X
- 1981
- PG
- AVCO Embassy Pictures
- 1 h 50 m
- 1981
- PG
- AVCO Embassy Pictures
- 1 h 50 m
Summary A young boy accidentally joins a band of time traveling dwarves as they jump from era to era looking for treasure to steal.
Written By: Michael Palin
- 1981
- PG
- AVCO Embassy Pictures
- 1 h 50 m
- 1981
- PG
- AVCO Embassy Pictures
- 1 h 50 m
Time Bandits
79
7.0
Where to Watch
Summary A young boy accidentally joins a band of time traveling dwarves as they jump from era to era looking for treasure to steal.
Written By: Michael Palin
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 18 Critic Reviews
79
83% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
17% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 18 Critic Reviews
79
83% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
17% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Time Bandits is the best children's picture since The Black Stallion, but it is a satiric, inventive, fantastical vacation for the filmgoer of any age: imagine an intelligent Raiders of the Lost Ark with a deeply bitchy sense of humor. [06 Nov 1981]
Time Bandits is at once sophisticated and childlike in its magical but emotionally cool logic, and this tone is perfectly captured in young Warnock's appealingly sensible performance. Cleese, Warner, Richardson, Holm and Connery are in great form, and the bandits (David Rappaport, Kenny Baker, Jack Purvis, Mike Edmonds, Malcolm Dixon and Tiny Ross) are all gifted comic actors. Made on a modest budget, Time Bandits is a wonderful wild card in the fall movie season [09 Nov 1981, p.92]
For a kids film this is pleasingly dark with Gilliam delivering as much classical fairy tale as knockabout comedy.
This wild and sometimes woolly fantasy is delivered in the customary chaotic Python style, resulting in an onslaught of witticisms and slapstick.
First reactions while viewing Time Bandits: It's amazingly well-produced. The historic locations are jammed with character and detail. This is the only live-action movie I've seen that literally looks like pages out of Heavy Metal magazine, with kings and swordsmen and wide-eyed little boys and fearsome beasts.
An uneven special effects extravaganza about a little boy who winds up traveling through world history along with five midgets. Together they meet and frustrate the great and the near-great. Including Napoleon, Robin Hood, and the devil. Unfortunately, there are just too many visits to famous people. The film was created by some of the people responsible for the Monty Python comedies. [25 Dec 1981, p.12]
When you can count the laughs in a comedy on the fingers of one hand, it isn’t so funny. Time Bandits, is a kind of potted history of man, myth and the eternal clash between good and evil as told in the inimitable idiom of Monty Python. Not that the basic premise is bad, with an English youngster and a group of dwarfs passing through time holes on assignment by the Maker to patch up the shoddier parts of His creation. What results, unfortunately, is a hybrid neither sufficiently hair-raising or comical.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 User Ratings
7.0
68% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
32% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 User Ratings
7.0
68% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
32% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Production Company
HandMade Films
Release Date Nov 6, 1981
Duration 1 h 50 m
Rating PG
Tagline All the dreams you've ever had and not just the good ones
Awards
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Win & 6 Nominations
Satellite Awards
• 1 Nomination
Fantasporto
• 1 Nomination