The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989) Review 

This movie is a criminally underrated masterpiece. There are so many scenes that I still am in awe of, and, like all Gilliam films - incredible heart.

To me this film was like one of those dreams of a bizarre surreal adventure you have that lasts for years, then as soon as its over and you wake up you forget much of it and you feel cheated all while still clinging to the few bits and pieces you still have left.

You have no idea how much it warms my heart to see this underrated gem being reviewed with such exuberance and obvious love for it. You really understand what makes it work and I can’t agree more on all your points. We even have the same favorite scene; as much as I love the adventures on the moon and the beautiful waltz and the spectacular final battle, it would all mean nothing if you took away that moment between Sally and the Baron. In a review I did a few years back on my blog I pointed out how their relationship makes the unofficial imagination trilogy into a cycle; hearing it confirmed by no less than Terry Gilliam himself fills me with joy. Here’s hoping Criterion rereleases it on Blu-ray!

I was fortunate to watch Munchausen in theatre back in 1990. Since then it became my theme movie.

I could not imagine another channel reviewing the Baron with the same confidence, adventurous spirit, and hint of snookery as the Cinemologists have : )

That death scared the crap out of me as a kid, especially at the cannonball scene flying. Spooky stuff that was etched in my kid mind...

Excellent, and one of my favorites. I've seen copies of the book with the Dore illustrations and, aside from a prostetic nose, John Neville is the spitting image of Munchausen. Hoary old theater story coming in: I did a stage version of The Hobbit, playing Gandalf. I couldn't get a handle on his character (this was before Jackson's LOTR films) but one day at home watching this film I got it. I based Gandalf on The Baron and it worked like a charm.

Ever wondered what The Wizard of Oz or The Never-ending Story would be like if it was made by the boys of Monty Python while still being absolutely sincere and charming alongside the expected cynical wit? Well, track this film down and find out! Seriously, one of my all time favorites here!

This film was purposely buried by somebody, that's why many people didn't know about it. Hollywood is so weird. This movie was nominated for 4 oscars and it lost all of them. To show you how weird Hollywood is, this film was nominated for Best Makeup and lost to DRIVING MISS DAISY! How is that even possible?!!!! Driving Miss Daisy was a great movie but I don't remember the makeup standing out very much.

I grew up in Cape Town, and at age 10 was already playing Bach, Handel and Telemann on the C and F recorder. Cape Town has lots of building of this period, and history to match that I was well aware of. During my school holidays in 1988, the local cinemas had half price *Wednesdays* - and, as the film opened with 'Late 18th Century, the Age of Reason, Wednesday' and I was hooked for good. Three knights feature - Sir John Neville (never better - I regard this as signature role after being John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough in 'The First Churchills'), Sir Jonathan Pryce and the late Sir Oliver Reed. Uma Thurman will always be the goddess Venus to me. Sting was a happy surprise, Robin Williams was spectacular, and Valentina Cortese was truly at her height. I have and continue to deeply loved this movie, and always will. Lastly, I am working on expanding the concluding Requiem introitus into a full work.

This film was released in theaters when I was nineteen years old. As soon as I knew that it was from the makers of Time Bandits, I was sold. I ate a few grams of shrooms, walked over to the theater and had a wonderful experience watching TAoBM. I remember thinking, as I watched it, "This is worth living for!".

My mom took me to see this in the theater when it came out, and I loved it, and love it more each time I watch it.

The last european kolossal 😊👍 🇬🇧 🇮🇹 🇩🇪 🇪🇸 🇪🇺 Michael Kamen should have won an Oscar

First time i saw this film on ortodox Xmas 07.01.1993 in Russia,and from the first minutes i fell in love with it! I was 16 years old at the time. After watching it, i was under strong impression for a long time. Since, this film mesmerized me, i still adore it!

"A somewhat meta-fictional conclusion" yeah that's putting it lightly.

Saw it in theater.. had no idea what I was getting into. Definitely one of the all time great fantasy films. Great review, good to see you back!

I'm so glad you highlighted the excellent score. It's both magnificent, varied in tone and fits the scenes perfectly.

I loved this film as a child and seeing it as an adult only makes me appreciate it more. I started to realize how much imagination and hard all to make this film at all to create these fantastical visions is a triumph.

The effort on cinematography, effects, miniatures, scenery is pure art.

Saw this at 9 years old in theaters and it is in my top 3 ever since.

This movie has been my favorite movie since I was a child!!!! Its is a beautiful piece

I was 5 when this movie came out and don't remember when it was in theaters. When I was still very young I saw it on TV: probably HBO since that was the only movie channel we sometimes had when it was free during a promotional period. I remember not knowing what the movie was called but it stuck in my mind for years and (pre internet) I tried to find it but I couldn't. Finally one day I came across it and it made me feel like an imaginative child again. I love this movie and this is a great review of it. The sets, the music, the "baroque science fiction" of it all is amazing!!!

Esta película es una obra de arte. La vi en ocasión de su estreno en cine en 1989, y cada vez que la reestrenaban. Luego en VHS, CD, DVD, etc. Y la sigo viendo y la vuelvo a disfrutar como la primera vez.

