TIME BANDITS: 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (1981)

As youngsters, we all indulged in various flights of fantasy, whether dreaming of having super powers, being superstars or even superseding our siblings or peers at home or in school. However, it’s unlikely that any of us ever yearned for the adventure that falls into the lap of Kevin (Craig Warnock), an imaginative child who discovers a time hole in his wardrobe. After making the unlikely discovery, he then meets a band of time traveling dwarves, who suddenly appear from the hole. Led by Randall (David Rappaport), the dwarves explain that they are in possession of a map of the universe that they 'borrowed' from their master, the Supreme Being (or God - Ralph Richardson).

They also inform impressionable young Kevin that they were previously employed by God to construct everything in existence, and that whilst doing so, they employed numerous magic portals to travel from one era to the next. So, with the details of every portal listed on their map, the miniature marauders are able to travel freely through history, plundering the riches of time itself. Given the opportunity to join their romp across time, Kevin understandably decides to forego life at home with his placid, coach potato parents, and instead jumps feet first into the time hole with the bandits, on their quest into the unknown. During the various legs of their journey to unravel the strands history itself, all manner of peril awaits, and all the while the Evil Genius (superbly played by David Warner) is hot on their trail, desperately courting the map for his own despicable ends.
Described by Gilliam and his co-write, Michael Palin, as being "mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence", Time Bandits not only excels at this claim, but wallows unashamedly in it like a glutton swimming in chocolate. At times the complete lack of intelligence is reminiscent of the same idiotic genius inherent in Gilliam's and Palin's escapades in Monty Python's Flying Circus; that's not to say the content or subject matter here is particularly similar, but those who laughed at, say, Mr Gumby or the Piranha brothers sketch, will no doubt also have a grin or two observing the antics of pint-sized pirates careening through time.And why not?

Time Bandits combines a classic fantasy storytelling format with some original and incredibly imaginative ideas, and its Pythonesque sense of humour adds more than a touch of the absurd, surely a pre-requisite for any entertaining fable. It also features the unique, awe-inspiring yet often vaguely unsettling myriad of colour schemes, tones, photography and dialogue, all of which tell you within seconds of the beginning, that you're watching a Terry Gilliam film. Of course, this arguably narrows the appeal of Time Bandits away from a mainstream audience, as some inevitably bail out after failing to 'get it'. Indeed, depending on your own state of mind, all of Gilliam's movies are either the work of a genius or simply of a tailor revamping the Emperor's new clothes; for the quintessential cinematic example of this syndrome, take a look at David Lynch's Eraserhead (1977) and see what you think.
Personally, as a longstanding Python and Gilliam fan myself, 'getting' Time Bandits wasn't an issue for me, and no doubt cinema purists will lap up the superb photography which often frames wondrously bizarre characters and backdrops. There's also a delicious sense of ironic dualism throughout, as Gilliam pays homage to children's fantasy stories whilst simultaneously making a complete mockery of them, a feat rarely achieved by filmmakers twenty years on. This dualism is best summed up by the film's conclusion, which, in stark contrast to virtually every other children’s story or movie produced since the dawn of time, offers no concise lesson or life pointers for youngsters watching. A superlative cast also does a lot to keep the going good, with the likes of Sean Connery (Agamemnon), John Cleese (Robin Hood) and Ian Holm (Napoleon) dropping in for a piece of the action, not to mention the hapless Palin (Vincent) and Shelley Duvall (Pansy).

In fact, there's not really much to say in criticism of this one, although some have argued that the film's episodic format, as the bandits travel from one time to the next, is less than seamless. However this didn’t really bother me, and although, as a Gilliam fan, I certainly don't think it's his best work (for me both Jabberwocky (1977) and especially Brazil (1985) are far superior), Time Bandits is a hugely enjoyable movie from start to end, which flows smoothly, swiftly, stupidly and sardonically from one era to the next. The newly released 25th anniversary edition DVD from Anchor Bay offers some great features, from the highly entertaining audio commentary with Gilliam, Cleese and Palin which accompanies the main feature on the first of the 2 discs, to a range of interviews, story boards, trailers and production stills on the second 'special features' disc. In summary, whether your a fresh face to this unique fantasy experience or an affectionate fanatic, this celebratory edition is a real feast for the budding time traveler.