The Designs of Time Bandits
December 12, 2014
Film Info
- United Kingdom
- 1981
- 116 minutes
- Color
- 1.85:1
- English
- Spine #37
In this fantastic voyage through time and space from Terry Gilliam, a boy named Kevin (Craig Warnock) escapes his gadget-obsessed parents to join a band of time-traveling dwarfs. Armed with a map stolen from the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson), they plunder treasure from Napoleon (Ian Holm) and Agamemnon (Sean Connery)—but the Evil Genius (David Warner) is watching their every move. Featuring a darkly playful script by Gilliam and his Monty Python cohort Michael Palin (who also appears in the film), Time Bandits is at once a giddy fairy tale, a revisionist history lesson, and a satire of technology gone awry.
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 |
Credits
| Director | Terry Gilliam |
| Produced by | Terry Gilliam |
| Written by | Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam |
| Executive producers | George Harrison and Denis O'Brien |
| Associate producer | Neville C. Thompson |
| Director of photography | Peter Biziou |
| Editor | Julian Doyle |
| Production designer | Milly Burns |
| Art director | Norman Garwood |
| Costume design | Jim Acheson |
| In association with | Hazel Coté |
| Hairdressing and makeup by | Maggie Weston and Elaine Carew |
| Music score composed and orchestrated by | Mike Moran |
| Songs and additional material | George Harrison |
| Music produced by | Ray Cooper |
Disc Features
DIRECTOR-APPROVED EDITION:
- New 2K digital restoration, supervised by director Terry Gilliam, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Audio commentary featuring Gilliam, cowriter-actor Michael Palin, and actors John Cleese, David Warner, and Craig Warnock
- New piece, narrated by film writer David Morgan, featuring production designer Milly Burns and costume designer James Acheson discussing the creation of the film’s various historical periods and fantasy worlds
- Conversation between Gilliam and film scholar Peter von Bagh, recorded at the 1998 Midnight Sun Film Festival
- Appearance by actor Shelley Duvall on Tom Snyder’s Tomorrow show from 1981
- Gallery of rare photographs from the set
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by critic David Sterritt
Cover based on a theatrical poster
Current Posts
Interviews
Film Essays
Time Bandits: Guerrilla Fantasy
By December 11, 2014
Exuberant and irreverent, Terry Gilliam’s time-warped early comedy points ahead to the director’s singular career as a philosophical fantasist. Read more »
Video
Film Essays
Time Bandits
By March 29, 1999
Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits was the most critically well-received children’s film in nearly two decades—and also the most challenging and rewarding fantasy-adventure movie since Alexander Korda . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Time Bandits: Guerrilla Fantasy
By December 11, 2014
Exuberant and irreverent, Terry Gilliam’s time-warped early comedy points ahead to the director’s singular career as a philosophical fantasist. Read more »
Film Essays
Time Bandits
By March 29, 1999
Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits was the most critically well-received children’s film in nearly two decades—and also the most challenging and rewarding fantasy-adventure movie since Alexander Korda . . . Read more »
Interviews
Film Essays
Time Bandits: Guerrilla Fantasy
By December 11, 2014
Exuberant and irreverent, Terry Gilliam’s time-warped early comedy points ahead to the director’s singular career as a philosophical fantasist. Read more »
Video
Film Essays
Time Bandits
By March 29, 1999
Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits was the most critically well-received children’s film in nearly two decades—and also the most challenging and rewarding fantasy-adventure movie since Alexander Korda . . . Read more »
