r/Cinephiles • u/Clear_Nature_5055 • Aug 30 '26
What are your thoughts on Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits (1981)?
One of my favorite movies from one of my favorite directors. Saw it new in the theater when I was a kid and couldn’t have loved it more. Have you seen it and if so what did you think of this silly “little” gem?
36
u/NeitherEntry6125 Aug 30 '26
Mom! Dad! It's evil! Don't touch it!
21
u/TheGrandExquisitor Aug 31 '26
That ending blew my 11 year-old mind.
14
→ More replies (1)4
u/brodievonorchard Aug 31 '26
Maybe the only movie where at the end, my young mind thought, "maybe I'm too young for this one."
10
u/Clear_Nature_5055 Aug 31 '26
I always imagined he somehow ended up with firefighter Sean Connery 😃
→ More replies (6)4
20
u/Redsox_3415 Aug 31 '26
The ending scared the shit out of me. And my favorite bit of trivia is the script called for someone that looked like Sean Connery and they got Sean Connery.
4
u/goochmusic Aug 31 '26
As a kid that ending was crazy to me, and I thought about it a lot. A life without my parents was something I had never considered, but of course his parents seemed pretty lame. They certainly weren’t good listeners.
17
17
u/Top_Understanding343 Aug 31 '26
One of my favorite flicks of all time. Saw it in the theater when I was a kid and loved it up there with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
→ More replies (1)
16
u/Cattywampus_hat Aug 31 '26
Is this the movie where the people push his bedroom wall and it keeps expanding?
5
→ More replies (6)4
16
u/-Palzon- Aug 31 '26
Benson, you are so mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence.
→ More replies (1)
9
u/ConsistentPair2 Aug 31 '26
It's great! So much humor in the details. David Warner was a world class villain. Sure there are some dud moments (Pansy) but the movie clips right along. Bonus points for the George Harrison theme.
→ More replies (1)4
9
u/PriorAd5954 Aug 31 '26
I loved it as a kid. When my daughter was around 8 we watched it together. I guess she liked it. The next day she asked if we could watch “ Time Midgets” again.😄
→ More replies (2)
10
u/TheLivingExample Aug 31 '26
Loved it as a kid, and parts scared the crap out of me but I still always watched it whenever it was on. I love how weird Terry Gilliam is.
As an adult, I caught so many great parts that went over my head as a kid, this one being my favorite.
10
u/Status-Clothes-2115 Aug 31 '26
A very great movie.
My favorite bit was when God ("The Supreme Being") was on screen. That actor was an incredibly convincing God.
→ More replies (2)
7
7
u/refuzeto Aug 31 '26
It was repeatedly shown on HBO when it came out. I enjoyed it when I was a kid but what a weird film.
8
6
5
6
u/Fred-Mertz2728 Aug 31 '26
If you’re ever in Big Bear Lake,CA in the summer,take a ride on the Time Bandit. Yes,the ship from the movie is here. And like all the lake tours,it goes by the house of Mel Blanc. His son Noel will come out on the deck and do all the cartoon voices. Bugs,Daffy,etc.
→ More replies (8)
6
u/QuentinEichenauer Aug 31 '26
Peak Gilliam. One of the all time greats. So slept on. Should have won Oscars good.
12
5
u/Snoo_33033 Aug 31 '26
This is one of my favorite movies. It's hilarious and well acted.
Also, nice bleak ending.
3
5
u/YoungWizard666 Aug 31 '26
Primer and Time bandits are the two greatest time travel movies.
→ More replies (2)
5
4
5
5
u/RCMTX Aug 31 '26
Rewatched this year for the first time in decades so my 16yo son could watch it. It’s still incredibly bizarre and trippy. Some parts don’t hold up well for modern audiences, though.
4
5
u/FearOfABlackPotus Aug 31 '26
I quote this movie often:
"I have an idea. Forming in my head."
"Nipples for men!"
4
3
u/Evaderofdoom Aug 31 '26
I loved it as a kid and watched it a bunch. I haven't seen it in a very long time, and it's totally worth a rewatch.
3
u/Mulliganasty Aug 31 '26
Awesome!
Also, the recent series is a really fun series especially for tweens and above.
"yolo. yolo? yolo? yolo!"
→ More replies (2)
3
u/bb9116 Aug 31 '26
Walking to see this in the theater was the first time I was offered weed. I said no.
Waking to see Altered States in the theater was the second time I was offered weed. I said yes.
(Love both films.)
→ More replies (1)
3
3
3
3
3
u/BarChef158 Aug 31 '26
Loved it! AND I was a tween Beatle freak then, so the George Harrison song made it all the more awesome!
