Terry Gilliam: Ranking His Films From Worst To Best
3. Time Bandits
If Tideland explored the warped psyche of a young girl traumatised by the death of her parents, the imaginative landscapes of Time Bandits resides closer to the other end of the spectrum, where exuberant fantasy and creative escapism run free. 11-year-old Kevin's historically informed adventures enthralled a generation of kids who grew up with Gilliam's second solo feature - a star-studded romp through the ages which gave audiences their first hint at the true flair for his visually exciting and playful style. Kevin (Craig Warnock) wakes up one night to find his bedroom overrun with a group of ragtag renegade dwarves who proceed to drag him through the ages using a stolen map with magical properties which allows them to traverse both space and time. On their journey they visit Napoleon (Ian Holm), Robin Hood (John Cleese), Agamemnon (Sean Connery) and a host of other historical figures, unaware that all the time there is an Evil Genius (played to perfection by David Warner) watching from afar and manipulating events so that he might acquire the map for his own nefarious ends. They soon find themselves plunged into the Time of Legends, where giants roam the oceans with sailing ships perched atop their heads and beasts and monsters roam. Some critics at the time of its release lambasted The Time Bandits for being too episodic - a criticism which surely misses the point completely. The entertainment value of the film is precisely the random, unpredictable manner in which they crop up in wildly contrasting locations - just as the unfettered imagination of your average young boy playing with his toys might veer from knights to cowboys to astronauts. Despite the leaps between time and place, the action never feels incongruous - Gilliam grounds the hectic narrative in witty and assured dialogue (co-written by Michael Palin) and imagery which is both bizarre and beautiful. Time Bandits remains today one of the greatest children's fantasy movies ever made, and like all great cinema the appeal for adults is just as strong (especially for those who made the wise decision not to grow up too much simply because they aged).
