The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) 126 mins.
directed by Terry Gilliam
starring John Neville, Eric Idle, and a young Sarah Polley

Baron Munchausen has some exciting tales to tell.  But, is it all true?

Q Says:

this is one of my favourite unsung movies of all time.  i don’t really talk about it or watch it all the time but i love it when i do.  terry gilliam is also one of my favourite unsung flimakers.  he has some great flicks but i don’t love everything he’s done much like john carpenter and unlike spielberg. 

the film follows the baron through his many unbelievable misadventures with his gifted companions as they reunite to save a town from destruction.  it’s kind of the third part of gilliams unofficial “stages of man” trilogy.  munchausen represents man’s elder years and does this with creative whimsy and dark despair as the baron first wants nothing more than to die then is invigorated with adventure.

i love this movie and everything about it.  it’s one of the perfect fantasy flicks of all time and unfortunately nothing like this will ever be filmed again.

L Says:

   Few directors today have the vision that Terry Gilliam has (Tarsem comes to mind).  There is one particular scene that always sticks out in my mind: The Baron and Salley have just crashed landed on the Moon.  The scene goes dark and a field of stars slowly comes into existence.  You think they must be in space.  Then, the stars and black sky begin to move ever so slightly, as if something is moving across the sky.  The stars fade, more light appears, and it is revealed to be waves of dark water, rippling as the Baron's ship passes through.  And very slowly, the ripples of dark water turn into ripples of dark sand.  It is then you realize that they have landed on the Moon.  It's beautifully shot.  Let's see you do that James Cameron sans 3-D!
   I love how over the top Baron's tales are.  At first, he seems kind of loony and senile.  But, we quickly learn that he is a man of action and adventure, and also a bit of a ladies man.  Sarah Polley does a great job as a young girl trying to save her family from the invading Turks.  She accompanies Baron Munchausen on a trip around the world as he rounds up his old buddies to help.  She also defeats Death twice!
   This was my second time seeing it and I would definitely watch it again.  It makes me want to check out more of Terry Gilliam's work, and especially the "triology" of Time Bandits and Brazil that goes along with this movie.