Review Time Bandits (1981)

Doctor Omega

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Time Bandits is a 1981 British fantasy film co-written, produced, and directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Peter Vaughn, and David Warner.

Gilliam has referred to Time Bandits as the first in his "Trilogy of Imagination", followed by Brazil (1985) and ending with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988).[3] All are about the "craziness of our awkwardly ordered society and the desire to escape it through whatever means possible."[3] All three films focus on these struggles and attempts to escape them through imagination: Time Bandits through the eyes of a child, Brazil through the eyes of a man in his thirties, and Munchausen through the eyes of an elderly man.


Cast[edit]
Production[edit]
Terry Gilliam wrote the screenplay with fellow Monty Python alumnus Michael Palin, who appears with Shelley Duvall in the small, recurring roles of Vincent and Pansy. The London-based independent company was backed in part by former Beatle George Harrison, who wrote and performed the closing credits song "Dream Away" especially for this film. He is credited, together with Denis O'Brien, as being one of the executive producers of the film.

In an interview on the UK Arrow Blu-ray release of Time Bandits Gilliam claimed that the lyrics to "Dream Away" are Harrison's notes to him concerning Gilliam's behaviour during the production of the film and, more specifically, the tension that arose between them due to Gilliam's reluctance to include any songs performed by Harrison in the film.

Reception

Time Bandits received critical acclaim and grossed over US$40 million on a budget of $5 million (£2.2 million).

As discussed in a DVD interview with Palin and Gilliam, the film came out in the fall season (after the blockbuster summer films, but before the hit Christmas season) and became extremely successful at the U.S. box office, grossing $42.4 million, and making the film Gilliam's breakthrough hit in the U.S.[5]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 91% rating based on 44 reviews, averaging 7.9/10; the consensus states, "Time Bandits is a remarkable time-travel fantasy from Terry Gilliam, who utilizes fantastic set design and homemade special effects to create a vivid, original universe."[6]

Characters

In his book Monty Python: The Case Against Irreverence, Scurrility, Profanity, Vilification, and Licentious Abuse, Robert Hewison describes the dwarfs as representing the Monty Python troupe. The nice one, Fidgit, is said to represent Palin; the self-appointed leader, Randall, Cleese; the acerbic one, Strutter, Eric Idle; the quiet one, Og, Graham Chapman; the noisy rebel, Wally, Terry Jones; and the nasty, filth-loving one, Vermin, Gilliam himself.



 
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