The 'Time Bandits' Trailer is a Childish Delight

A few family films from the 1980s seem impossible to be made or remade today. Ridley Scott's Legend, for example, featuring Tim Curry on two-foot stilts, is a camp classic impossible to recapture; The Princess Bride is so perfect that a remake would be blasphemy. Then there are the oddities that came out of the Monty Python camp. From Brazil to The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, these weirdo fantasy films seem impossible to remake simply because the vision of director Terry Gilliam is so singular. But there's nothing quite like Time Bandits, which is singularly brilliant and deeply problematic for the 21st century.

When Apple TV+ announced they would do a remake of Time Bandits, it seemed a wild swing, though one that could work, with Taika Waititi at the helm. However, the declaration that the show would cut the film's most problematic aspect, the cast of little people, made the most significant impact. For some, this was a chance to have a children's series set in this delightful time-traveling world without the parts that made it deeply dated.

But for a particular type of fanboi, it made the show Pure Evil.

Therefore, Season 1 will arrive in July on Apple TV+ with a lot of negative noise around it. Loud white males on social media are declaring it a travesty, a flop, a horseman of the apocalypse, whathaveyou. However, taken entirely on its own merits, the trailer looks like it might be the delightful series of the summer to watch with the family.

Here's the synopsis:

Time Bandits is an unpredictable journey through time and space with a ragtag group of thieves and their newest recruit: an 11-year-old history buff named Kevin. Together, they set out on a thrilling quest to save the boy’s parents — and the world. 

The eccentric crew of bandits embarks on epic adventures while evil forces threaten their conquests and life as they know it. As the group is transported through time and space, the gang stumbles upon fascinating worlds of the distant past while seeking out treasure, depending on Kevin to shed light on each situation. The “Time Bandits” witness the creation of Stonehenge, see the Trojan Horse in action, escape dinosaurs in the prehistoric age, wreak havoc during medieval times, experience the Ice Age, ancient civilizations and the Harlem Renaissance, and much more along the way.

The series stars an international cast, including Brits Kal-El Tuck (Unseeing Evil), Kiera Thompson (Martyrs Lane), James Dryden (Matilda The Musical), Francesca Mills (Harlots); American actors Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback), Charlyne Yi (Knocked Up); Australian actors Felicity Ward (The Office Australia), Imaan Hadchiti (Thor: Love and Thunder); New Zealand actors Rachel House (Heartbreak High), Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords), Taika Waititi (Our Flag Means Death); Irish actor Tadhg Murphy (Conversations with Friends), Rwandan actor Roger Jean Nsengiyumva (You Don’t Know Me), and Norwegian actor Rune Temte (Eddie the Eagle).

Clement and Waititi write and direct select episodes of the ten-episode season with Iain Morris, with Clement and Morris serving as co-showrunners. All three executive produce, along with Garrett Basch, Tim Coddington, and Jane Stanton, for Handmade Films.

Time Bandits debuts with two episodes on Wednesday, July 24, and will be followed by two new episodes every Wednesday through August 21, 2024.