Subject: Retrospective: Time Bandits (1981)

From: Kevin Patterson <[email-masked]>
Date: 2 Nov 1997 19:29:40 GMT

Film review by Kevin Patterson

Time Bandits  * * *
PG, 1981
Directed by Terry Gilliam. Written by Gilliam and Michael Palin.
Starring Craig Warnock, Sean Connery.

Terry Gilliam's "Time Bandits" was promoted as a children's movie when it was
released, and it's easy to see from a marketing standpoint why this was done.
The main character (Craig Warnock) is a child, and the story revolves around
his fantastic adventures with a group of six mischievous "time bandits" -
former servants of the Supreme Being who have used their knowledge of space
and time to travel to various periods of history and steal valuable artifacts.
Along the way they encounter Robin Hood (John Cleese), Agamemnon (Sean
Connery), and other famous mythical-historical figures. Gilliam, who got off
the ground career-wise as the animator for Monty Python, puts his visual
sensibilities to good use, creating magnificent alternate worlds that are both
epic and cartoonish at once.

What elevates Gilliam's many cinematic flights of fancy above simple adventure
stories, however, is his insight into the mindset and implications of fantasy,
and "Time Bandits" is no exception. We don't just see the fun, care-free
aspect of these childhood fantasies, but the dark side as well. Some of the
young boy's heroes, for example, are not all they are cracked up to be. Robin
Hood's band of merry men seem to be a rather cynical and mean-spirited bunch,
as they amuse themselves by smacking the poor citizens around after they give
them their handouts. When we meet Agamemnon, he is in the middle of a brutal
fight to the death and seems genuinely regretful at having to cut down his
enemy. And towards the end, when the six bandits are trying to summon up a
portal to another dimension, one of them proclaims, "You just have to
believe!" This is straight out of any kids' adventure movie; yet the bandit's
intention is to transport himself and his companions to a realm ruled by greed
and evil.

"Time Bandits" succeeds at both romanticizing and pointing out the hazards of
childhood fantasies, then, but it ultimately drags on a little too long. The
motley crew's various adventures are completely disconnected from each other,
and not until the end, when they enter the realm of evil and it becomes
Warnock's responsibility to fight for the cause of good, are any of them
possessed of a real sense of urgency. It might also have helped if Gilliam had
been a little clearer about his internal logic, because "Time Bandits" is
thoroughly confusing at times, such as when the young boy's parents disappear
for no definite reason.

All in all, "Time Bandits" is an enjoyable and intelligent film, and a prelude
to later pieces such as "Brazil" and "The Fisher King" that would distinguish
Gilliam as one of the most talented fantasy directors working in modern cinema.

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