Due to logistical difficulties, we threw in a random British film between Ireland and Japan. I hope you enjoyed it. Please comment and answer two of the following questions:
- What is the theme of Time Bandits? Back up your response with three examples.
- If Hollywood made Time Bandits, how would it be different?
- What did you notice in the film that you feel is distinctly British?
- Do you feel this film is a work of art or just a fun movie? Justify your response with at least three sentences of reasoning.
- What do you like most about this movie? What do you dislike? Why?
I think that this movie was very different. in good and bad ways. I liked how adventurous it was and how it involved real people and monstrous creatures. I didn't like how the ending was. I thought that they had to defeat evil not clean up his mess. then again I also like it because it can be a real world test. life is testing you to see how far you can go.
ReplyDeletefor example when they were time traveling, the boy ended up fallowing witch was also a challenge for them to keep track of him and make sure he didn't get away.
second was when they got caught by the scary monster on the ship, they had to think of a quick way to get out of the trap or they would've been eatin.
third was when they had to get the map back fron evil or he would've taken over the would(if the supreme being would have let him) but they managed to give a good fight to keep it safe through there hole journey.
overall I thought it was a good movie, lots of laughter and fun adventures. I would even suggest it for younger kids.
I like your theme statement. Good job giving lots of detailed examples to back it up.
ReplyDeleteTommy kiter
ReplyDeleteThis movie was different compared to and everyday movie like the people and the creatures it was pretty awesome. The mosters how they got caught up in parts of the movie.
I also didnt like the ending it was very exciting didnt end how it should've it was sloppy and they just didnt clean it up enough. Taking over the world and everything it was like i was watching more of a cartoon.
I thought this was a great movie i would recommend it to anyone it just was not the type of movie that i would watch to boring just not enought interestment then what i usually watch.
I'd love to hear more about what made the movie "different".
DeleteTayia Groesbeck-
ReplyDeleteI like this movie because kevin has a very good Imagination and i like how adventerous it is. It remindes me of when I was little I had a very good Imagination and I always wanted to go on an adventure when I was little, I loved to go camoing a lot because we got to explore and it felt like an adventure to me.
I think if hollywood made the movie it would have a better ending, but nothing else. It kinda reminded me of where the wild things are because the boy in where the wild things are has an amazing imagination and they go on and amazing adventure. So if Hollywood made the movie I think it would be a lot like where the wild things are.
Hollywood for sure would have changed the ending. Good point. I like how you connected this to your personal life. Sounds like the beginning of a film essay ...
DeleteThis movie just wasnt my diggs. I mean, it was adventurous and creative and all but that was all it was. Personally it kinda seemed like there was always something going on but there were like gaps where it didnt matter and i just got bored. I dont think this movie was very well made... The ending... It was a joke. Thats about all i have to say about this film... i didnt even answer any of our questions. I dont care, i didnt like---- you know what, im gonna quit movie bashing NOW.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great to read your honest opinion about not liking any of the films we watch. In fact, some of the movie essays / reviews that are most fun to read are those that bash on films in really creative and funny ways. I'd love to hear even MORE specifics about what you hated about this film and maybe even some sarcastic jokes about the film.
DeleteThe theme of this movie is don't stop believing in good. Sorta like in Rise of the Guardians. Just keep believing in the light. The boy's faith and morals are tested in this adventure. Everything he knew or believed in is now gone. But in the end, he still finds a way to overcome darkness, and keep believing. And he makes a few friends in the process.
ReplyDeleteThis film is distinctly British because of two things: 1) Terry Gilliam. and 2) The humor. Europe has seen some tough stuff. There was that whole "plague" business. And England always wanted to kill France. France Just wanted to kill Germany. Spain just wanted gold, and Russia was a bunch of barbarians! They have a crazy, dark history, and that's very apparent in their humor. I mean, (SPOILER) the boys parents get permafried in the house fire, and he's totally cool with it. And then he's just an orphan, I guess? Like Oliver Twist. But that's whatever. Terry Gilliam is the American staple of british Filmmaking. We all know of Monty Python. His very unique filmmaking style is very British. Sure, there was Hitchcock and Chaplin and Nolan, but whatever! They're nobodies! Terry Gilliam IS British filmmaking. And when we think of British Cinema, we shall always think of a Terry Gilliam movie.
I like your insight of how European humor can be darker because of their dark history. Interesting to contrast that with our more golden view of our own history.
DeleteThis movie is most definitely a work of art. And, as with all works of art, it will be hated by many. People forget to look at things as they were meant to be. And this movie... was meant to be utterly fantastical with that underlying tone of ridiculousness.
