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Beloved Classic or merely an Underrated Cult Film?

posted 9 years ago by ageary87
12 replies | jump to latest

Hi, everyone!
First off, I must state right off the bat that I am biased in this discussion and love Time Bandits more than almost any other film.
I watched it many times on VHS as a child, and have since seen it on the big screen and the Criterion restoration.
Through the years I've shown it to friends and recommended it to others. For the most part, it has been everyone's introduction to a film that I have known my entire life. Nobody seems to know it. Nobody has disliked it, but they're unaware of or immune to the connection I seem to have with this film. They see it as nothing more than a weird 80s fantasy with merits, whereas, I feel this is one of the most imaginative, immersive, and enjoyable fantasy-comedies you could watch.
For those of you who have seen it (love or hate it), have you ever tried to get a friend to watch it? How did they react? Is it more respected by Brits than Americans? Do you think this is a masterpiece, or simply an amusing excursion through time?

[–] misscastaway 9 years ago

It's an underrated masterpiece. Words can't describe it. I first saw it on VHS back in the 80s. My brother who is 11 years younger than me, and two of his friends, watched it with me. We all instantly started quoting it, and singing "Me and my shadow, walking down the avenue... avenue, avenue." John Cleese as Robin Hood greeting the peasants like Prince Charles. "Good lord! Jolly good!" Brilliant casting, brilliant acting, Terry Gilliam's surreal and masterful directing techniques which are unlike any other. You can immediately tell when Gilliam is involved. Genuinely scary moments- being suspended in floating cages with rats crawling around. Dark and murky and frightening, and David Warner showing no mercy as Evil, even though he's funny as hell. Just love this film.

Oh, and Michael Palin! "Pansy! The problem! I MUST HAVE FRUIT!"

"He's making it up as he goes along!"

[–] Laserseightoclockdayone 8 years ago

I'm 36 and there hasn't been one second of my life that I can remember where this hasn't been my all-time favorite film.

As far as if it's more respected by Brits than Americans? I actually kinda doubt that. It was the highest grossing British film in the US for a good 6-7 years, which would include every James Bond film to until Pierce Brosnan took over. Hell, when I was a little kid I didn't even know British people were from another country. Just thought it was another accent like our southerners. I also think we've always had a strong affinity with all things Python-related in the US. Way back in the dawn of the internet you weren't a quirky nerd unless you committed the Holy Grail script to memory. So much that I can still quote the film without watching it today. Then also consider that the film which knocked Time Bandits out of the #1 spot for British films in the US was A Fish Called Wanda, another Python collaboration.

But yes. Masterpiece through and through. I've never seen another film like it, and I doubt I ever will. The same praise can be given to Munchausen and Brazil.

Just think, if it hadn't been for the production woes of those other 2 films in the 'imagination trilogy', we might be living in a world where surrealist fantasy/comedies had taken hold.

[–] Ill_Bandido 8 years ago

I've recommended it to a lot of people over the years and the response has usually been either a courteous meh or an outright negative. The few people I've met who like it, like it a lot. In my experience, it's a real love it or hate it film (much like many cult films), and doesn't really have that general appeal that "classics" do. Films considered classic have a way of appealing to a broad spectrum of personalities and tastes, and Time Bandits doesn't seem to fit that bill.

[–] meldrone 8 years ago

Classic.

[–] gb901 8 years ago

Definitely the former

[–] Woodyanders 8 years ago

I consider this film to be an underrated cult classic.

I've been chasing grace/ But grace ain't easy to find

[–] Lucky_Man 8 years ago

I remember seeing this movie at a Blockbuster and though the cover art reminded me of the animated sequences of Monty Python (of which I am a fan) and the title was interesting, I never saw it until the other day.

I am 28 years old, I have been called "wise-beyond-my-years" and I've been called "extremely cynical," but I will tell you that this movie made me kick my feet together in joy, excitement, and anticipation. I loved every second of it, it made me feel 9 years old again and full of a mystical power of hope.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2uOzV4glRs

[–] HopelessBilly 8 years ago

I'm going with misscastaway on this one. An underrate masterpiece.

Unless they grew up in the 80's, not many people know about Time Bandits!
I adore this movie, it's one of those movies you loved as a child and then watch it again as an adult and discover that it's even better than you remembered.
I was about 10 when I first saw Time Bandits, it was the first movie my dad bought on DVD and I adored it. For my 25th birthday we all sat down to watch it again on Blu-ray (for the first time in 15 years) and I have to say, I appreciate it even more than I did as a child!

I'm an Aussie so don't know about whether it's respected more by Brits than Americans but I'd assume so. Different humour and all that.

[–] SpaceMountainMike 8 years ago

It's kind of funny to me, because I love this movie to this day but at the same time it has negative sentemental value because I was watching this movie when my grandmother died, which I found out the next day. When my dad told me the next day, he told me the exact time, so that's how I figured out that I was at the theater at the time watching this movie.

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