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The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
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The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

1988
Comedy, Fantasy
2h 6m
An account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences with his band of misfits. (imdb)

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

1988
Comedy, Fantasy
2h 6m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 56.05% from 2158 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(2173)
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Rated 10 Apr 2016
48
52nd
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a mess. An aesthetically entertaining mess, starring a mess of entertainingly aesthetic actors...but a mess nonetheless. Terry Gilliam obviously had fun making this mess, but I surmise I'll have just as much fun installing (then deleting) Windows Service Pack 2 on my laptop. For all the craziness jam-packed into this movie, you'd expect we'd get to see a Munchausen-head hot air balloon. There was no Munchausen-head hot air balloon. I am disappoint.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
78
63rd
An enjoyable bit of whimsy from Gilliam. There were a couple of low points (Robin Williams rears his ugly head as the King of the Moon, Jonathan Pryce's oddball Dr. Strangelove impersonation) but a whole a lot better than I expected, considering all the flak it seems to get.
Rated 05 Feb 2007
80
78th
The film contains beautifully extravagant sets and wonderful imagination; although the plot sputters here and there, the film makes up for it with its enthusiasm.
Rated 07 Dec 2017
55
53rd
On fantasy and imagination as not just elements of the world but performatively constitutive of it, at the same time as (and because) they make it possible to go beyond the world. Perhaps the first of those now-common retiree-focused remakes of THE BLUES BROTHERS, this certainly exemplifies its theme and makes plain the loss of image-making craft that would be the heavy price of the coming explosion of CGI (landmarks being TERMINATOR 2 in 1991, JURASSIC PARK in 1993 and TOY STORY in 1995).
Rated 26 Aug 2012
100
97th
I can't believe this movie never got more attention. its simply fantastic, a crazy mix of everything thats great about terry gilliams movies. Wow what a fun movie. and to think this got buried by the studio. for shame.
Rated 02 Apr 2012
88
97th
Very imaginative and clever, and a hella lot of fun to watch. The ending will forever make me confused and completely mindfucked.
Rated 28 Nov 2008
5
81st
Suspend all notions of reality because Gilliam doesn't hold back here [this is one wacky tale]. I particularly enjoyed the Baron and his troupe but this flick takes a while to get on its feet, probably due to its eccentric nature. The performances/gags are inconsistent but it always seems to redeem itself & the plot is basically threadbare with shades of character development that pan out later. Had I seen this at a younger age, I'm quite sure nostalgia would have mellowed my complaints.
Rated 09 Jul 2007
94
96th
A truly delightful, epic, whimsical adventure film by one of the most imaginative directors out there: Terry Gilliam. If you do not laugh or generally enjoy yourself while watching this movie, you have no soul.
Rated 02 Aug 2018
45
28th
My favourite part was on the moon. That's the kind of zanyness I expected from Gillian's adaptation. But the rest tends to have problems with the pacing, the girl is kinda annoying and several of the "adventures" are actually rehashed older stories. And Gilliam is just stuffing way too many theme's and subtexts into the story and they are too on the nose.
Rated 17 Mar 2018
20
12th
30 minutes in I said to myself "Wow, I'm really going to hate this movie." I stopped watching somewhere after the moon bit and surfed the Internet until it finished. It's like a really bad, reeeeally long "Looney Toons" cartoon. But then he throws in off-putting sexual jokes, so I couldn't even recommend it as throwaway crap for kids. Also reminded me of Wes Anderson. The torture organ bit ripped off the Monty Python "Mouse Organ" sketch. Terry Gilliam makes shit movies.
Rated 17 Dec 2011
80
82nd
Perhaps out of sentimentality more than anything else, I love this film. One of Terry Gilliam's earlier work. This man has been gifted with one of the most amazingly visual imaginations ever.
Rated 04 Mar 2011
75
41st
Laboured in places but one of those great flops which are brimming with good ideas.
Rated 13 Dec 2010
25
61st
"Making your way through the film is like eating an entire beautifully sculpted wedding cake." - Jeremiah Kipp
Rated 27 Jul 2010
75
47th
I wish I had seen this as a kid. :(
Rated 06 Jun 2010
84
97th
Gilliam's masterpiece. Insanely gorgeous world of fantasy, where everything can happen. Visual effects are simply fantastic. Symbolism is hard-hitting.
Rated 06 May 2010
70
30th
I find it more or less ridiculous, but yet I adore all the symbolism, great ideas, couple of lines and things it manages to mock! And I just love Baron Munchausen as a character - so ironical, so both behind and ahead of his time. Had it been a bit shorter, I'd give it a higher score.
Rated 29 Jul 2009
84
90th
Funny, silly, epic
Rated 09 Apr 2009
50
67th
Ambitious, extravagant fantasy in which some of the parts are better than the whole.
