Time Bandits

"If I were creating the world I wouldn't mess about with butterflies and daffodils. I would have started with lasers, eight o'clock, Day One!"

Strange things have been happening to Kevin (Warnock). After going to bed one evening, a knight on a horse rode burst from his closet and rode across his room. The following evening, he voluntarily goes to bed early, armed with a flashlight and his trusty camera. Shortly after going to bed, his closet is opened by six small men with a strange map. The map shows all of the holes in time, and they convince Kevin to join the adventure.

The men are planning to become international criminals, by using the map to travel through time and steal from different time periods, with the ability to disappear after the heist. They are Randall (Rappaport) the leader, Fidgit (Baker), Strutter (Dixon), Og (Edmonds), Wally (Purvis), and Vermin (Ross) who eats everything. While they travel through time and have adventures, they are watched by Evil (Warner) who wants the map for his own purposes. He is disappointed with creation,

"God isn't interested in technology. He cares nothing for the microchip or the silicon revolution. Look how he spends his time, forty-three species of parrots! Nipples for men!"
"Slugs."
"Slugs! HE created slugs! They can't hear. They can't speak. They can't operate machinery. Are we not in the hands of a lunatic?"

and is imprisoned in the dark fortress. He wants the map to overthrow the Supreme Being (Richardson), who imprisoned Evil and owns the map.


Probably my favorite Terry Gilliam film. This film inspired me to watch other Gilliam films... The sets are fascinating (the dark fortress set is amazing) and the costumes are great. While the whole cast is excellent, David Warner as Evil steals the show. He has some of the best lines (like the one below the picture) and gets to zap his lackeys (I'm not giving away anything else that is cool about this character). The historical figures are also memorable: Ian Holm is the height obsessed Napoleon, " Little things hitting each other. THAT'S WHAT I LIKE!" John Cleese is Robin Hood, "Oh you must meet them. I'm sure you'll like them. Of course they haven't got two pennies to rub together but that's because they're poor" and his slapstick merry men. And Sean Connery is the fatherly warrior King Agamemnon. Michael Palin pops up several times as the pathetic Vincent looking for love with the clueless Pansy (Shelley Duvall). The bandits are an interesting group: funny and loveable, quite able to carry the film.

It is an interesting concept, the type of film only Terry Gilliam could pull off. There are some places where the plot drags a bit (the giant is cool, but not necessary), but overall you can't tear your eyes away from the screen. It is better the second or third time because you catch so many new things (some things are obvious, but he did some cool subtle things as well). Love it!

Time Bandits (1981) 116 minutes
Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Craig Warnock as Kevin
David Rappaport as Randall
Kenny Baker as Fidgit
Malcom Dixon as Strutter
Mike Edmonds as Og
Jack Purvis as Wally
Tiny Ross as Vermin
David Warner as Evil
Sean Connery as King Agamemnon
Ian Holm as Napoleon
John Cleese as Robin Hood
Michael Palin as Vincent
Shelley Duvall as Pansy
Ralph Richardson as the Supreme Being