4. Brazil
Budget: $15,000,000 Worldwide Box Office: $9,929,135
The 2nd Terry Gilliam film on this list and one that is an instant classic. Released in 1985, the film follows Sam Lowry, played by Jonathan Pryce, who is trying to find a woman he continuously dreams of, while surrounded by a totalitarian society that is a tip of the cap to the bureaucratic government depicted in George Orwells 1984. What sets the film apart is its quirky, whimsical world that the protagonist is placed in. While under similar restrictive conditions shown in 1984, the government has a slapstick element to it, providing a brilliantly satirical take on politics. The influence of Kubricks Dr Strangelove can be felt prominently. While initially successful in the UK, when released in America later in 1985, the film performed terribly and ended up with a total pushing $10 million from its initial budget of $15 million. As proven with Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and others such as The Adventures of Baron Munchuasen and Tideland, Gilliams very distinctive style and the creative decisions he takes are not a commercially inviting prospect for major film studios, as most of his films fail to turn over a profit. Yet his imagination and the diverse worlds he produces are critically successful and attractive to a minority of movie goers, and while film makers such as Gilliam are still able to make the films they wish to make, cinema will forever be better for their experimental, boundary pushing vision.