Rated 05 Mar 2009
57
26th
Megamillion-dollar epic offers consistently brilliant special effects that quickly overwhelm the viewer. Gilliam has a bountiful imagination, but little control over it.
Rated 28 May 2008
85
60th
A movie that doesn't need to make any sense, and subsequently doesn't. I love odd movies, and this one speaks to the inner child in me that doesn't want to be all serious.
Rated 15 Aug 2007
77
69th
Perhaps Terry Gilliam's best film. Not to mention that you can see an underage Uma Thurman nipple... I think. Pretty sure she wasn't quite 18.
Rated 05 Mar 2007
70
52nd
Truly outstanding technical work in here. The film looks so marvelous you can't help but stare amazed. The screenplay has some misses (specially by the end) but that doesn't overshadow how beautiful this movie is.
Rated 19 Jan 2024
76
49th
Amazing production design, set pieces and practical effects. Perhaps the most baroque of Gilliam's filmography which is saying a lot. There's a children's book, tall tale sense of wonder throughout every set of the movie. There are wonderful cameos, the best among them being Robin Williams, but the abundance of whimsy gets in the way of the narrative.
Rated 21 Aug 2023
78
69th
A fun movie about taking control of your own narrative, with lots of lovely and playful setpieces, and fun and interesting character moments. And yet... its challenge to conformity has a little too much of the Genius White Male Auteur about it, a little too much of Gilliam's hubris in the Baron, weakening the story just a bit. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed myself a lot, and would recommend it for a fun time. But I wish... ah well, we move forward.
Rated 26 Jun 2023
5
41st
The general vibe of the movie is fun and wacky. Sadly, the moon lord bit was just awful and destroys the pacing halfway through. Other than that, if you're into that style of content, you'll love it. Sadly, I'm not. At least it was a beautiful and creative movie.
Rated 12 May 2022
40
3rd
Killsguycuzexceptionallol+weightsoffsuperfast:P+barelypayingattention+Rkingofthemoon-ohnoi'vegotanitchlol+ohshitbabeumathurmannude
Rated 09 Apr 2022
60
36th
I'm glad I saw Zeman's film (1961) first, because I didn't know who this baron was or anything about his fantastical stories -- and this film doesn't stop to fill you in along the way. The sets are almost all amazingly imaginative, and most of the special effects are serviceable. It tends to waver between double entendres and slapstick; it's a bit dull when it attempts to even out.
Rated 12 Mar 2022
84
83rd
02.17 Hobbit
Rated 12 Mar 2022
80
86th
Wonderful fantasy story for adults. Funny and interesting all the way.
Rated 20 May 2020
90
67th
Gilliam had such a good run.
Rated 11 Mar 2020
72
87th
Seen: 2.
Rated 05 Sep 2018
1
0th
The elements are here for a fantasy on the order of THE WIZARD OF OZ and PINOCCHIO and the 1940 THE THIEF OF BAGDAD; Yet the picture is dry and choppy and remote...Something is missing, though: a bit of conviction-of ardor and awe. Gilliam's hip silliness is deflating; his gifts-his gagster's prankishness and his sense of beautydon't harmonize. The picture is almost devoid of emotional shadings
Rated 28 Apr 2018
9
0th
Repulsive fantasy film is a seedy and depressing experience in every possible way - garish set design and effects mesh with strident, obnoxious characters and characterisations - unfortunately represents the absolute worst of Gilliam's unchecked impulses as a film-maker, before becoming interminably unwatchable by the mid-point. Muddled, confusing storytelling is yet another liability. A fine cast is badly (and embarassingly) hung out to dry.
Rated 04 Feb 2018
75
73rd
Very comical, a wild assortment of characters. Entertaining.
Rated 06 Nov 2017
94
99th
Such a great adventure, just emotional enough to remind me I'm alive but not send me into a deep depression, just funny enough to make me laugh but not crave the next joke.
Rated 29 Aug 2017
80
92nd
Like Coppola's Dracula, T.A.O.B.M is bubbling cauldron cinema.There is a surplus of creative ideas that threatens to overwhelm it at every turn, but it would be churlish to complain when the results are this entertaining and original. It's utterly inspired baroque nonsense, and Gilliam's fantastical vision is staged on spectacular sets that are distinctively designed. Neville is perfectly cast as the mischievous Baron, and the film is a joyous crackpot fable with a boundless sense of invention.
Rated 23 Feb 2017
5
91st
I can scarcely think of a more effective messenger than Terry Gilliam for the idea that age is more state of mind than fact of body: a filmmaker so wondrously imaginative, so boundlessly creative that he manages to instill - in even the most jaded adult viewers - a sense of childlike wonder.
Rated 29 Apr 2016
8
70th
complete madness. Uma was so hot in this one
Rated 21 Dec 2014
93
89th
93
Rated 01 Dec 2014
82
69th
A hallucinogenic exploration of the power of storytelling, told entirely through cameo appearances, very good set design, and an otherwise entirely nonsense plot. Excellent!
