Mr Hyde
Member
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
I used to love this film as a kid, but upon rewatching it, I found it kinda dull and dated. The story is paper thin and only acts as a means for Terry Gilliam to unleash his imagination with bizarre environments and characters. Nothing inherently wrong with that, I love original stuff like this and Gilliam is one of the best when it comes to surrealism, but the story is unfortunately just boring and doesn't make want to engage with the world and its characters. The Baron himself comes off as a creepy and self centered asshole who it's impossible to relate too. His sidekicks are a fun and diverse bunch of misfits but they have too little screentime to make a lasting impression. The only character I cared for was Sally, portrayed by nine year old Sarah Polley. She's the real MVP of the cast and the heart and soul of this movie.
The most notable thing about Munchausen is the unhinged performance of Robin Williams as King of the Moon. He's basically just a floating head that lusts after his wife and gets jealous when his wife implies that she cheats on him with the Baron. It all takes place on the moon and it's as bizarre as it sounds. Robin Williams however went uncredited for this and is listed as "Ray D Tutto" in the credits, which I've always found very weird since it's not exactly a cameo, but a rather significant role that really stands out. You'd think they'd promote the shit out of it since Williams was a big star even back then. Another notable thing is a nip slip by then 17 year old Uma Thurman, but it's a blink and you'll miss it moment so not sure if it's even worth bringing up, lol. It did cause some controversy though upon release considering her young age.
Other than that Munchausen doesn't really hold up. The effects are dated, the sets are very obvious and cheap looking, characters are offensive stereotypes and the pacing is all over the place. It's a disjointed movie pieced together somewhat coherent thanks to Terry Gilliam being as good as he is. But he has done far better work than Munchausen, such as Time Bandits and Fear and loathing in Las Vegas.
I used to love this film as a kid, but upon rewatching it, I found it kinda dull and dated. The story is paper thin and only acts as a means for Terry Gilliam to unleash his imagination with bizarre environments and characters. Nothing inherently wrong with that, I love original stuff like this and Gilliam is one of the best when it comes to surrealism, but the story is unfortunately just boring and doesn't make want to engage with the world and its characters. The Baron himself comes off as a creepy and self centered asshole who it's impossible to relate too. His sidekicks are a fun and diverse bunch of misfits but they have too little screentime to make a lasting impression. The only character I cared for was Sally, portrayed by nine year old Sarah Polley. She's the real MVP of the cast and the heart and soul of this movie.
The most notable thing about Munchausen is the unhinged performance of Robin Williams as King of the Moon. He's basically just a floating head that lusts after his wife and gets jealous when his wife implies that she cheats on him with the Baron. It all takes place on the moon and it's as bizarre as it sounds. Robin Williams however went uncredited for this and is listed as "Ray D Tutto" in the credits, which I've always found very weird since it's not exactly a cameo, but a rather significant role that really stands out. You'd think they'd promote the shit out of it since Williams was a big star even back then. Another notable thing is a nip slip by then 17 year old Uma Thurman, but it's a blink and you'll miss it moment so not sure if it's even worth bringing up, lol. It did cause some controversy though upon release considering her young age.
Other than that Munchausen doesn't really hold up. The effects are dated, the sets are very obvious and cheap looking, characters are offensive stereotypes and the pacing is all over the place. It's a disjointed movie pieced together somewhat coherent thanks to Terry Gilliam being as good as he is. But he has done far better work than Munchausen, such as Time Bandits and Fear and loathing in Las Vegas.
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