Time Bandits (1981)

Directed by Terry Gilliam. Starring David Rappaport, Craig Warnock, David Warner, Malcolm Dixon, Jack Purvis, Kenny Baker, Mike Edmonds, Tiny Ross, Sean Connery, Ian Holm, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Shelley Duvall, Katherine Helmond, Peter Vaughan, Ralph Richardson, Sheila Fearn, David Daker. [PG]

Before a couple of metalheads named Bill and Ted went on an excellent adventure through space and time, a crew of amateur robbers embarked on a series of encounters with historical figures like Robin Hood (Cleese), Napoleon Bonaparte (Holm), and Agamemnon (Connery). Young British lad Warnock is inadvertently visited by six larcenous dwarves (though a portal in his closet, no less) who take him along on a wild ride where they use a map stole from the Supreme Being to leap through “holes” in time so they can make off with historical treasures. Rollicking, imaginative fun, though the second half does bog down by emphasizing big, noisy set pieces over cleverness and invention (and like many of Gilliam’s films, the slapdash ambitions exceed what can be effectively captured on camera with the available (and affordable) special effects). Rather messy, but a spot of jolly good fun for the whole family; watch out for that caustic twist on the “happy ending”! Richardson has a wonderfully droll walk-on as the Supreme Being. Gilliam co-wrote with fellow Monty Python alum Palin, who has a funny recurring bit as Duvall’s wimpy paramour (“I must have fruit!”). Executive produced by George Harrison; he also contributed a song (“Dream Away”).

76/100