I loved this film.

I remember my dad renting this movie on VHS when I was a kid. Good times xo

Where have you been?!!!!!!!! You're late!!!! Only joking, you're merely one of a small number of RU-vidrs blowing dust off this gem.

My favorite scene is also yours!. Those harp plucks, and her reaction to him. Such a brief moment but absolutely beautiful.

It's nice to see a reviewer who doesn't just tear things down.

Thanks, you talked me into watching it for--perhaps the 20th time

Nicely done! I’m crossing my fingers that Criterion releases this on Blu-ray.

It's a masterpiece. The most political and humanist movie ever made!

I consider it a flawed masterpiece that contains some of my favorite moments in all of cinema. I really wish the Karel Zeman version was easier to get ahold of, though.

BRILLIANT. I am a huge fan, also being familiar with the great Karel's version and the one made by the Nazis. Thank you for paying tribute to one of Terry Gilliam's most awesome films.

It is heartwarming to know your generation has its defenders of it. I saw it in the theaters on first release, which means I am almost as old as the Baron. Long live the Baron!

I remember seeing the trailer for this when it came out as a kid. I was around 12 at the time and was intrigued by it. Asked around school who else saw the trailer and if they think it was one they wanted to go see on the weekend. Not one. Not even one person did not answer with a "WHAT?" or "That looks stupid!". So believe it or not, almost 30 years later, I still have not watched it yet. lol. Watched a few reviews here on YT but have not taken the time to actually watch it. Every time I find it playing on tv it's already half way in. Big giant *SIGHHHHHHH*!

Awesome movie. From start to finish. 😁

ir's about time someone reviewed this movie on here

Well, I’m off looking for it today! Thanks for making me aware of this incredible film!

"You so remind me of Catherine the Great whose hand in marriage I once had the honor of declining."

The Adventures of Baron Munchasen is best described by many people especially those of the Millenials as a fevered dream. Something they thought was a dream or something so outlandish that it had to be a dream. Finding out later it wasn't only seems to get one response. A smile as the movie is remembered, like a dream of childhood.

This movie is pure fantasy in the sense that it ignites the inner child in you. Today i saw it with my 10yo daughter and she was glued to the screen all the way to the end. That people dont talk more about this one is beyond me. Amazing stuff! Highly recommended!

I saw this movie when I was about 8 years old. I was very confused and thought maybe I had ate too much sugar and shouldn't stay up so late anymore. My twin sister and I had picked out a movie each from the video store, she picked out Return to Oz and we watched that one first. We decided to stick to the known classics for a while after that night.

I was one of the few people who saw this movie in a movie theater during its original run. I think that's my big claim to fame. _[sigh]_

Absolutely wonderful review. Especially about the music

Terry Gilliam's movies tend to be really polarizing. You either love them or hate them. And while this isn't my favorite movie of his, it is still a great movie with wonderful visuals and some great scenes.

well done, Alex, well done indeed~ with this film getting the attention and coverage that it deserves, from one decade to the next, I'd place its chances at proper modern fable status remarkably high! I was also lucky to catch this as a boy of six in '92, and I show it to everyone I can as many times as I can, as loudly as possible and without restraint. It's not so much that it celebrates the many sterling qualities you outlined in your well-penned insight to it's qualities and construction, but more that it shows what film-making is capable of being when done with imagination, passion, and even a little misplaced enthusiasm: it can lend tangibility to the unbelievable, texture to the impossible, wonderful folly to times of great failures. It's the cornerstone upon which my own prodigious creativity appears to have been founded on, and that's something I would see repaid a hundredfold. Great pick for the favorite scene too, it was as if the story itself was both fatigued of its weakening purpose, but also surprised and delighted by this young child's restless interest in it, if anything, to escape the horrors of day to day life. I feel like we could all use a bit more of that these days. My personal favorite is when the Baron's going nuts backstage, and the actors try to slow him down, only for him to become elated at having found his servants again at last. There's a peculiar wonder to the moment, as if reality itself is uncertain of what to make of this development. Is he just an old man, a worn-out folk story that has gone funny and is seeing things? ..or have things begun to get amazing once again.

Ray Harryhausen once made test animation based on Baron Munchausen.

Intimate? I saw it in an empty Philadelphia movie theater. That was intimate with popcorn.

With SEAN CONNERY this masterpiece would've made more money at box office (I love Neville though)...I feel sad that it flopped pure genius... pure Art

I cant wait to watch this with my kids.

I grew up on the doré illustrated book of Baron Munchausen and when I saw the movie for the first time in 1990 I thought it was doré brought to life and when I later at a Con met terry Gilliam he confirmed this he also grew up reading this same book over and over. the real baron wasn't well pleased with the book about him yet this displease with the fictional version of himself is never discussed in any of the previous movies about Munchausen Terry Gilliam made it the premiss of the movie the thing that starts the madness of and descents into fantastic fantasy from then on as is shown in the conclusion of the movie.

Thanks for making this! It’s one of my favorites.