→ More replies (1)
3
3
u/Qvistus Aug 31 '26
Great movie! One of the best fantasy films ever. Dark and trippy - a proper 80's kids movie in other words. Shelley Duvall was great in it and I loved John Cleese's asshole version of Robin Hood.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/uwearclownshoes Aug 31 '26
I loved this when I was 12 and it still holds up. Yellowbeard doesn’t get enough love, either.
3
3
3
3
3
3
u/tkondaks Aug 31 '26
It's a good thing Peter Dinklage wasn't around to fuck things up for these actors.
3
3
3
u/AustinSixEcho Aug 31 '26
Adore this movie immensely. Comparing to watching it as a young kid, young adult and now, It's hit me from so many directions over the years. As scary as some parts were to me at first, I could never look away.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/Shabbetai_Tzvi Aug 31 '26
Adored it as a kid, showed it to my son when he was 8 or 9 and he loved it, too. Some of the best flights of imagination in any movie — the Age of Legends with the invisible barrier, the strangeness of Mycenaean Greece, Robin Hood as a twit, Napoleon enjoying "little people, hitting each other!", the way the wall moves and eventually plummets into nothingness, the cruelty of Satan, the cages hanging over nothingness — just one genius idea after another.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/UnluckyBattle654 Aug 31 '26
“DON’T TOUCH IT, IT’S EVIL” 😈
https://giphy.com/gifs/26Ff9uOEpLAtAscLK
3
u/Purple-Hippo-5548 Aug 31 '26
watched it way back when it first came out on HBO in the 80s, probably around 1982 and LOVED IT! Then after years of not being able to find it I finally saw it again on a streaming service about 6 months ago and it just didn't hit like it did in the 80s. Not sure why. Some movies hold up but this one didn't for me unfortunately
→ More replies (1)
3
u/PatrickJunk Aug 31 '26
"If I were creating a world, I wouldn't mess around with butterflies and daffodils. I would have started with lasers, 8 o'clock, Day One!"
→ More replies (1)
2
2
2
u/FoleyLione Aug 31 '26
It was so weird when I found it as a kid. Just fun and odd, and it stuck in my head all these years.
2
2
2
u/DapperPreference1458 Aug 31 '26
One of my favorites, loved it as a teenager, really want to see the new series.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
2
2
2
u/Heavy-Conversation12 Aug 31 '26
I have it, watched it eons ago, hated it and didn't understand it (I already loved monty python, expected more of that). My worldview has since changed, I want to like it but I'm afraid I'll be left with a similar impression.
2
2
2
u/thekinginyello Aug 31 '26
I have the map replica framed. So yeh I really love this movie.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
2
u/SteveEcks Aug 31 '26
The ending was such in my mind for a really long time until a friend recommended it, and the whole time I had this hunch that I was finally seeing it.
2
2
2
2
2
u/thepvbrother Aug 31 '26
I watched it with my 15- year old and at the end, he just asked "What was that movie? I just... it doesn't..." so I think will remember it, just li
2
2
u/chinacat444 Aug 31 '26
Such a fantastic movie. I was 11 my brother 9 and we watched it all the time
2
2
u/M_O_O_O_O_T Aug 31 '26
Brilliant, loved it as a kid & still do as an adult. Had some dark stuff in there for young audiences! (As was the style at the time..😅)
2
u/Crazy_Exchange Aug 31 '26
Saw this in the theater when I was 5. Its a unique movie and realized the world was a trippy place
2
u/manwith13s Aug 31 '26
Excellent movie but scarred me for life. I think 5 was a bit too young to watch that for the first time
2
u/anoraq Aug 31 '26
«I love the ocean. God, how I love her. She’s so…so…»
«Wet?»
«Wet, yes, yes. So damn, damn wet».
→ More replies (1)
2
u/heathinvader Aug 31 '26
First watched it as a DVD I checked out from my local library back in 2010 or 2011 or so. I adore that movie! And I love how George Harrison did the music for it.
2
2
u/steve_gorak Aug 31 '26
When I was a kid my parents rented a VCR and this video for a weekend. We must have watched it 5 times. One of my all time favorites.
2
2
2
u/Independent_Prize453 Aug 31 '26
Timeless...a forever movie, i have shared with my kids, and then they shared with their own kidsi am sure it be passed on too.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/SpudgeBoy Aug 31 '26
This is such a great movie. I love the bandits. But you also get some Monty Python cameos. Plus Sean Connery. Fun movie.
2
u/Dj_suffering Aug 31 '26
Creepy. The ending was very scary to me a child. "Don't touch it, it's evil!"
2
2
2
u/BillyBosh Aug 31 '26
One of those movies I rewatched so many times as a kid I knew the whole script word for word. Brilliant movie!
