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Time Bandits (1981)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
6 November 1981 (USA)
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Tagline:
All the dreams you've ever had and not just the good ones more
Plot:
A young boy accidently joins a band of dwarves as they jump from time-period to time-period looking for treasure to steal. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
1 win
&
8 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(47 articles)
Palin Turned Down Move To Hollywood
(From WENN. 27 November 2009, 12:21 AM, PST)
'Big Bang Theory': Everybody's fighting!
(From EW.com - PopWatch. 10 November 2009, 12:45 AM, PST)
(From WENN. 27 November 2009, 12:21 AM, PST)
'Big Bang Theory': Everybody's fighting!
(From EW.com - PopWatch. 10 November 2009, 12:45 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Masterful fantasy, in the purest form
more (135 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | John Cleese | ... | Robin Hood |
 | Sean Connery | ... | King Agamemnon / Fireman |
 | Shelley Duvall | ... | Dame Pansy / Pansy |
 | Katherine Helmond | ... | Mrs. Ogre |
 | Ian Holm | ... | Napoleon |
 | Michael Palin | ... | Vincent |
| Ralph Richardson | ... | Supreme Being |
| Peter Vaughan | ... | Winston the Ogre |
| David Warner | ... | Evil Genius |
| David Rappaport | ... | Randall |
| Kenny Baker | ... | Fidgit |
| Malcolm Dixon | ... | Strutter |
| Mike Edmonds | ... | Og |
| Jack Purvis | ... | Wally |
| Tiny Ross | ... | Vermin |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
116 min | USA:110 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Iceland:12 |
Australia:PG |
Canada:PG |
Finland:K-11 (VET id: 90845) |
France:U |
Sweden:15 |
UK:PG |
USA:PG |
West Germany:6 |
Singapore:PG
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Director Trademark: [Terry Gilliam] [cages]This film uses cages identical to the cage Jill is imprisoned in, in Giliam's film Brazil (1985).
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Goofs:
Factual errors: The life preserver on the ship reads "SS Titanic." The Titanic's insignia was RMS Titanic, for "Royal Mail Steamer".
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Quotes:
[first lines]
Announcer: Yes, folks... Moderna Designs present the latest in kitchen luxury. The Moderna Wonder Major All Automatic Convenience Center-ette gives you all the time in the world to do the things you really want to do... An infrared freezer-oven complex that can make you a meal from packet to plate in 15 1/2 seconds.
Kevin's Mother: Morrisons have got one that can do that in eight seconds.
Kevin's Father: Oh?
Kevin's Mother: Block of ice to Beef Bourguignon in eight seconds. Lucky things.
Kevin: Dad, did you know that the ancient Greek warriors had to learn 44 different ways of unarmed combat?
[...]
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Announcer: Yes, folks... Moderna Designs present the latest in kitchen luxury. The Moderna Wonder Major All Automatic Convenience Center-ette gives you all the time in the world to do the things you really want to do... An infrared freezer-oven complex that can make you a meal from packet to plate in 15 1/2 seconds.
Kevin's Mother: Morrisons have got one that can do that in eight seconds.
Kevin's Father: Oh?
Kevin's Mother: Block of ice to Beef Bourguignon in eight seconds. Lucky things.
Kevin: Dad, did you know that the ancient Greek warriors had to learn 44 different ways of unarmed combat?
[...]
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)
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Soundtrack:
Dream Away
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (135 total)
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Finding Terry Gilliam's "Time Bandits" in the bargain bin at the local movie store was too good a deal for me to pass up, and I'm so glad I didn't! This movie is probably one of the greatest modern-day fantasies I've seen, due primarily to the amazing vision of Gilliam. I was disappointed with it on my first viewing years ago, expecting a rehash of Monty Python material, but yesterday watching it I just couldn't stop grinning. This movie knows its sources, and sends them up right.
For starters, I love how Gilliam handled the boy 'hero' in "Bandits". He's not anyone spectacular, aside from an active imagination (over and above his banal parents), and he really doesn't contribute much to the story-it simply passes him by. Most of the other characters don't like him that much even. (the "stinking Kevin" line just makes me howl!) He's also not that cute, which is a rarity with child actors and which sinks most films with them. Plus, the danger of the story doesn't stop at him, as shown by the rather sobering finale. No 'It's all a dream' type cop-out here. Having studied the form of the fantasy as explained by Tolkien myself, Gilliam obviously understands how it works.
Of course, because it works, "Time Bandits" is just plain fun. The plot's out of nowhere-just kind of trips along through time and space and stranger things. Napoleon as a height-obsessed drunkard? Robin Hood as the aloof, unlikely leader of a band of violent, too-merry men? Agamemnon as the ideal father figure? It's all here, plus the technocratic, pyromaniac "Evil" vs. the Supreme Being. Ah, you always knew He was an staid Englishman in a pinstripe suit, didn't you? ("Dead? No excuse for laying off work.")
Perhaps it's not Gilliam's masterpiece, as "Brazil" could be argued for that...though one could also argue "Time Bandits" gives a bleaker perspective through the contrast of the fun and whimsy. If our reality is depressing now, and Kevin's was, is the fulfillment of our fantasies any better? Perhaps Randall said it best himself - "Heroes, bah! What do they know about an honest day's work?" :-)