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The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
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Reviews Counted:26
Fresh:22
Rotten:4
Average Rating:7.1/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 7 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Synopsis: In TIME BANDITS, director Terry Gilliam told a fantastical story filled with heroes and villains seen through the eyes of a small boy. In BRAZIL, Gilliam focused on a fantasy world created by a... In TIME BANDITS, director Terry Gilliam told a fantastical story filled with heroes and villains seen through the eyes of a small boy. In BRAZIL, Gilliam focused on a fantasy world created by a young man trapped in a totalitarian state. And now, with THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, Gilliam tells the legend of an old man who has lived a fairy-tale life. In the late 18th century, the Age of Reason has no room for fantasy. In a town besieged by murderous enemies, a traveling company is putting on a stage show about the apocryphal Baron Munchausen, who, with his motley crew of servants, supposedly circled the globe and the universe, following each bizarre adventure with one even more strange and ludicrous. But then a man appears at the theater claiming to be the real Baron, and to prove it, he goes off on one final journey to save the town, chased all along the way by the winged specter of death. Gilliam never met an epic spectacle he didn't like. MUNCHAUSEN is loaded with brilliant set pieces, including spinning heads on the moon and a giant Botticelli clamshell in the bottom of a hellish volcano. Gilliam has assembled a stellar cast, including John Neville as the Baron, Oliver Reed as Vulcan, Jonathan Pryce (BRAZIL), Jack Purvis (Wally in TIME BANDITS), Robin Williams (credited as Ray D. Tutto), Eric Idle (who contributes "The Torturer's Apprentice" with Michael Kamen to the soundtrack), Charles McKeown (LIFE OF BRIAN), a cameo by Sting, and early appearances by Sarah Polley (as young Sally Salt) and Uma Thurman. Gilliam's special effects bonanza is a modern retelling of THE WIZARD OF OZ, a fabulous adventure filled with daring feats, preposterous nonsense, danger galore, and the overall belief that a world without fantasy is a sad world indeed. [More]
Starring: John Neville, Eric Idle, Oliver Reed, Uma Thurman
Starring: John Neville, Eric Idle, Oliver Reed, Uma Thurman, Valentina Cortese, Sarah Polley, Jonathan Pryce, Alison Steadman, Winston Dennis, Charles McKeown, Jack Purvis, Robin Williams, Sting
Director: Terry Gilliam
Director: Terry Gilliam
Screenwriter: Charles McKeown
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Reviews for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
A gaudy chimera with no other reason for its existence than to be flamboyant to no great end.
Making your way through the film is like eating an entire beautifully sculpted wedding cake.
Despite a second-act sag, the visuals make The Adventures of Baron Munchausen a worthwhile film.
Terry Gilliam shows more pure creativity in this film than in any of his others.
Latest News for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
October 01, 2008:
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The MPAA doesn't like it, but America has never been able to get enough of naked people on the big screen -- and Entertainment Weekly has honored our fondness for flesh with a... More...
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August 25, 2005:
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At the movies this week, there's an undercurrent of collectivism in the face of adversity. "The Brothers Grimm" features two con men in the 1700s who get in over their... More...
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