Time Bandits

Time Bandits (Criterion #37). 1981 HandMade Films.
Starring: John Cleese, Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, David Rappaport, Craig Warnock
Producers: Terry Gilliam, George Harrison, Denis O'Brien
Director: Terry Gilliam
Available at Amazon: Criterion edition, Non-Criterion edition.

After Terry Gilliam had success with Jabberwocky, and the two Monty Python films that he helped make, he began developing what would become 1985's Brazil. In the early '80s, no studio was ready to back Gilliam on such an elaborate project until he had at least one bonafide hit movie. So he and Michael Palin got together and put together something that wouldn't be ignored by the studios, writing it over the course of one weekend, and producing it with the help of their friends at HandMade Films, George Harrison and Denis O'Brien.

Kevin (Warnock) is an eleven year old history buff (especially of the Ancient Greek period) whose parents constantly ignore him, preferring to keep up with the neighbors by acquiring all of the latest gadgets. He is awakened one evening by a knight on horseback bursting from his wardrobe and riding off into a forest that has appeared where a bedroom wall should be. When Kevin investigates later, he finds nothing out of the ordinary, but he prepares for the next night with a torch and a Polaroid camera. Six dwarves stumble out of the wardrobe, and they are initially scared by Kevin's torch, thinking he's the "Supreme Being" (voiced by Tony Jay, played in person by Richardson). When they realize Kevin is just a kid, they ignore him in favor of finding a way out, pushing a bedroom wall out of place. The genuine Supreme Being shows up behind them, demanding the return of a map the dwarves have, and Kevin gets caught with them, falling into darkness at the end of the long hallway.

Kevin learns that the dwarves are employees of the Supreme Being, and their map is supposed to help them repair holes in time and space. They are in a labor dispute, and are simply using the map to steal treasures from all eras of history. At the same time, they're being watched by the "Source of All Evil" and his henchmen, who want the map to recreate the universe in his manner. Kevin and the others travel through time, meeting Napoleon Bonaparte (Holm) and Robin Hood (Cleese), survive the sinking of the Titanic, and Kevin spends time by himself in ancient Greece, meeting and bonding with Agamemnon (Connery). They also have a final conflict with the Source of All Evil, defeating him, and Kevin goes home. But, was this all a wild dream?

Recommended movie.