10 Funniest Non-Monty Python Films From Monty Python Members

Time Bandits is one of those near-perfect films that makes you want to sever ties with anyone in your "friend" group who hasn't seen it. "You've never seen Time Bandits??" you shriek. "Get the hell out of my life and go back re-watch your BluRay copy of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. It was a major success at the box office, and basically kicked off Terry Gilliam's career as a reputable director.

You know why? Because it's amazing. Hopefully that's become clear by now.

The special effects are delightfully thrifty, the tone deftly moves between lighthearted and aggressively dark, and the cast is absolutely dynamite. Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, and Ian Holm - along with Cleese and Palin - are unstoppable. And damn funny.

Not so coincidentally, Time Bandits plays a little like a Python film - a recurring motif in Gilliam's early work - as the various historical eras they visit in this time-traveling epic each operates like a mini-sketch that prods along the larger story. Think Meaning of Life but with a stronger narrative thread.

Like many other fantasy classics that came out around this time period - Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, etc. - Time Bandits is a movie that is mostly kid friendly on the surface, but gets much bleaker as the age of the viewer increases.