Powerful

Absolutely Fantastic

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

I first saw this film when I was 10 years old. My Dad took me to see it as I thought it looked fun and since it was PG and had a kid in it who was approximately the same age, it was assumed to be a children's movie. Not quite. I know the Pg-13 rating had not been devised yet when this film was released, but if it had been, I think this film certainly should have earned it. To me and my 10 year old mind, it just had a lot of disturbing images. It was mild at first as the child was obviously being neglected by his parents and they watched a TV show where contestants in a game show had to undergo somewhat harsh and disturbing tasks just to win some household appliances. I'm sure it's supposed to be a clever satire on consumerism, but a 10 year old doesn't know that. After that, it was downhill. Little people eating rats, a man losing his arm in an arm wrestling match, exploding people and exploding dogs were just a few of the items that bothered me at that time. I learned much later that Terry Gilliam is known for having a Black sense of humor, but I didn't know it at the time. Not to spoil the ending, but it was also disturbing and un-satisfying to see what Kevin was left with by the end of the picture. I'm not saying the film should be banned or edited or whatever. It's an OK film for adults and mature teens. Just not for young children as the PG rating is a little mis-leading. I still find Terry Gilliam's sense of humor to be a little off-putting, but if you enjoy that, it's fine. Just be careful and think it over before you let young kids 12 and under watch it.

Sometimes a film comes along that is so damn perfect that we can only pray to the Gods who rule over greedy Hollywood producers that they never sully the good name of 'Time Bandits.' In case you haven't guessed – I'm a fan. It's a story about a child that isn't necessarily FOR children. A young lad named Kevin wakes up one night to find, er, a knight, rampaging through his bedroom. And, to the film's extra credit, only a few scenes later the adventure is underway proper when the very next evening, the armoured medieval warrior on horseback is replaced by a gang of foul-mouthed and foul-tempered dwarfs who have stolen the Supreme Being's map of the universe and are now in the process of exploiting the various 'holes' in time for financial gain.Yeah, it's a bit weird. And a bit 'out there,' but then it's directed by no less than Terry Gilliam. 'Who's that?' you ask. Okay, so you're probably under thirty and aren't that aware of that oh so influential comedy troupe Monty Python's Flying Circus. Gilliam was basically the sixth Python who mainly stayed behind the camera drawing crazy cartoons of giant feet and killer prams. In other words, he's well used to weirdness and it shows in every frame. Now, despite also featuring fellow Pythons John Cleese and Michael Palin, don't get fooled into thinking that this is just a 'Monty Python the Movie' (like their other big screen epics 'Life of Brian' and 'The Holy Grail'). Although it does have many weird and surreal qualities as Kevin and the seven dwarfs (I'm not sure there are exactly seven, but near enough) skip through time, doing their best to steal everything that isn't nailed down, while, at the same time, avoiding the wrath of our Creator. However, it never feels like it's set in the same 'Python' universe (sorry if I make it sound like Marvel's shared cinematic universe!).As I mentioned at the beginning, 'Time Bandits' is much darker in tone and, despite Kevin being young and innocent, he's often placed in real danger and faced with many disturbing images and situations that may well upset a younger audience. However, regardless of his young age, the actor himself plays it well and is never less than enjoyable to watch, evoking a real sense of sympathy in him due to his homelife and desire to better himself. This is placed in direct contrast to the dwarfs who are little more than common criminals and yet we still find ourselves rooting for them because they are literally the underdogs and humorous to boot. In every time period they seem to end up in brings the opportunity for one celebrity cameo after the next. As I've already said a couple of familiar Pythons pop up, but expect appearances from Ian Holm and even Sean Connery (who maintains his trademark Scottish drawl despite being a Greek king!).With great characters, great actors, a weird and wonderful story filled with practical effects that would make Michael Bay weep and an end battle scene that is different enough to put any recent Hollywood fist fight or superhero movie to shame, it's hard to say anything negative about 'Time Bandits.' It's a true cult classic that is as delightful (in a dark kind of way) today as it ever was. If I had to dwell on anything minor it might be how this sort of film just isn't appreciated any more by (the majority of) the youth. I can see it forever maintaining a special place in many of my generation's hearts, but, as the years go by, less and less people will be interested in a quirky little tale involving spaceships and Minotaurs and, instead, prefer men in iron suits flying round cities swatting an army of computer-generated aliens. Nothing wrong with that, but I think there should always be room for different types of films. And they don't come much different than 'Time Bandits.' If you love quirky. If you love Python and if you love practical effects then you have to have to watch this before it gets remade and computer generated to extinction.

Even though the movie is bookended by chaos, and fueled by a sort of demented Terry Gilliam charm (not to mention the dark-but-funny violence) "Time Bandits" is really a kid's movie. And that's what I love about it: it's just a young boy stealing away on an adventure from his mundane existence. Add to that the trappings of a magical cosmic map, the gallop through the Napoleonic Wars, Ancient Greece and Medieval England, and a cadre of greedy dwarfs and it's a lot of fun. Even with that cast of familiar faces, David Warner handily steals the movie as Evil (like Sark from "TRON", only having more fun with it). And I love that the Supreme Being turns out to be a cheeky old British guy.It also ends with some sort of statement about modern technology, but that's just a last-minute zinger. What this really proves is that there's fun to be had in cult movies, and Sean Connery is awesome.7/10

A travel through time in this comedy classic. Time Bandits is not a film for everyone, some people will get the humor in the film while others will not. This particular comedy is similar to some of the works of Monty Python or Mel Brooks - it's that type of humor.I remember falling in-love with this film as a kid - I found it hysterical. This movie deals with time travel and I loved each of the time eras The Time Bandits landed in - it was like several mini-films in one full-length film.If you liked Time Bandits the you might like similar films: "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", "Wholly Moses", "The Meaning of Life" or "Robin Hood: Men in Tights".8.5/10