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Time Bandits

Time Bandits

Family · Fantasy · Science Fiction · 1981

Young history buff Kevin can scarcely believe it when six dwarfs emerge from his closet one night. Former employees of the Supreme Being, they've purloined a map charting all of the holes in the fabric of time and are using it to steal treasures from different historical eras. Taking Kevin with them, they variously drop in on Napoleon, Robin Hood and King Agamemnon before the Supreme Being catches up with them.

Movie details

Time Bandits

“…they didn’t make history, they stole it!”

1981 Family · Fantasy · Science Fiction 1h 56m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

Young history buff Kevin can scarcely believe it when six dwarfs emerge from his closet one night. Former employees of the Supreme Being, they've purloined a map charting all of the holes in the fabric of time and are using it to steal treasures from different historical eras. Taking Kevin with them, they variously drop in on Napoleon, Robin Hood and King Agamemnon before the Supreme Being catches up with them.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Time Bandits?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Terry Gilliam

Written by

Terry Gilliam · Michael Palin

Craig Warnock

Craig Warnock

Kevin

David Rappaport

David Rappaport

Randall

Kenny Baker

Kenny Baker

Fidgit

Mike Edmonds

Mike Edmonds

Og

Malcolm Dixon

Malcolm Dixon

Strutter

Tiny Ross

Tiny Ross

Vermin

Jack Purvis

Jack Purvis

Wally

Court is in session

Put Time Bandits on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.