Time Bandits

Synopsis
"Heroes, bah! What do they know about an honest day's work?"

Or so queries Randall, leader of the little people troupe that has been assigned by their proper English boss, the Supreme Being, to patch up a few nagging holes in the fabric of the universe. These were among the bizarre concoctions offered up in director (and former Monty Python animator) Terry Gilliam's surreal fantasy, Time Bandits, a surprise 1981 hit.

In the course of plugging time holes, the diminutive group—Randall, Fidgit, Strutter, Og, Wally and Vermin—gets a little greedy. Why work when they can steal the Supreme Being’s map, do a little pillaging through the ages, and get rich? On their first stop, the troupe lands accidentally right smack in the middle of 1980’s consumer-obsessed Britain, tumbling out of schoolboy Kevin’s wardrobe. And after they get a load of the boy’s awful game-show-watching, gadget-happy parents, the bandit gang insists he come along for the ride.

Together, Kevin and the little people bump through time, encountering the likes of “heroes” Napoleon (from whom Randall and his crew steal), Robin Hood (who steals their loot right back…Randall and his crew were never the most savvy of thieves), and King Agamemnon, who is just the sort of stalwart father figure Kevin has always yearned for. They’re pursued throughout by the disembodied Supreme Being and by the persnickety Evil (David Warner, later of Tron nefariousness), who wants to reshape the world in the image of technology.

Kevin and his companions spend time on the Titanic right before it goes down, and in the Time of Legends, where an Ogre couple prepares them for a fondue. One robber is turned into a pig, and the lot of them find themselves suspended over a timeless limbo void in a metal cage. But worst of all, the gang finds itself at Evil’s very own Fortress of Ultimate Darkness, where only a little help from the Supreme Being himself can turn the tide.

Much of Time Bandits was shot with the camera a couple of feet off the ground or looking up from holes, so as to create the perspective of a child. Gilliam has explained that thematically, Time Bandits teases the notion of hero worship, and what happens when your beloved idols don’t quite live up to your expectations. The film's unexpected and open ending certainly left viewers with something to think (or wonder) about on the drive back from the theater.

Ponderous themes aside, Time Bandits was the kind of rollicking, quirky fun one would expect from a former Pythonian. With music and a closing song by former ex-Beatle George Harrison, the movie had enough crowd-pleasing adventure to turn a tidy profit at the box office. It remains an offbeat favorite of those who like a good potpourri of fantasy, sci-fi and comedy in their time-travel adventure movies.

Release History 1981 - Time Bandits

Sub Categories live-action
sci-fi/fantasy
action/adventure

Studio AVCO Embassy

Cast

Robin Hood		John Cleese
King Agamemnon		Sean Connery
Pansy		Shelley Duvall
Mrs. Ogre		Katherine Helmond
Napoleon		Ian Holm
Vincent		Michael Palin
Supreme Being		Ralph Richardson
Ogre		Peter Vaughan
Evil Genius		David Warner
Randall		David Rappaport
Fidgit		Kenny Baker
Strutter		Malcolm Dixon
Og		Mike Edmonds
Wally		Jack Purvis
Vermin		Tiny Ross
Kevin		Craig Warnock
Kevin's Father		David Daker
Kevin's Mother		Sheila Fearn
Compere		Jim Broadbent
Reginald		John Young
Beryl		Myrtle Devenish
Stunt Knight/Hussar		Brian Bowes
1st Refugee		Leon Lissek
Lucien		Terence Bayler
Neguy		Preston Lockwood
Theatre Manager		Charles McKeown
Puppeteer		David Leland
The Great Rumbozo		John Hughman
Robber Leader		Derrick O'Connor
2nd Robber		Neil McCarthy
3rd Robber		Declan Mulholland
Arm Wrestler		Peter Jonfield
Robert		Derek Deadman
Benson		Jerold Wells
Cartwright		Roger Frost
Baxi Brazilia III		Martin Carroll
Horseflesh		Marcus Powell
Bull-headed Warrior		Winston Dennis
Greek Fighting Warrior		Del Baker
Clytemnestra (Greek Queen)		Juliette James
Giant		Ian Muir
Troll Father		Mark Holmes
Fireman		Andrew MacLachlan
TV announcer (voice)		Chris Grant
Voice of supreme being (voice)		Tony Jay
Supreme Being's Face		Edwin Finn