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The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, 1988

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

English

UK, West Germany

Rating:7.0
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Profile of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen can be described as offbeat, feel good, and stylized. The plot revolves around legends and myths, adventurers, and imaginary themes. Its comic aspect comes from dark humor. Its main genres are fantasy and comedy. In terms of style, it features an all-star cast, is episodic, and is epic. In approach, it is fantastical. It takes place in the 18th century. It is based on a book. The movie has received attention for being an award winner and critically acclaimed. It is well suited for a family outing. Note that it involves brief nudity.

Summary of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

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.

Details

Language: English
Country: UK, West Germany
Release date: 10 March 1989
Runtime: 126 min

Cast and Crew

John Neville as Hieronymus Karl Frederick Baron von Munchausen in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
John Neville

as Hieronymus Karl Frederick Baron von Munchausen

Eric Idle as Desmond / Berthold in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Eric Idle

as Desmond / Berthold

Photos

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)

Critics Reviews

The New York Times
With their remarkable contributions, ''Baron Munchausen'' is full of moments that dazzle, just for the fun of seeing the impossible come to life on the screen. What the Folies-Bergere once was for the foot-weary tourist, ''Baron Munchausen'' is for...
TV Guide
The narrative is highly episodic and only intermittently engaging, but Gilliam's wildly inventive mise en scene, ably assisted by production designer Dante Ferretti, is extraordinary.

Users Reviews

"The Adventures of Baron von Munchausen" never fails to fascinate me. It goes a very long way to explain many things that are omnipresent in life (war, sex, romance, childhood innocence, adult disillusionment) by illustrating, and somehow making...
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