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Time Bandits
In the company of an English schoolboy, a group of six creatures who have escaped from the intergalactic Repairs Department with The Supreme Being's map of time holes travels back and forth through the centuries
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
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About the author
Michael Palin
137 books1,196 followersSir Michael Edward Palin, KCMG, CBE, FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries.
Palin wrote most of his material with Terry Jones. Before Monty Python, they had worked on other shows such as The Ken Dodd Show, The Frost Report and Do Not Adjust Your Set. Palin appeared in some of the most famous Python sketches, including "The Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "The Spanish Inquisition" and "Spam". Palin continued to work with Jones, co-writing Ripping Yarns. He has also appeared in several films directed by fellow Python Terry Gilliam and made notable appearances in other films such as A Fish Called Wanda, for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted the 30th favourite by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
After Python, he began a new career as a travel writer. His journeys have taken him across the world, the North and South Poles, the Sahara desert, the Himalayas and most recently, Eastern Europe. In 2000 Palin became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to television.
Palin wrote most of his material with Terry Jones. Before Monty Python, they had worked on other shows such as The Ken Dodd Show, The Frost Report and Do Not Adjust Your Set. Palin appeared in some of the most famous Python sketches, including "The Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "The Spanish Inquisition" and "Spam". Palin continued to work with Jones, co-writing Ripping Yarns. He has also appeared in several films directed by fellow Python Terry Gilliam and made notable appearances in other films such as A Fish Called Wanda, for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted the 30th favourite by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
After Python, he began a new career as a travel writer. His journeys have taken him across the world, the North and South Poles, the Sahara desert, the Himalayas and most recently, Eastern Europe. In 2000 Palin became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to television.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 1, 2026
When I was ten years old Time Bandits was my favourite film bar none; better than Star Wars, better than Raiders of the Lost Ark, better than anything by Disney.
I'm in my mid-40's now and I still love it. Terry Gilliam's made one or two better films, but only one or two. For anyone with a love of history and an active imagination, this film is simply perfect. It's hilariously funny to boot.
Six time-traveling thieves, who happen to be dwarves, steal a map from God and enlist the help of a clever boy on their quest to find the Most Fabulous Object in the World.
The Supreme Being is described as looking 'not unlike Alec Guinness playing George Smiley,' and in the end they got Ralph Richardson, an inspired choice. He provides my favourite line in the film, when he absent-mindedly reveals that he let the thieves have the map and knew exactly what was going on all along:
SUPREME BEING:
"Well, of course ... I am the Supreme Being...I'm not entirely dim."
Reading the script, co-written by Gilliam and the divine Michael Palin, I found that I knew it all pretty much line for line. There's not much of extra interest here beyond the photos and short biographies of the six time bandits (Og's Favourite Colour: 'The one with red in') and this script direction:
'Suddenly, hiss, swish and whoosh! A moment that will make John Hurt's first encounter with the Alien look as fast as Churchill's funeral.'
If you haven't seen the film before, do yourself a favour and hunt it out.
I'm in my mid-40's now and I still love it. Terry Gilliam's made one or two better films, but only one or two. For anyone with a love of history and an active imagination, this film is simply perfect. It's hilariously funny to boot.
Six time-traveling thieves, who happen to be dwarves, steal a map from God and enlist the help of a clever boy on their quest to find the Most Fabulous Object in the World.
The Supreme Being is described as looking 'not unlike Alec Guinness playing George Smiley,' and in the end they got Ralph Richardson, an inspired choice. He provides my favourite line in the film, when he absent-mindedly reveals that he let the thieves have the map and knew exactly what was going on all along:
SUPREME BEING:
"Well, of course ... I am the Supreme Being...I'm not entirely dim."
Reading the script, co-written by Gilliam and the divine Michael Palin, I found that I knew it all pretty much line for line. There's not much of extra interest here beyond the photos and short biographies of the six time bandits (Og's Favourite Colour: 'The one with red in') and this script direction:
'Suddenly, hiss, swish and whoosh! A moment that will make John Hurt's first encounter with the Alien look as fast as Churchill's funeral.'
If you haven't seen the film before, do yourself a favour and hunt it out.
June 11, 2021
Was there anything quite as dizzily imagined as the scripted films of Terry Gilliam? Recalling the best of Monty Python and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (with fighting, bloodshed and mayhem thrown in), we follow a bunch of ageless yet withered bunglers in and out of time and space as they pillage, loot, ransack and bully each other in their quest for good times and the ultimate prize. Standing in for the audience is one bewildered yet avid boy, 11-year-old Kevin, who gleefully worships killing and battles as only a small boy can yet finds himself disillusioned and frustrated when meeting his heroes.
If you want to see how God can be a Supreme Being and also a tired, peevish businessman in an ill-fitting suit and Evil a powerful menace obsessed with computers like an IT nerd, then dive into the inspired lunacy that is Time Bandits.
If you want to see how God can be a Supreme Being and also a tired, peevish businessman in an ill-fitting suit and Evil a powerful menace obsessed with computers like an IT nerd, then dive into the inspired lunacy that is Time Bandits.
December 22, 2015
A great read for fans of the film like me. It not only contains Michael Palin's amusing script note on Agamemnon, praising Sean Connery to the skies, whilst suggesting they find someone "of equal stature but cheaper", but also features the script and photographs from the deleted Spider Women sequence.
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August 23, 2008isbn,original
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews