Director: Terry Gilliam
Writers: Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin
Starring: Craig Warnock, David Rapport, Kenny Baker, Sean Connery, John Cleese, Michael Palin
Year: 1981
Duration: 116 mins
BBFC Certification: PG
As the 1980s dawned, Terry Gilliam had not yet broken free from Monty Python’s shadow. Despite directing the surreal, off-beat Jabberwocky in 1977, he had not yet established himself as the wildly creative, combative auteur that made darkly humorous, startlingly idiosyncratic fantasies; instead, he was still seen as an animator first, director second. Time Bandits would be the film to change all that. A deliciously dark and hilarious fantasy about a lonely kid and a bunch of time travelling dwarfs, it would prove to be Gilliam’s biggest box office success, paving the way, both creatively and financially, towards one of the most frustrating yet brilliant of Hollywood careers.
Gilliam came up with the plot for the film while in the middle of a creative struggle with another project (which would go on to be Brazil). After developing a synopsis, he turned to his old Python chum (and co-writer on Jabberwocky) Michael Palin to help flesh out the characters and dialogue. The resulting script proved to be the template for what is, hands down, the darkest kids film of the 1980s.
Time Bandits centres around Kevin, a neglected only child living in bleak 1980s British suburbia. His parents, self centred and consumer driven, pay him little attention, leaving Kevin with little alternative but to escape into his imagination…until one night, fantasies start to come alive. A group of time travelling dwarves burst into Kevin’s bedroom, holding a stolen map that allows them to travel to any period in history. It isn’t long before Kevin is swept along with the dwarves on their wild adventure, as they barely keep one step ahead of the sinister Supreme Being, who is desperate to get the map back at all costs.
Time Bandits feels just as fresh and invigorating today as it did more than forty years ago. Its episodic structure keeps the pace feeling light and brisk, an effect that is only compounded by Gilliam injecting each historical scenario with much warmth and humour. His inventiveness only grows as the film gradually veers away from historical backdrops towards more fantastical ones, where he really lets his imagination fly. For a film with a small budget, it is startling how visually breathtaking Time Bandits can be. Scenes set during the French Revolution look like they have come from Ridley Scott’s cutting room, while later moments involving cages and swinging ropes are a brauvea triumph of both practical effects and ingenious shooting.
Things are helped enormously, of course, by the cast. Big name stars help to cement some of the film’s most memorable moments, including Sean Connery’s kindly King Agamemnon, David Warner’s frustrated Evil Genius and Ian Holm’s petulant Napoleon. Yet it is John Cleese, who plays Robin Hood like a snotty, patronising Royal, that almost steals the entire show. Remarkably, however, despite the mega wattage of some of its cast, the heart of Time Bandits remains with Kevin and the dwarves. As Kevin, Craig Warnock is note perfect throughout, while the Time Bandits themselves emerge as brilliantly individualistic characters, from David Rapport’s put upon leader Randell to the warmth of Jack Purvis’ Wally. The group, constantly bickering and fighting, feel resoundingly real, with layered, natural performances helping to ground the film’s more outlandish elements with a sincerity and pathos. Together, the core cast ensure that the audience never stops caring about Kevin and his group of new found friends, even as Gilliam’s imagination grows more outlandish and surreal.
As to whom that audience may be? Well, that is a good question. Ostensibly, of course, Time Bandits is a kid’s film – and a brilliant one at that, offering a wild adventure, memorable characters and silly humour. Yet Gilliam and Palin never speak down to a young audience, infusing their film with a darkness that can unsettle as much as it entertains. Characters die, stakes are raised, and the comforting blanket of fun, historical time travel gives way to something far more sinister and dystopian. This darker vein is perfectly encapsulated by the film’s infamous ending. If you haven’t seen Time Bandits before, I won’t ruin it here, but suffice to say, Gilliam and Palin get away with something that you’d never see in a kids film today.
So Time Bandits certainly works on a slightly higher level than just being a fun escapade about time travelling dwarves. By the time Ralph Richardson arrives in the final third, the film has somehow morphed into a critique of organised religion, modern greed and the soullessness of technology, with particular pokes being taken at Christianity and the idea of God. With bold and subversive undercurrents like these, Time Bandits provides the link between Monty Python’s Life of Brain and the dark dystopia of Gilliam’s Brazil.
Ultimately, it remains quite hard to classify a film as unique as Time Bandits. Perhaps it is just a great kids film, of the kind they just don’t make anymore. Maybe it’s an existentialist exploration of the greed and apathy at the heart of Thatcher’s Britain. Maybe it’s both. Either way, the film remains the dark, glorious heart of children’s fantasy cinema.
Film:
Time Bandits is being released on 4K UHD from Arrow. I couldn’t find any information about the 4K scan used for this new release, but, like so many of Arrow’s UHDs, Time Bandits looks fantastic in 4K. Detail obviously increases but the Dolby Vision grade really shines here, giving a real punch and depth to the image. Encoding looked brilliant as well – altogether, Time Bandits has never looked better on home video. Sound is no slouch either, with a decent 5.1 DTS track and 2.0 stereo track on offer.
Disappointingly, Arrow don’t offer any additional extras on this release, so if you own the previous Blu Ray, you’ll find nothing new here. For those you don’t own any previous version, a fairly decent selection of extras are on offer. The two best are separate interviews with both Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin. Both cover quite a lot of ground in their short running times (20 minuets and 16 minutes respectively) and are definitely worth a watch.
Four more interviews round out the disk, including an entertaining one with David Warner. The other three concentrate on the effects, costumes and look of the film. All three are interesting and informative. Arrow also include a Script to Screen feature, which is filled with behind-the-scenes photos and paraphernalia from the production, as well as a trailer and restoration featurette.
Disc/Extras
Altogether then, this is arguably the definitive home video release of Time Bandits. Yet the complete lack of any new extras, coupled with the fact that the old Blu Ray release already looked pretty damn good, means that only die hard fans of the film might be tempted to make a purchase.