This 1981 movie was directed by Monty Pythons Terry Gilliam. He also produced it and co wrote it with another Python Michael Palin. As a result you will not be too surprised by the addition of more Pythons in the cast list, shall we give that list now. OK, it starred John Cleese, Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Ralph Richardson, Peter Vaughan, David Warner, David Rappaport, Kenny Baker, Jack Purvis, Mike Edmonds, Tiny Ross & Craig Warnock. The Tri- Critic scoreboard is not going to be involved with this one as the difference between the other two as IMDb gave this 7/10 and 19 point ahead is Rotten Tomatoes with their triumphant score of 89%.
The story relates to a different Kevin (not the home alone version) but a year older at 11, has a fascination in history and in particular ancient Greece. In the middle of the night an armoured knight bursts out of his wardrobe and then rides off into a forest that was his bedroom wall. He looks again and the room is back to normal and he is completely puzzled. The following night he is prepared with a school bag with a camera inside but rather than a knight he is surprised by six dwarves that burst out of his wardrobe. The dwarves have a large and very worn map they are looking for an exit to his room. They push his room to the side revealing a hallway which they scurry down, a head appears which is the Supreme Being who demands the return of his map makes Kevin decide to run and join the dwarves. The adventure begins and he and the dwarves travel through various time holes and travel to various different points in time and history. They visit Napoleon, Robin Hood and a whole host of different adventures I vaguely remember a giant with their ship on his head like a hat. The dwarves explain that they were once employed by the Supreme Being to repair the holes in the spacetime fabric but they then realised that they could use the map to steal the wealth throughout time. Unbeknown to the group their activities are not only being chased by the Supreme Being but they are also being monitored by the Evil villain of the piece who has seen their exploits and thinks that having the map might just be a good idea for him to take off them. I think you can work out the rest by watching it for yourself.
There is a definite Monty Python feel to this movie with its small production budget of $5m but this movie was a success both with me and critics as well as the box office as it went on to make $42.4m at the box office. There is a good reason for this as it is a great fun romp through space and time. The humour is top notch and just about quirky enough to be off the wall. Its entertaining and the character mix with Kevin joining the bandits as they travel through the holes to steal and he is there with his moral compass attempting to steer them on a better path and be more honourable. This is a good movie and you need to give it a chance if you haven’t yet.
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