I was lucky enough to see it in the theater when it came out (here in Italy). A bit too "meta" and clever for a nine-year-old, but I liked the production design and the visual spectacle... years later, I've fully appreciated it for its many, many virtues. And my God, Uma Thurman NEVER looked better in all her life...

I don't think this film is about age. I think it is about perception. The way we view the world through the eyes of a fantasist. We are the audience and the Baron is also us. As a captive can experience Munchausen syndrome. They can become enamoured with their captor and come to idolise them. So as our world is so full of absurdities, we associate with the Baron but are also him. A fantasist, viewing a fantasy, played out by a fantasist. The world is full of layers of perception and how we view it can affect how we experience it and as such can, it can so easily become a farce. As Shakespeare said, the world is a stage played out by fools (paraphrasing). So we are the audience and the players, but we watch a play as our world is attacked by a real threat. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DXNjIs4k_Z4.html

whoo hooo! thank God you guys are back! love the channel!

You've just introduced it to me! Thank you so ever much! I just ordered the Criterion version.

Masterpiece

If you like this movie you would probably like "Orlando". Quentin Crisp plays Queen Elizabeth I. And if you don't know who Quentin Crisp is then you need to watch his interviews on youtube.

This is one of the first movies I remember watching as a little kid. I watched it when I was 5. I rediscovered it when I was in my 30s. It was weird since I didn't remember the name of the movie, just certain scenes and situations

probably my favorite movie too , I remember seeing in the theater as a kid always will remember that ! I love the score too it is epic ! Nice review !

Baron Munchausen was on the Amazing Race, sat upon a cannonball, he greeted the racers with the host Phil Keoghan, and although Phil doesn't call him Munchausen, he does call him the Baron of lies, and describes The Scene where the Baron rides The Mortar Shell on the way there and a cannonball on the way back. And as everyone knows Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam made up a third of The Monty Python Troupe. there was also John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman. Robin Williams was uncredited, I know I looked, But I knew it was him.

The closest we can get to seeing Neil Gaiman's 1604 on the screen for now.

"The Death" got me scared as a kid and still is kinda amzing

This movie will always have a special place in my heart, it really inspired me as a kid to want to get the hell out of where I was to have my own adventures in the world instead of festering there

Really great stuff you guys. Hope you keep doing these along with the criterion trips.

Saw it in theater at an Air Force Base in Japan - and they mixed up the reels so 1/3 of the way through it skipped to the last 3/3 section for about 10 minutes. With the intentional cuts back and forth in the film it took a few minutes to be sure it wasn't intentionally part of the film sequence! They fixed the reels and jumped back to 2/3 and advanced from there. Then it made sense- as much as it was going to. I loved it but rewatching today I see the flaws now. For me, the Robin Williams unleashed antics haven't aged as well.

All I remember about this movie is the scene where they're playing cards in the grim reaper comes behind in the girls screams

Thank you for help me remember that Movie.

Brilliantly done! You have a talent!

Yes. I can find no fault in your assessment. I assume you've read Losing the Light? The abandonment of Munchausen by Columbia is nothing short of a crime. Magnificent film!

Prelude to Don Quixote.

You guys should all see "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" by Gilliam as well.Kind of brilliant. But watch it with the subtitles. It's kind of mumbly.

We need more eighteen century sci fi

Welcome Back!

I love this movie soooo much

Amazing movie...I watched it many times.

My absolutely best movie ever! What a gem!

Good video about my favorite movie of all times. My favorite scene is also the scene with Sally (and death) in the theatre.

Well done. Glad you mentioned Zeman's film. Did you ever see the Nazi version from 1943, It's actually worth mentioning. I'm still not sure whether I prefer Terry Gilliam's film or Karel Zeman's. No matter. Whichever one I'm watching at any particular moment is my favorite. Cheers!

Beautiful ladies!! Great video Alex, I love this film (among a few other Gilliam classics). Consider me subscribed! Cheers!!

Well executed review!

Even if it involves removing one Gilliam movie and replacing it with one Terry Jones movie, I think of this, along with Time Bandits and Erik The Viking as a stylistic set.

Such a great movie, especially while high

Love this film :)

This was an excellent summary

DAMN RIGHT !!!

Thank You!

I like everything in this movie except Sally. Best scene is venus birth i think and baron flying on canon

Its also a steampunk movie.

Delightful 😊. How many prints? I saw it in the thator.

17th century. 1683.

Read "Run Towards the Danger" by Sarah Polley (now an Oscar winner) for her account of the making of the film. It's not complimentary to Gilliam.

It's no Time bandits but it's still pretty good

masterpiece

I saw it in theaters with my soon to be wife. she had a bad habit of seeing whatever I wanted to see. she didn't get it. I loved it. not everyone "gets" terry Gilliam. like many I knew him from monty pythons flying circus, (in the 70's we had very channel choices. so my local channel 2 exposed me to MPFS and Doctor Who. ) but it was Time Bandits that showed me what he could do on a larger scale. oddly, I didn't like Brazil. BTW, I love the channel name.

Lol he said lazer disk

Read that review. Talk about sounding as exciting as drying paint.

Good stuff.

Its a masterpiece.

gilliam should have adapted julesw verne also. see his excellent series "the last machine".