Rated 25 Jun 2014
68
63rd
A film that had been on my "to watch" list for an age until I was in the mood for a bit of Gilliam, and Gilliam is certainly what I got! It is of course an aesthetic triumph. The detail & artistic vision is magnificent. The cast are great too, Neville, Thurman, Idle, Reed, Pryce, all superb. There's a shit load that makes fuck all sense, not that that is particularly a problem, but where Munchausen does have issues is the terrible pacing and mounds of wasted time & energy spent on some scenes.
Rated 29 May 2014
70
55th
Terry Gilliam has loads of imagination and John Neville is endlessly charming throughout. It lags considerably in places (the moon in particular) but all in all, very entertaining.
Rated 01 Jan 2014
10
96th
Works in episodes with the present as its frame, though as the movie goes along what's real and what isn't real becomes a matter of debate, and the entire film essentially turns into a mess of wonderfully surreal fantastical sequences I really wish I had seen as a kid. The highs are very high. One of those inimitable movies only Gilliam seems to be able to create.
Rated 21 Oct 2013
85
83rd
85.000
Rated 03 Aug 2013
72
64th
Really fun and wonderful, but runs a bit long. John Neville is quite amazing.
Rated 07 Nov 2012
79
72nd
It looks spectacular and there's just enough complexity with the story within a story device, and just enough pace with the short acts which keep pushing us along to see new locations and cameos, to disguise the problem that very little actually happens once we get to each new location. John Neville is mesmerising throughout - such glorious charm!
Rated 26 Oct 2012
70
56th
* Casting, Acting : 7 * Script : 7 * Directing, Aura : 7 * Ease of Viewing : 7 * Naked Eye : 7
Rated 11 Aug 2012
75
12th
Weird but good movie
Rated 15 Jun 2012
99
96th
Great even if it is a Mess
Rated 07 Mar 2012
90
98th
One of the best movies ever made and seriously overlooked! The acting isn't all that good.. but the boundries of our imagination are explored in one of the most wonderful ways I've ever seen.
Rated 23 Dec 2011
60
16th
What
Rated 17 Dec 2011
83
87th
This is a fun fantasy film that does not take itself too seriously. The performances are good and the viewer is never sure what is going to happen next.
Rated 15 Dec 2011
98
58th
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
Rated 30 Jun 2011
88
96th
A personal favorite when i was a kid, this movie is pythons vision of a fairy tale. Excellent sets and costumes ( for the time) combined with above average acting and a kick ass story/script make a great watch. Tho be warned this movie is a love it or hate it sorta flick. One of the biggest box office failures in history of Hollywood. How about that!
Rated 31 May 2011
40
93rd
"Like it's hero, extraordinary in every way."
Rated 02 Jan 2011
80
66th
80.125
Rated 30 Dec 2010
92
67th
relentlessly fun and imaginative. a fairy tale for the family.
Rated 28 Sep 2010
64
44th
The scene with Venus seemed a lot racier when I was a kid.
Rated 21 Sep 2010
69
73rd
I thought this was pretty enjoyable fantasy. Not perfect by any means but entertaining and beautiful to look at. If you can get past the few shitty parts you might be surprised.
Rated 12 Sep 2010
14
67th
An enjoyable Princess Bride-esque film with Uma Thurman!
Rated 31 Aug 2010
74
56th
Like Time Bandits before it, this falls in the category of visually interesting Gilliam movies (when are they not) that don't have enough humor or pathos to make them a favorite. When he's on, he's the best there is, and when he's a little off, it's still worth watching.
Rated 26 Aug 2010
75
78th
this is the best gilliam movie imho.
Rated 28 Jun 2010
88
78th
Superb visuals and an interesting theme (the age of reason in conflict with the baroque imagination) but the visuals don't always serve the theme or the plot, and the characters--in spite of charming performances by Neville and Polley--never fully engage our sympathies. True, this is an episodic film with a frame story, but the best of such films--Bunuel's later works, for example--possess a unity of tone and emotion that inform their fragmented plots. I do not sense that sort of unity here.
Rated 14 Mar 2010
100
83rd
One of my fave movies, got to love a crazy man riding on a cannonball.
Rated 17 Jan 2010
89
79th
Even though the plot sags at times, this is a fun movie. Is an interesting predecessor to movies like The Fall and Pan's Labyrinth in that its a fantasy movie abut the roles fantasy and legends play in our daily lives.
Rated 13 Dec 2009
44
18th
Extremely strange
Rated 07 Nov 2009
75
28th
I liked this better when I was a teen - some of the humor is too simple, predictable etc. for an adult. But there are many beautiful images, nice little moments, and I like the music and Terry Gilliam look. As for the message - it's either a mess or beyond me. An ode to madness?
