On My Shelf: Time Bandits (1981)
So, we went over to Gary's house and watched our own copy of Time Bandits.
Plot
Kevin is a British boy with a love of history and fantasy -- and two profoundly boring parents who are only interested in kitchen appliances. Kevin gets surprised one night when a knight in full battle regalia jumps out of his bedroom cabinet, storms around his room and vanishes. The following night, six eccentrically dressed little people come out of his cabinet and wind up dragging him along on an adventure through time. Using a map that catalogs all the time holes in the universe, they travel to different eras -- ostensibly to commit robberies (hence the "bandits" part of the title) -- while simultaneously being chased by the Supreme Being and the personification of Evil....
Everything That's Good
For you movie buffs, three of the little people in this movie have direct connections to Star Wars. (Including Kenny Baker, aka R2-D2). And in standard-height actors there are appearances by John Cleese, Ian Holm, Shelley Duvall, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, David Warner and Sean Connery.
If adventure has a name -- it must be Sean Connery, right?
The Music is good. The acting is good. The comedy is good (if, as I said, a hair on the dark side). And the sets and cinematography are beautiful. They did an amazing job of designing the look of the film and setting the tone.
I don't know how many people I've tried to loan Time Bandits to, only to have them say they didn't get all the way through it. And if that's the case.... I think you're really missing out. I would argue that this is a better children's fantasy movie than either Neverending Story or The Labyrinth.
"Why, I oughta...!!"...Which is to say, it's got a more consistent plot, consistent dialogue, consistent characterization, in addition to having beautiful sets, costume and character design. (I know, I know, Labyrinth fans are getting all upset with me right now... Look, I understand the appeal of The Labyrinth. It is a nice-looking movie. David Bowie is very entertaining to watch. And I understand why young girls were [are] crazy about that movie). But if I'm going to compare Time Bandits to another movie, Labyrinth makes the most sense, because it was also a children's fantasy film written by a Monty Python alum (this film was written by Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, and also directed by Terry Gilliam). And if you're going to compare Labyrinth to this -- I have to say, I think Time Bandits comes out on top.
Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam,
AKA, "The Nice One" and "The Weird One".One more comparison: Remember how, in The Labyrinth, people always talk about how clever it is that you can spot clues to the rest of the movie in the toys in Sarah's bedroom at the beginning?
See? There's a thing that looks like her dress, and a thing that looks like
the labyrinth, and the dog thing. Oh, and there's the book they ostensibly
stole the plot of the movie from, up in the upper right corner.Well, make note of some of the things in Kevin's bedroom at the beginning of this film; the whole rest of the movie is laid out there in his toys and pictures.
And this movie came three years before The Labyrinth (so, yeah. Coincidence? I think not).
I will say, in comparison, that Time Bandits has significantly fewer catchy musical numbers and exactly zero bulge-exposing rock stars. So, there's that, Labyrinth fans.
Humor
To understand a bit of this movie, you probably need to have a background in Monty Python, and their particular brand of humor. I literally grew up watching Flying Circus and the Python movies, so I never questioned the humor in this movie... until trying to share this with other people, who tend to be like, "This movie is weird."
This is a scene in the movie. But don't worry -- those aren't people we know.
Yes, it does have kind of a sick, dark comedy at times -- not so sick or dark to be inappropriate for kids to watch; kind of a junior-level sickness and darkness.
The film is just amazing looking, okay?Another reason, though, that you would want to be familiar with Monty Python before you watch this is that Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam are said to have structured the characters of "the Time Bandits" themselves (the six little people) on the real-life personalities of the Pythons. Some of them even bear superficial physical resemblances to their counterparts (if you start trying to figure out who's who, it's pretty easy). Ultimately, it's really an interesting look at how they viewed each other and themselves.
David Warner as "Evil"
For me, one of the most enjoyable elements of this movie is David Warner as "Evil" (aka the Devil). He's convincingly sinister and he's hilarious. (And his costume is beautiful, although I suppose I can't give him personal credit for that; all he's said about the costume in interviews is that it was extremely heavy). Seriously, though, it's worth watching the whole movie just for his performance.
So... What Throws Most People Off?
It's very hard for me to look at this movie critically, because I grew up watching it, and it's up there with The Goonies for movies that I have trouble viewing as an adult and not slipping back into all the thoughts and feelings I had about it as a kid.
Luckily, we actually managed to get a friend (Gary) to watch this movie all the way through recently, and he gave me his insights.
