{"id":10527,"date":"2010-01-23T15:36:33","date_gmt":"2010-01-23T22:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=10527"},"modified":"2023-11-18T18:27:49","modified_gmt":"2023-11-19T01:27:49","slug":"time-bandits-1981","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=10527","title":{"rendered":"Time Bandits (1981)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;To be quite frank, Kevin, the fabric of the universe is far from perfect.&#8221;<\/strong> <\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Time-Bandits-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Time-Bandits-Poster-213x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"213\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-54491\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Time-Bandits-Poster-213x300.png 213w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Time-Bandits-Poster-91x128.png 91w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Time-Bandits-Poster-191x270.png 191w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Time-Bandits-Poster.png 617w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 213px) 100vw, 213px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA group of six greedy dwarves (David Rappaport, Kenny Baker, Jack Purvis, Mike Edmonds, Malcolm Dixon, and Tiny Ross) steal a map of time holes from their leader, the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson), and take a young boy (Craig Warnock) with them on their treasure-seeking time-travel adventures; meanwhile, Evil (David Warner) covets the map for his own nefarious purposes.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>David Warner Films<\/li>\n<li>Dwarfs and Little People<\/li>\n<li>Fantasy<\/li>\n<li>Ian Holm Films<\/li>\n<li>Ralph Richardson Films<\/li>\n<li>Sean Connery Films<\/li>\n<li>Shelley Duvall Films<\/li>\n<li>Thieves and Criminals<\/li>\n<li>Time Travel<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAs Peary notes, it&#8217;s &#8220;easy to see the influence of <em>The Thief of Bagdad<\/em>, <em>Alice in Wonderland<\/em>, and, especially, <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3361\"><em>The Wizard of Oz<\/em><\/a>&#8221; on this comedic adventure film, scripted by Terry Gilliam &#8220;with fellow <em>[Monty] Python<\/em> alumnus Michael Palin&#8221;. Yet <em>Time Bandits<\/em> is actually &#8220;totally opposite to them in theme&#8221;, given that (in Gilliam&#8217;s own words), &#8220;it is&#8230; a reaction against kids&#8217; films which are wonderful but have no guts because they present children with false reassurance that everything will turn out all right&#8230; You give your characters strength by having them experience some of the nastiness [of the world]. I wanted to get back to Grimm.&#8221; Peary accurately points out that despite being &#8220;extremely fanciful and ambitious&#8221; &#8212; many of the historical and\/or fantastical sets throughout the film are beautifully conceived &#8212; the movie ultimately &#8220;wears you out&#8221;, and could perhaps have benefited from an episode or two being cut. What he strangely neglects to note, however, is what a disappointing cop-out the film&#8217;s denouement is, with far too many narrative threads neatly tied up and simply explained away. Despite its flaws, however, Gilliam&#8217;s uniquely creative vision is in full force here, and fans of his work won&#8217;t want to miss this pivotal early entry in his oeuvre. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> The &#8220;true&#8221; ending of the film &#8212; after Warnock returns home from his adventures and confronts his parents &#8212; is utterly bizarre; it will surely leave you scratching your head in wonder. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The exciting opening sequence in Warnock&#8217;s bedroom<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/time-bandits-opening.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/time-bandits-opening.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10530\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Impressive set designs<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/time-bandits-sets.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/time-bandits-sets.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10531\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/time-bandits-sets2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/time-bandits-sets2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10532\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>John Cleese as (among other characters) Robin Hood<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/time-bandits-cleese.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/time-bandits-cleese.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10533\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>David Warner as Evil<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/time-bandits-warner.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/time-bandits-warner.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10534\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a cult favorite by a unique director. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1784#cult\">Cult Movie<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0081633\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/time-bandits-1981\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/movies.nytimes.com\/movie\/review?_r=1&#038;res=9800E1DA113BF935A35752C1A967948260\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/fantasy\/time-bandits-1981.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/time-bandits\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;To be quite frank, Kevin, the fabric of the universe is far from perfect.&#8221; Synopsis: A group of six greedy dwarves (David Rappaport, Kenny Baker, Jack Purvis, Mike Edmonds, Malcolm Dixon, and Tiny Ross) steal a map of time holes from their leader, the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson), and take a young boy (Craig Warnock) with them on their treasure-seeking time-travel adventures; meanwhile, Evil (David Warner) covets the map for his own nefarious purposes. Genres: David Warner Films Dwarfs and&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=10527\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10527"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93384,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10527\/revisions\/93384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}