In honor of its 40th anniversary, Sony Pictures and Park Circus announced Tuesday that 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' is returning to UK theaters on Oct. 14 for a one-night only, sing-a-long. There are also plans to bring the film back to U.S. theaters this fall and release a 40th anniversary Blu-Ray version. To mark the occasion, we take a look back at our Monty Python film favorites.

What a silly idea.

But the timing was right for the gang of British comedians (along with their token American, Terry Gilliam), who were looking to hit the big screen after four seasons of "Monty Python's Flying Circus," their groundbreaking British TV series.

"Monty Python and the Holy Grail," which premiered 40 years ago in April, was the result.

The movie, a spoof of the Arthurian legend, did not start auspiciously.

The budget was small -- about $400,000, half of it supplied by rock stars, including Genesis and Pink Floyd. On the first day of filming in Scotland -- the first shot, in fact -- the camera broke. The weather was bad. The hotel was dismal. Python member Graham Chapman was suffering from alcohol withdrawal.

It got better.

Photos: 'Monty Python': Where are they now? Photos: 'Monty Python': Where are they now? From left, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, John Cleese and Terry Gilliam (foreground) in 1975's "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Hide Caption 1 of 7 Photos: 'Monty Python': Where are they now? John Cleese, now 74, created and starred in the immortal TV show "Fawlty Towers" in the 1970s and co-founded Video Arts, a company that makes training films. Younger viewers may know him best for his roles in the "Shrek" films (as King Harold), a pair of James Bond films (as Q) and the Harry Potter series (as Nearly Headless Nick). He's due to appear in "Absolutely Anything," a film directed by Python cohort Terry Jones, which also features Robin Williams in his last role. Hide Caption 2 of 7 Photos: 'Monty Python': Where are they now? Terry Gilliam, 73, became a noted film director, best known for 1985's "Brazil," 1991's "The Fisher King" and "Twelve Monkeys" in 1995. J.K. Rowling wanted him to direct the first Harry Potter film, but the studio didn't want the famously independent Gilliam. Like the other Pythons, he appeared in "Monty Python Live (mostly)" last year, and has several other projects in the works. Hide Caption 3 of 7 Photos: 'Monty Python': Where are they now? Michael Palin, 71, has probably spent as much time traveling in the past 25 years as he has acting. Among his projects: "Pole to Pole," "Full Circle" and "Michael Palin's New Europe." He was made a BAFTA fellow in 2013 and joined the gang for the 2014 reunion shows. Hide Caption 4 of 7 Photos: 'Monty Python': Where are they now? Terry Jones, 72, has created TV shows about the Middle Ages, an era on which he's an expert. (He's written two books about Geoffrey Chaucer.) He's also written several children's books and was a regular contributor to UK newspapers during the Iraq War, which he opposed . With songwriter Jim Steinman, he's been working on a rock version of "The Nutcracker," "NUTZ," and his film "Absolutely Anything" is due out this year. Hide Caption 5 of 7 Photos: 'Monty Python': Where are they now? Eric Idle, 71, has probably done the most to maintain the Python tradition. He engaged in "The Greedy Bastard Tour" in 2003, which included performances of Python material, and turned "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" into "Spamalot," which won the Tony for best musical in 2005. He also helped create the Rutles, perhaps the sharpest Beatles parody. And he sang his song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" at the 2012 Olympics closing ceremony. Hide Caption 6 of 7 Photos: 'Monty Python': Where are they now? Graham Chapman died in 1989. Before then, he performed material at several colleges and appeared in an Iron Maiden video. Since his death, at least one of his plays, "O Happy Day," has been performed. The Pythons haven't forgotten their colleague: They did a wonderfully uncomfortable routine with Chapman's "ashes" at the Aspen Comedy Festival in 1998, and in 2012, all the Pythons except Idle lent their voices to a film based on Chapman's memoirs. He missed last year's Python reunion -- though not in spirit. Hide Caption 7 of 7

On the day of its first American screening in New York, a thousand people were in line by 8 a.m. Thanks to the popularity of "Python" on American TV, the movie was a box-office hit, making $5 million -- more than 10 times its budget.

More importantly, it soon became a comedy classic. The dialogue alone has been widely quoted, with such lines as "It's just a flesh wound" and "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries" referenced on shows such as "The Simpsons," "Game of Thrones" and "The Blacklist." Python member Eric Idle turned the film into the Tony-winning Broadway play "Spamalot."

The troupe ended up making three movies -- well, four, if you count "And Now for Something Completely Different," five if you include "Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl," five-and-a-half if you allow "The Rutles," six if you ... well, three. We'll say three.

Is there a best one? Where should you start?

Let's break them down:

"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975)

From its dramatic opening credits featuring fake-Swedish subtitles to the adventures of Sir Launcelot ("the boldest and most expensive of the knights"), weighted-bird computations and sudden animator heart attacks, "Holy Grail" is probably the loosest and most Python-esque of the Python oeuvre.

As a movie with a plot and character and all that movie nonsense, it falls short -- but as a repository for some of Python's best gags, it remains perhaps the best (and certainly most quotable) of the bunch. Besides, it features the word "shrubbery."

" 'Grail' is a bit like 'A Hard Day's Night,' " Idle observed in the Pythons' autobiography. "It's got a joie de vivre that's very infectious, it's very hard not to like."

Pros: The dialogue. The Black Knight. The Knights Who Say "Ni."

Cons: It's sometimes sloppy. And it doesn't really have an ending.

Verdict: Better than a cheese shop full of ex-parrots.

"Monty Python's Life of Brian" (1979)

Probably Python's most consistent movie, "Life of Brian" is the story of a guy born down the road from Jesus who finds himself hailed as a messiah and ends up crucified.

It was a satire on organized religion, first-century politics and zealotry -- one of the best bits is the ongoing argument between "the People's Front of Judea" and "the Judean People's Front" -- but try telling that to the protesters. The film was picketed in cities across the United States, deplored by some religious leaders and banned in Ireland and Norway. (Sweden promoted it with the line, "The film so funny that it was banned in Norway.")

It did have one huge supporter: ex-Beatle George Harrison, who mortgaged his estate to help fund the movie when a financier pulled out. "He paid for it because he wanted to see it," Idle recalled. "The most anybody's ever paid for a cinema ticket in history."

Pros: Graham Chapman's performance as Brian. "What have the Romans ever done for us?" "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."

Cons: The adventurous but ultimately pointless animated-alien scene. Michael Palin's lisping Pilate (though, to be fair, it's so childishly broad you can't help but laugh).

Verdict: Funnier than the Spanish Inquisition.

"Monty Python's Meaning of Life" (1983)

"Meaning of Life," constructed as a series of sketches, is the most uneven of the three narrative Python films.

After the stunning opening sequence, Gilliam's "The Crimson Permanent Assurance" -- about the revenge of some pirate-like accountants -- the film struggles to find its footing.

Even the Pythons thought so. "The rhythms weren't right," said Gilliam. "It needed a whole other rewrite," said Idle.

Nevertheless, it has its moments: the "Every Sperm Is Sacred" sequence, about religion, sex and contraception; the organ donor who's surprised by a demand for his liver; and -- of course -- the infamous Mr. Creosote, the absurdly fat man who gorges on a monstrous meal at a posh restaurant, regurgitates it at length, and is then encouraged to have a "wafer-thin" after-dinner mint -- with disastrous results.

It also has the sweetest of all Python songs: Idle's "The Galaxy Song," which is even more uplifting than "Brian's" "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." Not a bad conclusion, given what happened to Mr. Creosote.

Pros: "Permanent Assurance." Mr. Creosote. "The Galaxy Song."

Cons: The fish. The schoolmaster's sex lesson. The fish.

Verdict: More enjoyable than watching the Upper-Class Twit of the Year competition.