Rated 25 Oct 2009
90
96th
Giving Terry Gilliam films a second chance was a really good idea. My list of favorite films is going to get bigger.
Rated 05 Oct 2009
68
61st
Bizarre but entretaining
Rated 17 Mar 2009
20
44th
Of the numerous screen incarnations of the mythical Baron Munchausen, it is therefore reasonable to postulate a steady decline, particularly in the important areas of innocence and charm, from the 1911 Georges Méliès one (to which Gilliam pays conscious but condescending tribute in the stage-bound opening) down through the 1961 Karel Zeman one and on, finally, to the present one. What more is this movie, really, than just another big and expensive remake?
Rated 08 Mar 2009
71
73rd
"Monty Python"''s Gilliam followed up his cult favorites _Time Bandits_ and _Brazil_ with this underrated new interpretation of this story. Wonderfully quaint special FX and a fabulous cast help make this box office disappointment worthy of rediscovery. Michele Soavi directed second unit and is credited by Gilliam as saving the film when it ran over schedule.
Rated 22 Jan 2009
65
63rd
It's like all the silly films of the 70's and 80's combined, in a good and entertaining way. I miss these types of films which used props, instead of relying solely on cgi.
Rated 29 Dec 2008
75
72nd
Entertaining but not Gilliam at his warped best
Rated 14 Dec 2008
70
52nd
Shaky and episodic but fun. Gilliam makes the magic believable once again, and Robin Williams steals the show as usual. Listening to the commentary it becomes clear that nearly every scene had to be pared down due to budget concerns, and had Gilliam been able to execute the film as originally intended it would without a doubt be one of the most elaborate and technically impressive films of its time.
Rated 20 Oct 2008
83
67th
Like most of Gilliam's movies, this is highly imaginative, which can often throw people off because it raises the weirdness. The story for this one, however, is remarkably cohesive.
Rated 17 Sep 2008
65
92nd
Et skønt, skævt, eventyr
Rated 03 Sep 2008
50
4th
50... . maybe.
Rated 29 Aug 2008
40
23rd
I didn't see it, but I'm going to pretend that I did because I have Baron Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
Rated 09 Aug 2008
90
66th
Flawed, but awesomely entertaining!
Rated 19 May 2008
87
93rd
it is actually depressing that terry gilliam could not make a better movie having had his past record (brazil) although this is an at least awesome movie.
Rated 18 May 2008
85
72nd
Fantastic! Love Terry Gilliam
Rated 27 Jan 2008
95
85th
comedy adventure a good film
Rated 16 Sep 2007
75
79th
muddled, but looks great and is often fun
Rated 22 Aug 2007
65
60th
Good
Rated 14 Aug 2007
85
95th
A huge commercial flop, this film net lost nearly $40m and consolidated Gilliam's bad reputation in Hollywood. This doesn't go to show that the movie is bad, but rather that moviegoers and critics don't know a great movie when they finally see it. The movie is clever, funny, visually stunning, highly imaginative, and generally just great. It's also the unmistakable work of an auteur with a unique vision.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
78
34th
A very unique film, with very unque production values. Every aspiring film-maker should see this one...
Rated 14 Aug 2007
75
62nd
If you are Terry Gilliam fan, you will like it. Alice in Wonderland fans are welcome too. Keep away otherwise.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
99
96th
I love this movie.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
67
67th
You admire the visual ingenuity so much that you kind of put up with the crassness of the bits, but right before the finale I had enough.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
90
66th
Loved it, one of Gilliam's best, i saw in this old cinemas and i though it was the best thing ever
Rated 14 Aug 2007
65
51st
Pretty uneven but still perfectly enjoyable fantasy adventure yarn.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
98
97th
Some of the most imaginative storytelling I've ever seen. It loses steam near the end, but the cast keeps things moving well enough.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
90
94th
The reputation of this as a financial failure can be somewhat put in perspective when barely over 100 prints were made of the film! Otherwise, that whole thing has no effect on whether or not it's a good film, and fortunately it's fantastic.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
74
70th
The ride may not be always exciting, but the sheer magnitude of Gilliam's vision, and the loving characterizations drawn to life, makes it one well worth taking nonetheless.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
90
83rd
Underrated Terry Gilliam with a young-ass Sarah Polley and a titty-showing Uma Thurman.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
70
37th
Unique, funny, entertaining, and utterly strange throughout. That's about as much as can be said about this film. Meh!
Rated 22 Jul 2007
30
9th
I remember this movie sucking pretty handily.
Rated 12 Jul 2007
85
41st
Bizarre.
Rated 01 Jul 2007
60
18th
A fun film, but one that ultimately doesn't add up to much. It's a series of vignettes with little to link them together.
Rated 29 Jun 2007
88
78th
Much-derided, but this film really deserves a second and third chance.

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