1. He didn't get the humor (at first).
2. He couldn't figure out where it was going (at first).
3. He had trouble understanding the British accents (at first).
Okay, I'll give it to you -- it's a bit of an oddly structured movie. It's hard to tell where it's going for the first half hour or so. It might be a little uneven -- as far as going from a highly "heightened" atmosphere, full of cartoonish people, to realistic scenes where people act like actual normal people. Also, the film is profoundly British in tone; if you're not familiar with British pacing and attitudes, you might be a little thrown.
And if you're not used to listening to British accents -- you might have to let your ears adjust before you can understand what some people are saying. And from a technical standpoint -- I think there may actually be a problem with the DVD we have as far as the sound goes. The music was much louder than the dialogue at certain points (and at certain other points the sound would drop out), so we had to keep messing with the volume -- and it did, at times, interfere with understanding the dialogue. Even for me, and I know a lot of the dialogue by heart. (And I don't recall that being an issue on the VHS copy we had when I was a kid, so it may have been that particular DVD transfer -- or just the particular peculiarities of the sound system on the TV that we were watching it on).
However, it must be said -- once Gary had gotten through the first half hour, the movie evened-out for him, and he even seemed to be enjoying it. I will say that one particular bit of the ending surprised him a little bit -- but since I can't discuss that here without spoiling it for you, I'll just say, I would be glad to discuss possible theories with you after you've watched the whole thing.
In Summary
I was going to put a link here to the trailer for Time Bandits,
but then I watched it and remembered how bad the trailer is. DON'T
WATCH THE TRAILER. It's really bad. And it spoils things in the film....YOU SHOULD WATCH THE WHOLE THING. I'm serious. You need to watch the whole thing and then tell me what you think about it. If you don't like Time Bandits after watching it the whole way through -- would you please explain to me why? (I'm not saying that threateningly; I legitimately would like other people to explain to me in detail why this movie doesn't work for them, because I just plain don't get how one could not like this movie.)
Obviously, I'm going to recommend this movie. It's fun, entertaining, and appropriate for all ages. (Oh, it might scare little, little kids -- the same sort of kids who might be frightened by The Wizard of Oz -- but I can state that, having seen it as a child, it never frightened me at all.)
RECOMMENDED
Plot
Kevin is a British boy with a love of history and fantasy -- and two profoundly boring parents who are only interested in kitchen appliances. Kevin gets surprised one night when a knight in full battle regalia jumps out of his bedroom cabinet, storms around his room and vanishes. The following night, six eccentrically dressed little people come out of his cabinet and wind up dragging him along on an adventure through time. Using a map that catalogs all the time holes in the universe, they travel to different eras -- ostensibly to commit robberies (hence the "bandits" part of the title) -- while simultaneously being chased by the Supreme Being and the personification of Evil....
Everything That's GoodFor you movie buffs, three of the little people in this movie have direct connections to Star Wars. (Including Kenny Baker, aka R2-D2). And in standard-height actors there are appearances by John Cleese, Ian Holm, Shelley Duvall, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, David Warner and Sean Connery.
If adventure has a name -- it must be Sean Connery, right?The Music is good. The acting is good. The comedy is good (if, as I said, a hair on the dark side). And the sets and cinematography are beautiful. They did an amazing job of designing the look of the film and setting the tone.
I don't know how many people I've tried to loan Time Bandits to, only to have them say they didn't get all the way through it. And if that's the case.... I think you're really missing out. I would argue that this is a better children's fantasy movie than either Neverending Story or The Labyrinth.
"Why, I oughta...!!"...Which is to say, it's got a more consistent plot, consistent dialogue, consistent characterization, in addition to having beautiful sets, costume and character design. (I know, I know, Labyrinth fans are getting all upset with me right now... Look, I understand the appeal of The Labyrinth. It is a nice-looking movie. David Bowie is very entertaining to watch. And I understand why young girls were [are] crazy about that movie). But if I'm going to compare Time Bandits to another movie, Labyrinth makes the most sense, because it was also a children's fantasy film written by a Monty Python alum (this film was written by Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, and also directed by Terry Gilliam). And if you're going to compare Labyrinth to this -- I have to say, I think Time Bandits comes out on top.
Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam,AKA, "The Nice One" and "The Weird One".One more comparison: Remember how, in The Labyrinth, people always talk about how clever it is that you can spot clues to the rest of the movie in the toys in Sarah's bedroom at the beginning?