ReplyDeleteIt's a story that deals with themes I think are pretty universal. A child not feeling as if he belongs in his family, searching for something different, wanting a real family, the temptation of evil, etc. But it deals with all of those things so creatively that when watching it you don't fully realize just how intense some of those themes are. For instance, the existence of God, and what he is really like. Why he would create evil. And what the technicalities of the creation of earth are.
The ending is a very complicated one. I'm not sure if it works or not. On one hand, Sean Connery winks at him which implies he knows everything, but then he drives off right as his parents explode which makes that feel like a coincidence. On the other, his parents are such grotesque creatures that I don't care what happens in the end so long as they're gone and won't be able to corrupt Kevin as he is growing up.
Graded. Check.
DeleteI'm gonna have to kind of agree with Jessi on this one, I thought it was a great movie with how adventurous it was and seeing all the places they went to, but I just didn't think it was a very good movie all around. I also felt like it had some parts missing that they should have added, I felt like it was just all over the place, well...literally. I just felt like it wasn't very thought out, but maybe that's just me. :p
ReplyDeleteI think you're right.
DeleteAs I said on my Kikujiro post, I love the "Boy going on an Adventure" movie archetype; and nothing sums up this movie more. I liked the variety of locations Kevin and God's helpers adventured to, I've noticed that a lot of fantasy movies tend to stay in one location, and the distinction between what... five different locations they played around at, made this movie very endearing, and can keep your attention in a fun manner.
ReplyDeleteArt is such a vague term, almost anything can be art to someone, it just takes one guy on the internet to call it great for them to gather a huge following and become a connoisseur of modern art. And for what? Because when they poured their Cornflakes into the bowl that morning, they just so happend to fall in an interesting pattern. This movie is definitely fun, I challenge anyone to argue that its not. But art, is a term that is very subjective and differs between everyone.
To me, it is an artful film. Its difficult to capture a sense of adventure using what, I think, is a kind of cliche premise.
As a bit of a side note, does Britland have an obsession with time travel, and time based things? Doctor Who, Time Bandits...
Good point about "art" being such a vague term.
DeleteWhy are the Brits obsessed with time travel? What's going on in their collective consciousness?
-Randi Michelle :3
ReplyDeleteI think if Hollywood made this movie, there would be a LOT more explosions and action, since that seems to be America's thing. Instead of that gladiator dude killing the ox headed guy with a simple decapitation, (oh no, that would be just too boring for the U.S) the gladiator would either lodge a grenade down the ox's throat and have him pull an Arnold Schwarzenegger and say something like, "Hasta la vista, baby!" and then have the ox say, "I'll be back!!" before it's head imploded, OR it'd be like G.I. JOE, and all these epic Transformer helicopters would fly in and blow up the whole desert, and then the little boy and the dwarfs would fly away or something. Of course, it'd be directed by Michael Bay in the scenario. Either that, or it'll be like Twilight or the typical American romance, and it'll be WAY too overly dramatic. The boy would be replaced by a teenage girl, and the dwarfs would be replaced by Prince Charming, and in the end they'd fall in love and live happily ever after. Same old, same old.
What I liked most about this movie, were the dwarfs. They were so funny and cute, and they got in all sorts of shenanigans. Their voices cracked me up, and when the leader guy was smoking that cigar on the boat, I couldn't get over his tiny little fingers. I especially liked the weird dance they did to get the boy out of the gladiator world, it was just..the best. I didn't like how Shelley Duvall was in the movie, because I absolutely HATE her acting, and I think she's extremely, EXTREMELY annoying and stupid. Another thing I didn't like was how I couldn't stay awake through the whole thing...which sucked because half of the time I didn't really know what was going on, but other that that I love it!
This post makes me happy to read.
DeleteThe theme of Time Bandits for me was childhood. This kid was going through one of the key points of childhood which was developing his imagination. Though his imagination turns out to be real. He also is going through a point in his life where his relationship with his parents is becoming weaker. And then he ends up going on an adventure with a group of bandits, finding the life he wanted, getting taken away from that life, fighting evil, and his parents being killed by evil because they didn't listen to him. And that was his childhood.
ReplyDeleteI don't think his parents would have died if Hollywood had made this. And it would have had a lot more unnecessary. I hate Hollywood.
Well the people talked like British people. Hahaha. But I think Brits are just obsessed with time. Doctor Who forever!
I think this movie is just fun. A young boy and a bunch of little people running around. That just sounds like fun. And they have a map with time portals and God is chasing them. Can it get anymore fun?
I like this movie. It was fun to watch. It caught my attention very quickly and has a nice story line.
I hate Hollywood too.
Delete