regular basis, Gordon Kaye appearing briefly, dressed inexplicably as a nun, the kingdom by degrees collapsing, there's a beggar who attracts charity by means of auto-amputation, street-racing merchants, the King displaying only intermittent episodes of lucidity, characters who step out of line are suddenly and brutally eliminated - it's all great fun.

Jabberwocky is less well known than the pure Python films, but none the worse for that.