See? There's a thing that looks like her dress, and a thing that looks like the labyrinth, and the dog thing. Oh, and there's the book they ostensibly
stole the plot of the movie from, up in the upper right corner.Well, make note of some of the things in Kevin's bedroom at the beginning of this film; the whole rest of the movie is laid out there in his toys and pictures.
And this movie came three years before The Labyrinth (so, yeah. Coincidence? I think not).
I will say, in comparison, that Time Bandits has significantly fewer catchy musical numbers and exactly zero bulge-exposing rock stars. So, there's that, Labyrinth fans.
Humor
To understand a bit of this movie, you probably need to have a background in Monty Python, and their particular brand of humor. I literally grew up watching Flying Circus and the Python movies, so I never questioned the humor in this movie... until trying to share this with other people, who tend to be like, "This movie is weird."
This is a scene in the movie. But don't worry -- those aren't people we know.Yes, it does have kind of a sick, dark comedy at times -- not so sick or dark to be inappropriate for kids to watch; kind of a junior-level sickness and darkness.
The film is just amazing looking, okay?Another reason, though, that you would want to be familiar with Monty Python before you watch this is that Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam are said to have structured the characters of "the Time Bandits" themselves (the six little people) on the real-life personalities of the Pythons. Some of them even bear superficial physical resemblances to their counterparts (if you start trying to figure out who's who, it's pretty easy). Ultimately, it's really an interesting look at how they viewed each other and themselves.
David Warner as "Evil"
For me, one of the most enjoyable elements of this movie is David Warner as "Evil" (aka the Devil). He's convincingly sinister and he's hilarious. (And his costume is beautiful, although I suppose I can't give him personal credit for that; all he's said about the costume in interviews is that it was extremely heavy). Seriously, though, it's worth watching the whole movie just for his performance.
So... What Throws Most People Off?
It's very hard for me to look at this movie critically, because I grew up watching it, and it's up there with The Goonies for movies that I have trouble viewing as an adult and not slipping back into all the thoughts and feelings I had about it as a kid.
Luckily, we actually managed to get a friend (Gary) to watch this movie all the way through recently, and he gave me his insights.
1. He didn't get the humor (at first).
2. He couldn't figure out where it was going (at first).
3. He had trouble understanding the British accents (at first).
Okay, I'll give it to you -- it's a bit of an oddly structured movie. It's hard to tell where it's going for the first half hour or so. It might be a little uneven -- as far as going from a highly "heightened" atmosphere, full of cartoonish people, to realistic scenes where people act like actual normal people. Also, the film is profoundly British in tone; if you're not familiar with British pacing and attitudes, you might be a little thrown.
And if you're not used to listening to British accents -- you might have to let your ears adjust before you can understand what some people are saying. And from a technical standpoint -- I think there may actually be a problem with the DVD we have as far as the sound goes. The music was much louder than the dialogue at certain points (and at certain other points the sound would drop out), so we had to keep messing with the volume -- and it did, at times, interfere with understanding the dialogue. Even for me, and I know a lot of the dialogue by heart. (And I don't recall that being an issue on the VHS copy we had when I was a kid, so it may have been that particular DVD transfer -- or just the particular peculiarities of the sound system on the TV that we were watching it on).
However, it must be said -- once Gary had gotten through the first half hour, the movie evened-out for him, and he even seemed to be enjoying it. I will say that one particular bit of the ending surprised him a little bit -- but since I can't discuss that here without spoiling it for you, I'll just say, I would be glad to discuss possible theories with you after you've watched the whole thing.
In Summary
I was going to put a link here to the trailer for Time Bandits,but then I watched it and remembered how bad the trailer is. DON'T
WATCH THE TRAILER. It's really bad. And it spoils things in the film....YOU SHOULD WATCH THE WHOLE THING. I'm serious. You need to watch the whole thing and then tell me what you think about it. If you don't like Time Bandits after watching it the whole way through -- would you please explain to me why? (I'm not saying that threateningly; I legitimately would like other people to explain to me in detail why this movie doesn't work for them, because I just plain don't get how one could not like this movie.)
Obviously, I'm going to recommend this movie. It's fun, entertaining, and appropriate for all ages. (Oh, it might scare little, little kids -- the same sort of kids who might be frightened by The Wizard of Oz -- but I can state that, having seen it as a child, it never frightened me at all.)
RECOMMENDED
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