Back in February I wrote a lengthy post about why movie sequels aren’t as bad as everyone seems to think they are (check it out here if you have a few minutes!) After all, it’s that sequel revenue that lets studios release smaller, independent films for our real enjoyment, and, at worst, a bad sequel can be ignored. But remakes are another story. While some remakes take an original premise in a different, but just as successful way (Martin Scorsese‘s The Departed and the Coen Brothers‘ True Grit are great examples), others that are far inferior to the original threaten to damage the original film’s perception among the general public — certainly the recent Pink Panther films haven’t done any favors for the Peter Sellers original classics, and anyone will tell you that Gus Van Sant‘s Psycho remake was just about the biggest waste of time and studio resources since… well, ever. Frankly, while even bad sequels have a tendency to generate revenue for a studio (and therefore finance smaller, independent films), a bad remake hardly ever translates to box office success (and therefore a waste of time and money). After all, most films are better the first time around when the original creators were involved.
I’d say Time Bandits falls into that latter category. If you’ve never seen it, Time Bandits is director Terry Gilliam at his best. A family-friendly fantasy film, Time Bandits tells the story of an English boy named Kevin who gets sucked into an adventure with six dwarfs who travel through time and steal things. It’s as awesome as it sounds. Best of all, it featured the very best “little people” actors of its time, including Star Wars alum Jack Purvis, Mike Edmonds (also known for Men Without Hats’ “Safety Dance” music video!) , and Kenny Baker (AKA R2-D2), and David Rappaport. Throw in the talents of Sean Connery, John Cleese, David Warner, and Michael Palin (who co-wrote the film with Gilliam) along with songs by producer George Harrison, and you have a creative pool of talent that couldn’t be matched today. So it’s very disappointing to read in Variety that producers Guy Collins (who was a producer on Highlander II… yeah) and Michael Ryan are looking to remake the film to start, as Variety puts it, “a bigscreen kids action franchise.” Ugh!
Gilliam toyed with the idea of making a sequel to Time Bandits in the late 1990s (a script was even written by Gilliam‘s frequent collaborator Charles McKeown), but it never got off the ground. But since nearly all of the dwarfs who made up the original cast have either passed away or are retired, it’s disappointing to think that one of Gilliam‘s best films might be remade strictly as a “kids” film. Though the original was a family film, it had enough heart to appeal to the entire family. Kids already like the original Time Bandits… so if it isn’t broke, don’t try to fix it!
What’s your favorite Time Bandits moment? Let us know in the comments!
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