Time Bandits is an amazing film from 1981 directed by Terry Gilliam. The imagination displayed is wonderous. The look is gritty-earthen. The cast is fantastic, from a over-the-top David Warner as Evil to a just-passing-through Sean Connery. Time Bandits is remembered fondly by a whole generation.
Personally, it was one of my favorite viewing experiences growing up. I remember it came on one night in the 1980s. I had no idea what it was exactly, but by the time the credits rolled after the kid’s warning to his parents (Mum! Dad! Don’t touch that! It’s evil!”), I knew I had seen something special.
So, of course, it is about time for a remake of sorts. This time it is in the form of a TV series from Apple TV+
About Time Bandits
Official synopsis is thus:
The series is described as a comedic journey through time and space with a ragtag group of thieves and their newest recruit: an eleven-year-old history nerd.
You can definitely tell Gilliam is not involved. All of Gilliam’s films have an extremely earthy look. The look of the TV series is extremely clean. Lisa Kudrow from Friends seems to be the star of the show. You can’t really bash Time Bandits 2024 for that, though. After all, Katherine Helmond appeared in the first one, briefly, and she was a TV sitcom person.
But you can bash Time Bandits 2024 for everything else, if you are so inclined. I won’t stop you. It seems to be Taika Waititi’ed up. We even get a song by the B-52s. I don’t know whether to say, “At least it isn’t Love Shack” or “Couldn’t they have at least used Love Shack?” Such is the state we find ourselves in.
Watch the trailer and form your own opinions…