Time Bandits (Criterion)
In Terry Gilliam's fantastic voyage through time and space, a young boy named Kevin (Craig Warnock) escapes his gadget-obsessed parents to join a band of time-traveling dwarves. Armed with a map stolen from the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson), they plunder treasure from Napoleon (Ian Holm) and Agamemnon (Sean Connery)--but the Evil Genius (David Warner) is watching their every move! Featuring a darkly playful script by Gilliam and costar Michael Palin, Time Bandits is all at once giddy fairy tale, revisionist history lesson, and satire in technology gone awry.
Member Reviews
Time Bandits (Criterion) - TheWiz
Although this is an early 80's flick, it felt more like something from the late 60's with poor visual effects, loose script and bad production. The title of this movie is very enticing and it describes the plot. A band of men, under the employment of the creator, think that they have stolen the creator's map that will permit them to travel through time. Their plan is simple enough - steal, travel, steal, travel in an endless loop and become filthy rich. Along the way, they acquire a new companion; a young lad who is accepted into the gang as they romp through time and adventures. Great idea for a movie but very poorly executed in every possible way. Maybe it was done with a credit card? Anyway, 2 stars is generous.A mess from the usual reliable Gilliam. - estefan
As per expected for a Terry Gilliam production, the set design is very impressive as are the other technical aspects of the film. However, Gilliam runs out of ideas too quickly to put where the story is just one big muddle. The best parts of Time Bandits occur early on in the proceedings with some inspired scenes involving Ian Holm as Napoleon, John Cleese as Robin Hood and Sean Connery as a Greek king with the actors improving the material in Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin's messy screenplay. Unfortunately, after an hour of inventiveness, it slows down as the filmmakers try hard to give the film some extra material, but it just becomes less interesting, despite the best efforts of David Warner as the main antagonist of the piece. Kevin is an annoying lead character with limited acting skills and is difficult to sympathise with and his band of robbing dwarfs don't have much personality, either. There are some solid ideas here and with a another re-write and editing job it could have worked, but in the end, it's just a mess. A noble mess, but a mess, nonetheless.Gilliam's version of a kid's movie. - cathyottawa
And I loved this as a kid, and couldn't wait to revisit it, and see if I would still enjoy it.
Watching it now, I'm kind of surprised this was deemed appropriate for a kids movie. It's violent. It's a bit creepy. There's no clear moral, and no real hero (though some would argue God himself was the hero here).
This is also full of typical Python style adult humour, and has an ending that is sure to go over most kid's heads (in fact, the entire premise of the movie would probably go over their heads).
What this does have, is adventure in bucket loads, and a likeable child star, who's all serious and polite the way only English kids seem capable of being. In fact, this film could well be considered Harry Potter's black sheep cousin. We have the same sort of special boy with a not so great home life, off to magical, crazy adventure, that is tinged with scary moments, and danger.
And looking back, I think it's the darkness of the film that adults always tried to shield us from, but that we knew existed, that drew me to the film, and made me like it even more as a kid.
Maybe I wasn't glued to the screen the same way I was as a child, but I can't help but still have some affection for this film. It's strange, but imaginative. A truly unique film.
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Time Bandits (Criterion) - TheWiz
Although this is an early 80's flick, it felt more like something from the late 60's with poor visual effects, loose script and bad production. The title of this movie is very enticing and it describes the plot. A band of men, under the employment of the creator, ...A mess from the usual reliable Gilliam. - estefan
As per expected for a Terry Gilliam production, the set design is very impressive as are the other technical aspects of the film. However, Gilliam runs out of ideas too quickly to put where the story is just one big muddle. The best parts of Time Bandits occur ...Gilliam's version of a kid's movie. - cathyottawa
And I loved this as a kid, and couldn't wait to revisit it, and see if I would still enjoy it.
Watching it now, I'm kind of surprised this was deemed appropriate for a kids movie. It's violent. It's a bit creepy. There's no clear moral, and no real ...