Time Bandits (first released on July 13, 1981) is a fantasy film, produced and directed by Terry Gilliam (who created animations for Monty Python's Flying Circus), and is one of the most famous of more than 30 theatrical features produced by Handmade Films, the London-based independent company backed in part by former Beatle George Harrison. Gilliam wrote the screenplay with fellow Python alumnus Michael Palin, who appears in the film in multiple roles.

Tagline: All the dreams you've ever had — and not just the good ones ...

Tagline: They just didn't make history — they stole it!

Plot summary

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The story begins with an unappreciated (at least by his parents) young boy named Kevin being kidnapped from his bedroom by a group of six dwarves who have just stolen a map. The map is no ordinary map: it is a map of time portals, holes in the fabric of space/time. The map grants the holder extraordinary powers, allowing him or her to jump from time to time through the portals. The dwarves stole the map from the Supreme Being, apparently a title for God. Initially they worked for him, helping create members of the Plant Kingdom in the world and universe.

After being demoted to the Supreme Being's Repairs Department as punishment for designing a particularly noxious species of tree (the unseen "pink bunkadoo"), the dwarves decided to use the map, entrusted to them for use in repairing the space/time fabric, to get "stinkin' rich" by becoming the greatest robbers of all time and space. However, the Source of all Evil (personified by David Warner) is also after the map to gain control of the universe from the Supreme Being, and remake it in his own image.

The band of thieves roams history stealing all that they can, moving from Napoleonic Italy to the Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood (John Cleese) to Mycenaean Greece, where Kevin is befriended by the legendary king, Agamemnon (Sean Connery), to the early twentieth century voyage of the Titanic. With the unsolicited assistance of Evil, they are transferred to the Time of Legends. After commandeering a sailing ship from an ogre and his wife, they journey to the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness where they confront Evil. Despite recruiting help from various eras of human history, the bandits get much the worse of the encounter until the appearance of the Supreme Being, in the person of a middle-aged gentleman in a rumpled business suit played by Ralph Richardson. The Supreme Being cleans up the "mess" and returns Kevin to his home, which is immediately revealed to be on fire. Kevin is rescued by some firemen, but in the film's surprising, shocking ending, a piece of smoldering Evil remains in a microwave oven held by Kevin's parents. Kevin screams, "Mum, Dad! It's Evil! Don't touch it!" Disobeying Kevin, his parents touch it — and explode. After receiving a wink from a departing firefighter who strongly resembles Agamemnon, Kevin is left alone, asking quietly of the smoldering piles of ashes that once were his parents, "Mum? Dad?"

Themes

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As might be expected given the participation of half of the Monty Python troupe, the film was much remarked on for its dark and irreverent sense of humor. It also was the first film in which Gilliam's unique visual style was fully extant: he would go on to develop the style further in his subsequent fantasy films Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen. Students of Gilliam's films have dubbed these three movies the so-called "Trilogy of the Imagination," in that the connecting link shared by each film is the fact that each celebrates the spirit of imagination, and is anchored by a quixotic central character whose imagination is suppressed by forces not of his own choosing or design (in this case, Kevin). In each film, the character must undergo a fantastic journey that will allow his imagination to be given its freedom as God (here called the Supreme Being) had originally intended. What binds these three together is that in Time Bandits the dreamer is a boy, in Brazil a man, and in Baron Munchausen an old man.

Production

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Those who skim the film's complete credit sequence may notice that executive producer George Harrison is credited with "songs and additional material", whereas the musical underscoring and orchestrations are credited to Mike Moran, with Ray Cooper, Elton John's longtime percussionist, serving as producer of the musical material. Harrison did in fact write songs for the film at the request of co-executive producer Denis O'Brien; but the song score was apparently developed without the participation of Terry Gilliam. As a result, the only song attributed to Harrison, "Dream Away", which the former Beatle performs, is heard over the aforementioned credits. Sometime following the release of Time Bandits, "Dream Away" was included on Harrison's album Gone Troppo, on his own Dark Horse record label. The recording of "Dream Away" was produced by George Harrison and Ray Cooper in collaboration with Phil MacDonald; Mike Moran appeared on keyboards and synthesizers; and Billy Preston, Syreeta and Sarah Ricor joined Harrison as backing vocalists.

Time Bandits was filmed at Lee International Studios, Shepperton, Middlesex, England, and on location in England, Wales and Morocco.

Trivia

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• For the scene with the giant, Gilliam originally planned to use an enormously tall actor, but later realized that a shortish and extremely stout British wrestler, shot from a very low angle, gave a much more effective impression of gigantism.

• A scene was cut from the film involving two spinsterish spider-women in the Time of Legends. The two old crones have many legs beneath their skirts and use knitting needles to weave webs with which they capture handsome knights (and, very nearly, our heroes). Photos from the scene and the full text are included in the published script book of the film.

• Katherine Helmond's song about fondue heard in the film is only part of a much longer scene that was shot. The full song is included in the published script book of the film.

