Time Bandits

Time Bandits
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Terry Gilliam
Written by	Terry Gilliam Michael Palin
Produced by	Terry Gilliam
Starring	John Cleese Sean Connery Shelley Duvall Katherine Helmond Ian Holm Michael Palin Ralph Richardson Peter Vaughan David Warner
Cinematography	Peter Biziou
Edited by	Julian Doyle
Music by	Mike Moran Songs by George Harrison
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer HandMade Films
Distributed by	HandMade Films (Distributors) Ltd.[1]
Release dates	2 July 1981 (1981-07-02) 6 November 1981 (1981-11-06)
Running time	113 minutes[1]
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$5 million[2]
Box office	$42.4 million[3]

Time Bandits is a 1981 British fantasy adventure film co-written, produced, and directed by Terry Gilliam. It stars David Rappaport, Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Peter Vaughan and David Warner. The film tells the story of a young boy taken on an adventure through time with a band of thieves who plunder treasure from various points in history.

In 1979, Terry Gilliam was unable to set up the film Brazil; therefore, he proposed a family film. Time Bandits was co-written with fellow Monty Python Michael Palin, financed by ex-Beatle George Harrison's HandMade Films and filmed in England, Morocco and Wales. The film was released in cinemas on 2 July 1981 in the United Kingdom and on 6 November 1981 in the United States. On its initial release, the film received mainly positive reviews from critics; it opened at number one at the weekend box office in the US and Canada, and, by the end of its run, grossed $36 million on a budget of $5 million.

Gilliam has referred to Time Bandits as the first in his "Trilogy of Imagination", followed by Brazil (1985) and ending with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988).