I watched this on DVD last night, shamefully because of what i had heard around the time of its cinema release. Well that taught me a lesson.
The only accountable reason i can arrive at for all the negative feedback i heard from critics and the public is that i feel they were expecting something a little more Holy Grail, because of the setting and the English accents and instead i felt this is more Blazing Saddles, very un-pc, whilst gently goosing (oo-er) its chosen genre.
It is immature and crude, but the laughs were consistent enough, its a comedy notion which would usually have a B grade budget, but has somehow been made with an A grade budget and for me that was part of its charm. Its like the slackers broke into the set of Lord of the Rings and mucked about all weekend and managed to film it.
Maybe i did the right thing in retrospect, sometimes its better to watch something after the dust has settled, just watch this cold and i'll bet you'd enjoy it. In years to come i think this film will have quite a loyal following, across a certain demographic, including me.