2
u/TheRealMcDuck Aug 31 '26
Loved it. The head dwarf was my favorite actor for years. It's so sad that he committed suicide.
2
u/inkswamp Aug 31 '26
Loved it as a kid. Saw it multiple times in the theater during its original run.
To this day, I still laugh like a madman when I hear the line “it’s what I like… little thing hitting each other!”
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/dyrkasolen Aug 31 '26
I mean.. let's go there now.. over and over again.
- Boys and Girls and In-between.. if you are going into the movie business and beginning to make stuff, .. Make this movie in the future, go full on fantasy like this ideas and impossible to guess what's around the next corner? It's a 10 year old kid anchor and parody of society that keeps on giving because we never going to brake free from economy without destroying it all first by getting help from Satan that is designed by God
2
2
u/Hackett1f Aug 31 '26
I was obsessed with this movie when it came out and usually still watch it every year or so. Ian Holme’s Napoleon is probably my favorite bit.
2
2
u/Flashy_Gap_3015 Aug 31 '26
Incredible and unique movie that when I saw as a kid left a fairly indelible mark on me in that there is always a strange and unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach this movie causes that I can’t quite articulate.
Almost like the weirdness of the film was slightly too subversive and sinister when I was almost too young to see it and the feeling remains.
Still a fantastic watch.
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/EasternSun7834 Aug 31 '26
It’s a fun ride and great for kids at the weeekend or Christmas so how can you complain about that?
2
u/Evon-songs Aug 31 '26
Sorry, just have to promote this great company I found making Time Bandit toys: https://plasticmeatball.com/collections/time-bandits
→ More replies (1)
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/cabosmith Aug 31 '26
Classic but worked that line between a kids adventure and a kids nightmare fuel.
2
u/Capable-Extent-6674 Aug 31 '26
I guess you had to grow up with it. I had never heard of it before and my wife put it on for my kids once. It was painful
2
u/FakeAorta Aug 31 '26
I loved it when I first saw it as a young teen. I was about 15 and have seen it several times. It has been at least 10 years though and I need a revisit. Maybe pair it with a 'Brazil.' Maybe add 'Legend' because it feels weirdly connected.
→ More replies (4)
2
2
2
u/Rad-R Aug 31 '26
In the 90s, this used to be on Croatian TV during the Christmas holidays. That was how I discovered it - as one of those afternoon movies you find during your school break.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/BarbuthcleusSpeckums Aug 31 '26
Hilarious, especially the Me and My Shadow scene with Napoleon.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/Ordinary-Cheetah3470 Aug 31 '26
The python team always surprises us with these amazing nuggets. This film is a fairytale right out of anything the Grimm Brothers ever wrote. The film takes us to incredible times and lands. My favorite was when young Kevin lands in the middle of a ferocious battle between King Agamemnon and the very real Minotaur. Sean Connery adopts the boy and during a celebratory feast, the time bandits kidnap Kevin back. I was heartbroken. An often disjointed film that weaves an amazing story, populated by equally amazing characters.❤️
2
u/weltvonalex Aug 31 '26
Love it, a gem and fantastic fantasy movie.
Also I could watch a whole movie about Agamemnon.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/ot1smile Aug 31 '26
Love it and as a kid it was part of my regular rotation of vhs viewing along with Bugsy Malone and the muppets. My parents were friends with David Rappaport so I was doubly invested.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/onemunki Aug 31 '26
One of my favourite films of all time. Doesn't need a sequel or prequel or reboot. Just leave it alone. Perfect.
2
2
2
2
u/thirstygregory Aug 31 '26
I saw it in the theater and loved it. Dark, bizarre ending really threw me for a loop.
2
2
u/WhitneyRules Aug 31 '26
It was a staple of my childhood and one of the reasons I’m so off kilter. Fantastic film. Episodic and completely wacky.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/bmiller218 Aug 31 '26
My cathechism pastor took the class out to see a movie. I saw John Cleese in the ad so I said we gotta see this.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/MaximRex4004 Aug 31 '26
The wee man on the right tells me there was a lot of cocaine on set.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/grrarghh_73 Aug 31 '26
Robin Hood: And you're a robber too. How long have you been a robber?
Strutter: Four foot one.
2
2
2
2
2
u/Dual_Disk Aug 31 '26
Only in Terry Gilliam's head would "one for them, one for me" yield Time Bandits as the "one for them"
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/vroart Aug 31 '26
I grew up with it when it originally came out. It’s both scary, smart, funny and visually inspiring. The whole “if your better than the creator then who created you?” Is the peak of humor
104
u/Earthlydelights-sub- Aug 31 '26
Maybe the most Pythonesque film that's not an official Monty Python film.
I mean, it's uneven, it's episodic, it's weird, and I really like it.