TIME BANDITS

Time Bandits isn’t just a fantastical adventure through time and space: Terry Gilliam fashions a fantastic, funny, visually formidable film that despite its episodic nature magically maintains pace.

In his first feature film not under the Monty Python banner – though several members of the troupe make small appearances in the movie – director Terry Gilliam delivers an exciting mix of imaginative production design, an old-school boy’s adventure and silly yet endearing humour.

The plot starts when a bunch of little people burst through regular kid Kevin’s bedroom closet and take him on a journey through random time windows, in search of loot throughout the ages. Encountering Napoleon, Robin Hood, Agamemnon and plenty of other classic real and fake history heroes, the adventures of Kevin and his bunch of time bandits eventually lead them on a confrontational path with Evil itself.

Often in episodic films like these one or more weaker segments drag down the film as a whole, but Time Bandits is the exception to the rule. The picture plays out as a classic adventure story in the vein of Robert Louis Stevenson and keeps you invested throughout, with not a single unengaging episode in sight.

The impressive production design, heavily influenced by Terry Gilliam's distinctive visual sensibilities, brought to life with wonderful practical effects, catches your attention the most at first, from fun Punch and Judy recreations to a giant with a galleon on his head, but it’s the performances of the eclectic cast that linger even longer. The pleasant mix of unknowns and big names – John Cleese as Robin Hood! Sean Connery as Agamemnon! – gives the film variety, humour and heart.

Terry Gilliam would go on to make better, more important and more imaginative films, but his first solo effort is as entertaining as any movie in his filmography. Over four decades after it was released, Time Bandits is an ode to adventure that will elicit big smiles from anyone between seven and seventy, and beyond.

release: 1981

director: Terry Gilliam

starring: Craig Warnock, Sean Connery, John Cleese, David Warner