• Sean Connery appears in the film after a joke Michael Palin included in the script, describing the character as being as Sean Connery-like as they can afford.

• Gilliam and Palin were nervous about the long sequence in Greece, because they'd never done anything that long without jokes.

• In Anne Rice's novel, The Vampire Lestat, Lestat says he is a big fan of this film.

• Katherine Helmond's character, the ogre's wife, was originally planned as a comic crone, but Gilliam was delighted when Helmond gave an unexpectedly sexy spin to lines like, "Terrify them... you know, like you used to..?" Helmond also came up with the idea of her character appearing as a normal human, and not a female version of her ogre husband.

• The "Forest of Hands" scene in Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm was originally planned for this film. Sketches for it and the text of the original scene are included in the published script book of the film.

• Gilliam would work with many of this film's cast again in 1985's Brazil, including Jim Broadbent, Ian Holm, Peter Vaughan, Helmond and Palin.

• Twenty years later, Ian Holm would once again portray Napoleon, in the 2001 film The Emperor's New Clothes.

• The shot of the Titanic sinking was actually re-used footage from another film.

• Originally Craig Warnock's brother auditioned for the lead in the film, but Gilliam thought his performance was too cute and artificial, and was instead drawn to the more sedate Craig, who had only tagged along and hadn't planned to audition at all.

• Gilliam kept the camera angle rather low throughout the film, in order to give audiences a child's/dwarf's point of view.

• In an interview with Empire Magazine, Terry Jones pointed out that a Brian Froud book published before this film was released featured an image of a giant with a boat on his head. Jones joking accused Gilliam of "pinching" (stealing) the image for his film.

• In the battle in Evil's castle at the conclusion of the film, the set resembles the toys on the floor of Kevin's bedroom, with a checkboard floor, Lego-like blocks, and cowboys, tanks and spaceships scattered around.

• A scene was shot of the Supreme Being's first manifestation, in Kevin's bedroom at the beginning of the film, in which He was shown as a rather sinister, shadowy figure with long, scraggly, wind-blown hair and glowing eyes. Thinking this was ineffective, Gilliam redid the scene with the Supreme Being as an enormous, floating head. A photo of the character's original appearance is shown in the book of the script.

• The film's script broke down as Gilliam mostly devising the story and Palin mostly writing the dialogue. Gilliam has said of writing dialogue that it "doesn't come as easily as it should."

• The scene with the hanging cages in Evil's castle was quickly thrown together when another, more expensive scene fell through. Shot for little money and with the simplest of sets (some cages against a black backdrop), the scene was widely considered one of the most impressive in the film.

• Some commentators, notably Robert Hewison in his book Monty Python: The Case Against, have seen the dwarves as a comment on the Monty Python troupe, with Fidget (the nice one) as Palin, Randall (the self-appointed leader) as John Cleese, Strutter (the acerbic one) as Eric Idle, Og (the quiet one) as Graham Chapman, Wally (the noisy rebel) as Terry Jones and Vermin (the nasty, filth-loving one) as Gilliam himself.

Sequels

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The computer game Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress is loosely based on this film.

A sequel to Time Bandits has been the subject of rumors, and Terry Gilliam once expressed his intentions of making one. However, with three of the six "Bandits" now dead (David Rappaport, Jack Purvis and Tiny Ross) this seems unlikely.

The sequel is briefly discussed in "Gilliam On Gilliam". It was intended to be released before or in 2000. The catalyst was the Supreme Being using the milestone of year 2000 as a time to reflect, and discovering that he was so disappointed with the way the universe turned out that he was going to end it. The Time Bandits were the only ones that could save the universe, if they could be bothered to.

Cast

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Kevin is played by Craig Warnock, who has since gone on to act only occasionally and play keyboards for New Wave of New Wave/ Britpop band These Animal Men and lately Mo Solid Gold. Kenny Baker of Star Wars fame plays one of the dwarves, while the group's self-appointed leader, Randall, is played by David Rappaport. Director Gilliam has commented that this film was a rare chance for the six dwarfs to create actual characters, instead of doing stunt work or playing one-dimensional costumed monsters.

The characters make reference to a dwarf named "Horseflesh" who has apparently died sometime previously. In a preface to the published screenplay, the writers note that an early draft of the script included a part in the film for the Horseflesh character. However, during the revision process, the writers realized that releasing a film with seven dwarf characters might get them in legal trouble, hence the need to kill off Horseflesh prior to the beginning of the story. Despite this, the role of Horseflesh was cast and Marcus Powell is credited with the role in the closing credits. Powell appears very briefly and sans dialogue as one of Evil's minions.

External links

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• Time Bandits: The Littlest Classic
• Bruce Eder essay at criterionco.com

1981 films | Fantasy films | Comedy films | British films | Cult science fiction films | Independent films | Films directed by Terry Gilliam

Time travel films

Time Bandits | Bandits, bandits | Vremenski banditi | Time Bandits | Time Bandits | Бандиты времени (фильм)