Time Bandits

This article is about the 1981 motion picture. For the Dutch band from the 1980s, see Time Bandits (band).

Time Bandits
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Terry Gilliam
Written by	Terry Gilliam Michael Palin
Produced by	Terry Gilliam
Starring	John Cleese Sean Connery Shelley Duvall Ralph Richardson Katherine Helmond Ian Holm Michael Palin David Warner
Cinematography	Peter Biziou
Edited by	Julian Doyle
Music by	Mike Moran Songs by George Harrison
Production companies	HandMade Films Janus Films
Distributed by	Avco Embassy Pictures
Release date	6 November 1981 (1981-11-06)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$5 million
Box office	$42,365,581

Time Bandits is a 1981 British fantasy film produced and directed by Terry Gilliam. The film stars Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, David Warner, and Craig Warnock.

The film is one of the most famous of more than 30 theatrical features produced by HandMade Films.

Plot

Eleven-year-old Kevin has a vivid imagination and is fascinated by history, particularly of Ancient Greece; his parents ignore his activities, having become more obsessed with buying the latest household gadgets to keep up with their neighbours. One night, as Kevin is sleeping, an armoured knight on a horse bursts forth from his wardrobe. Kevin is scared and hides as the knight rides off into a forest setting where once his bedroom wall was; when Kevin looks back out, the room is back to normal, and he finds one of his photos on the wall similar to the forest he saw. He prepares a satchel with supplies and Polaroid camera for the next night. He is surprised when six dwarfs spill out of the wardrobe. Kevin quickly learns the group has stolen a large, worn map, and are looking for an exit in Kevin's room before they are discovered. They find that Kevin's bedroom wall can be pushed revealing a long hallway. Kevin is hesitant to join until the visage of an evil-looking head - the Supreme Being - appears behind them, demanding the return of the map. Kevin and the dwarves fall into an empty void at the end of the hallway.

They land in Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. As they recover, Kevin learns that Randall is the lead dwarf, along with Fidgit, Strutter, Og, Wally, and Vermin. They were once employed by the Supreme Being to repair holes in the spacetime fabric, but instead realized the potential to use the map to steal valuable riches. With the map and Kevin's help, they visit several locations in spacetime, and meet figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Robin Hood; Kevin uses his camera to document their visits. They are unaware that their activities are being monitored by Evil, a malevolent sorcerer, who is able to manipulate reality and is attempting to acquire the map himself.

Through Evil's actions, Kevin becomes separated from the group and ends up in Mycenaean Greece, and meets King Agamemnon; after Kevin inadvertently helps Agamemnon kill a minotaur, the king treats him as his own son, something that Kevin would be content with. Randall and the others soon locate Kevin and abduct him, much to his resentment. They arrive on the ill-fated RMS Titanic; after it sinks, they are forced to tread water while they argue amongst each other. Evil manipulates the group and transports them to his realm, the Time of Legends. The dwarfs locate the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness, and are led to believe that "The Most Fabulous Object in the World" awaits them, luring them into Evil's trap. Evil takes the map and locks the group into a cage over an apparent bottomless pit. While looking through the Polaroids he took, Kevin finds one that includes the map, and the group realises there are numerous holes in the Fortress they can use to recruit help to fight Evil. They make quick work of escaping from the cage and set their plan into motion.

Though they far outnumber Evil, Evil's powers quickly defeat all of the allied forces. As Kevin and the dwarves cower, Evil prepares to unleash his ultimate power. Suddenly, he is turned into stone and explodes; from the smoke, an elderly, well-dressed figure emerges, revealed as the true form of the Supreme Being. He orders the dwarfs to collect all the pieces of concentrated evil warning that they can be deadly if not contained, recovers the map, and allows the dwarves to rejoin him in his creation duties. The Supreme Being disappears with the dwarfs, leaving Kevin stranded behind as one missed piece of concentrated Evil begins to emit smoke.

Kevin passes out but awakes, back in his bedroom, his room filled with smoke. Firefighters break down the door and rescue him as they put out a fire in his house. One of the firemen finds that his parents' new microwave caused the fire. As Kevin recovers, he finds one of the firemen resembles Agamemnon, and discovers that he still has the photos from his adventure. As his parents look at a strange piece of rock in the microwave, Kevin tries to warn them off that it is a piece of concentrated evil and they should not touch it; nevertheless, both do, and suddenly explode and disappear, leaving Kevin wondering where they have gone off to.

Cast

• John Cleese as Robin Hood
• Sean Connery as King Agamemnon/Fireman
• Shelley Duvall as Pansy
• Katherine Helmond as Mrs. Ogre
• Ian Holm as Napoleon
• Michael Palin as Vincent
• Ralph Richardson as Supreme Being
• Peter Vaughan as Winston the Ogre
• David Warner as Evil
• David Rappaport as Randall
• Kenny Baker as Fidgit
• Malcolm Dixon as Strutter
• Mike Edmonds as Og
• Jack Purvis as Wally
• Tiny Ross as Vermin
• Craig Warnock as Kevin
• David Daker as Kevin's father
• Sheila Fearn as Kevin's mother
• Jim Broadbent as Compere
• Terence Bayler as Lucien
• Preston Lockwood as Neguy
• Derrick O'Connor as Redgrave
• Neil McCarthy as Marion
• Derek Deadman as Robert
• Jerold Wells as Benson
• Ian Muir as the Giant
• Tony Jay (voice) as the Supreme Being

Production

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.

Reception

Time Bandits was well-received and grossed over US$40 million on 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, making $42.4 million. Critical reception since it came out in theatres has been positive overall, and it still enjoys a good reputation on DVD. The film has received a 95% rating based on percentage of critics reviews which were positive at the review aggregating website Rotten Tomatoes.

Characters

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

External links

• Time Bandits at IMDb
• Time Bandits at AllMovie
• Time Bandits at Box Office Mojo
• Time Bandits at Rotten Tomatoes
• Time Bandits at the BFI's Screenonline
• Criterion Collection essay by Bruce Eder
• Time Bandits II Script Review