Editing Time Bandits (section)

==Reception==
===Box office===
The film was released in the US on 6 November 1981 and opened at number one at the box office for the weekend, grossing $6,507,356 from 821 theatres.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|page=3|date=1981-11-11 |title='Bandits' Steal B.O. Thunder From Thin Pack; 'Halloween II' Plunges|last=Ginsberg|first=Steven}}</ref> The film remained number one for 4 weeks and grossed $36 million in the United States and Canada on a budget of $5 million (£2.2 million), and was the 13th highest-grossing film of the year in North America.<ref name="icon">Walker, Alexander (2005). ''Icons in the Fire: The Rise and Fall of Practically Everyone in the British Film Industry 1984–2000''. Orion Books. p. 12.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Numbers – Top-Grossing Movies of 1981 |url=https://m.the-numbers.com/market/1981/top-grossing-movies |website=The Numbers}}</ref>

The film was re-released in the US on 12 November 1982<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=17 November 1982|page=3|title='Creepshow' Leads B.O. Upswing; 'First Blood' Still Flows Strong|last=Ginsberg|first=Steven}}</ref> and grossed a further $6 million<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|date=7 December 1982|page=1|title=National B.O. Takes Seasonal Dip Over Weekend|last=Ginsberg|first=Steven}}</ref> to take its gross to $42.4 million in the United States and Canada.<ref name=mojo/>

===Critical response===
On the review aggregator website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds a 91% rating based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The consensus states: "''Time Bandits'' is a remarkable time-travel fantasy from Terry Gilliam, who utilises fantastic set design and homemade special effects to create a vivid, original universe".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/time_bandits/ |title=Time Bandits |work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Flixster]] |access-date=14 February 2021}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], it received a weighted average rating of 79 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/time-bandits|title=Time Bandits|website=[[Metacritic]]}}</ref>

The film had mainly positive reviews. Gary Arnold of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' said it was "a marvellous cinematic tonic, a sumptuous new classic in the tradition of time-travel and fairy-tale adventure".<ref>{{cite news |last=Arnold |first=Gary |title=Time Bandits |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=6 November 1981 |page=C1}}</ref> David Ansen of ''[[Newsweek]]'' considered it "at once sophisticated and childlike in its magical but emotionally cool logic ... a wonderful wild card in the fall movie season".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ansen |first=David |title=Time Bandits |journal=[[Newsweek]] |date=9 November 1981 |page=92}}</ref> [[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' said it was "a cheerfully irreverent lark – part fairy tale, part science fiction and part comedy".<ref>{{cite news |last=Canby |first=Vincent |title='TIME BANDITS,' A LARK THROUGH THE EONS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/06/movies/time-bandits-a-lark-through-the-eons.html |work=The New York Times |date=6 November 1981}}</ref> 

Other critics gave the film less praise. [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' said: "I'm usually fairly certain whether or not I've seen a good movie. But my reaction to ''Time Bandits'' was ambiguous. I had great admiration for what was physically placed on the screen ... But I was disappointed by the breathless way the dramatic scenes were handled and by a breakneck pace that undermined the most important element of comedy, which is timing".<ref>{{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |title=Time Bandits movie review & film summary (1981) {{!}} Roger Ebert |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/time-bandits-1981 |work=rogerebert.com |language=en}}</ref> [[Gene Siskel]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' thought it was "an uneven special effects extravaganza ... Unfortunately, there are just too many visits to famous people".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Siskel |first=Gene |title=Time Bandits |journal=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=25 December 1981 |page=12}}</ref> British critic [[Leslie Halliwell]] gave it one of four stars: "Curious tall tale in which schoolboy fantasy alternates with violence and black comedy. In general much less funny than it intended to be, but with some hilarious moments."<ref>Halliwell, Leslie - ''Halliwell's Film Guide'' - 7th Edition 1987 ISBN 0-06-016322-4</ref> [[Pauline Kael]] stated: "Gilliam has a cacophonous imagination; even the magical incongruities are often cancelled out by the incessant buzz of cleverness{{nbsp}}... The director doesn't shape the material satisfyingly; this may be one of those rare pictures that suffers from a surfeit of good ideas." <ref>Kael, Pauline - ''5001 Nights at the Movies'' 1991 ISBN 0-8050-1366-0</ref>

===Legacy===
Gilliam has referred to ''Time Bandits'' as the first in his "Trilogy of Imagination", followed by ''[[Brazil (1985 film)|Brazil]]'' (1985) and ending with ''[[The Adventures of Baron Munchausen]]'' (1988).<ref name="essay">Matthews, Jack (1996). "Dreaming Brazil". Essay accompanying [[The Criterion Collection]] DVD.</ref> All are about the "craziness of our awkwardly ordered society and the desire to escape it through whatever means possible".<ref name="essay" /> All three films focus on these struggles and attempts to escape them through imagination: ''Time Bandits'' through the eyes of a child, ''Brazil'' through the eyes of a man in his thirties, and ''Munchausen'' through the eyes of an elderly man.<ref name="essay" />

The film is ranked No. 22 on ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine's "The 50 best kids' movies".<ref>{{cite web |title=The 50 best kids' movies |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-kids-movies/ |website=Empire|year=2023 }}</ref> It is listed as one of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine's "Top 10 Time-Travel Movies".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Full List |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2010/03/26/top-10-time-travel-movies/slide/all/ |magazine=Time}}</ref>

Game designer [[Richard Garriott]] was inspired by ''Time Bandits'' while creating the 1982 game ''[[Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress]]'', stating that he watched the film about 20 times to create a copy of the time map, as his game would feature a similar mechanic of "time doors" and the game's box even had a similar cloth map inside.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Allen |last=Rausch |title=From Origin to Destination - Page 1 |url=http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/tabula-rasa/512497p1.html |date=7 May 2004 |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=GameSpy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite tweet |user=RichardGarriott |number=1062000529591668739 |title=True! Watched it like 20 times with friends all sketching... to find it was not a ms real as I hoped... so, I made a "real" one! |date=2018-11-12 |access-date=2024-07-15}}</ref>