The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989)

Wonderful character development!

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Back in 1989 "The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen" was a $46 million production that totally bombed at the box office, making back only $8 million of its initial costs.Well - Watching this elaborately staged comedy/adventure/fantasy film today (30 years later) - I really can't understand why it was such a dismal failure back then.Directed by Terry Gilliam (in the Monty Python's style) - I found that this story about an 18th century German nobleman and adventurer (who was the greatest liar in the world) to be quite a visual treat with its many surreal, weird, and bizarre images and characters.Yes. At times its story was clearly teetering on the ridiculous - But - Considering that this is a pre-CGI presentation - I, personally, recommend it to anyone who likes to watch some over-the-top cinematic eccentricity once in a while.

Terry Gilliam has created a memorable if uneven canon of films based largely on the meta-theme of imagination. That is to say, he has made a career of telling stories about telling stories. Most fan favorite lists would include Brazil, Time Bandits, The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen, 12 Monkeys, the indefinitely shelved The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, The Brothers Grimm and most recently, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassas. There are a few common threads running through all these films including The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassas and its typological predecessor, The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen.In choosing his source material, Gilliam favors those stories that cut a rather wide swath through time and space. Witness the exploits of the good Baron, conquering everything from the Ottomans to the king of the moon. Time Bandits do just that--pilfer throughout history. Brazil traverses...I don't actually know.Gilliam uses his camera to capture dystopian worlds, worlds that typically bear a passing resemblance to ours, but with the bleakness turned to eleven. The darkness is usually leavened by a cartoonish level of abstraction especially evident in the costumes and set pieces (here the erstwhile illustrator of the Pythons is in evidence. The aesthetics and the promise (or premise) of a good story draw us in.But, as is often the case with a Terry Gilliam meditation, the whole thing feels overwrought and under developed. Munchausen is a collection of great movie quotes, set pieces, and performances. But it is an overlong slog through the grim landscape of an aging man's narcissism and manias. One I still revisit every few years though.

Although The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen went spectacularly over budget and drowned miserably at the box office the film in its after life of syndication and video distribution hasn't done all that bad for director Terry Gilliam. It's a different kind of Munchausen than the one that Dr. Goebbels produced for Nazi Germany during the height of World War II. That one was pure fantasy, this one has a lot of belly laughs which one would expect from a pair of Monty Python troupe graduates like Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam.Cast as the fabulous German aristocrat and teller of tall tales is John Neville who I first encountered and best remember as the Duke Of Marlborough in The First Churchills. He's as aristocratic as Marlborough as Munchausen, but plays it tongue in cheek with the ever present twinkle in the eye.You won't see my parent's Munchausen here. I refer of course to the famous radio show done by vaudeville dialect comedian Jack Pearl who told those tall tales to the listening audience and when getting a bit too outrageous and questioned by the announcer would give the ever ready answer, "vas you dere Charlie".Kids of all ages might like Neville's version. As for the adults what's not to like about Uma Thurman as the goddess of love Venus. The adults will definitely rent this DVD for her.

This film, borne of years of frustration, cost overruns and production delays, is a marvel, true example of fantasy filmmaking at its best. The mind blowing production values are one-of-a-kind, its stellar cast, phenomenal. From John Neville in the title role to Eric Idle in yet another marvelous comic turn, make for extraordinary viewing. After years of watching it, I never tire of its wonderful story telling, of its unending visual richness. The only thing that disturbs me is why it was never given the acknowledgment or box office success it deserved, somehow delegated to the dustbin of "failed films," when it is in fact, a singularly great motion picture on every level. Rather than rehash its twisted turns and lush literary content, I can only say this: Watch it.