In the late Eighteenth Century, a European town is under siege of the Turkish army. Meanwhile, the theater company owned by Henry Salt (Bill Paterson) entertains the dwellers with the production of "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen". Out of the blue, an old man interrupts the presentation claiming that he is Hieronymus Karl Frederick Baron von Munchausen (John Neville) and he tells that he is the one to be blamed by the Turkish attack.

The Baron Munchausen tells how he had won a bet against the Sultan (Petter Jeffrey) with the abilities of his servants Berthold (Eric Idle); Adolphus (Charles McKeown}; Albrecht (Winston Dennis); and Gustavus (Jack Purvis) and earned his treasure. Further, he offers to help the locals against the Turks and builds a balloon to seek out his missing servants.

During his journey, he finds the girl Sally (Sarah Polley) hidden in the balloon and they travel to the moon, where they meet the deranged King of the Moon Roger (Robin Williams) with his detachable head, and his wife, the Queen of the Moon Ariadne (Valentina Cortese) that has a crush on the Baron. They are arrested by the jealous Roger and find Berthold in the cage, but Ariadne releases them. When they escape from the moon, they meet Adolphus working to Vulcan (Oliver Reed) inside a volcano. The Baron Munchausen seduces the gorgeous Vulcan's wife Venus (Uma Thurman) and the jealous god throws them in a whirlpool. They are swallowed by a monster and they meet Albrecht and Gustavus in a ship inside the monster. They escape and return to the town to help the people against the invaders. But they are very old and their abilities are gone.

"The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" is one of the most delightful, non- sense and visually stunning fantasies of cinema history. "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" is also among my favorite books of my childhood and I first saw this film in the late 80's and then on VHS. I have just bought the imported DVD that surprisingly has Portuguese subtitles and today I have seen this film again.

Terry Gilliam directs with his peculiar surrealistic and ironic style and uses magnificent special effects for a 1988 film. It is amazing to realize that twenty-three years have passed since this film was released. The sweet Sarah Polley shows her talent with a great performance in one lead role. Uma Thurman is in the top of her eternal beauty. Robin Williams is an unknown actor and uncredited in the role of Roger, The King of the Moon. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "As Aventuras do Barão de Münchausen" ("The Adventures of Baron Munchausen")

While this film WAS directed by the ex-Monty Pythoner, Terry Gilliam (who was most famous for his cartoons and co-directing their films),you cannot look at it as a "Python" film--if you do, you'll be very disappointed. Despite Eric Idle playing Munchausen't fleet-footed friend, the film is less a comedy and more a piece of bizarre escapist fantasy. If you judge it as fantasy ALONE, it is amazing and fun to watch--and extremely captivating as well as far less surreal and dark as his other famous escapist film, BRAZIL (which is definitely NOT to everyone's taste). I must admit that when I first saw it, I only thought it was an average film--probably because of my false expectations. But, when I saw it again recently, I realized that it was a dandy tale with dandy acting. Well, with the acting there was the exception of Robin Williams as the Man in the Moon--as usual, he tended to dominate the scenes too much with his mugging and silliness. I really felt that Munchausen, as the hero, SHOULD have remained the focus but the few scenes with Williams were so talky and weird that Munchausen seemed a bit lost. However, this is only a minor problem and certainly NOT one that should interfere with enjoying the movie.

I also just watched the German version of the life of Munchausen (Munchausen, 1943). While for 1943 this was a fine film and I loved how they linked Munchausen to the present, the film really suffered because special effects of the day cannot keep up with the weirdness and over-the-top aspects of the film. As a result, you really come to appreciate Terry Gilliam's version even more--as the bizarreness looked so real and contributed to making it a wonderful escapist film. Apparently, this 1988 version cost a fortune to make, but in hindsight there probably was no other way to make this film and make it right.

I strongly recommend you see both films, but if you must see only one, then the Gilliam version seems to be the definitive one and can't be beat for entertainment and fun.

I do like Terry Gilliam's movies, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is one of my personal favourites of his along with Time Bandits and Brazil. My only real quibble with The Adventures of Baron Manchausen is the odd scene that drags a little too much, other than that as a fantasy-adventure and a film it is wonderful.

Visually it is a delight. The photography is truly beautiful and really helps in bringing the wondrous sets, production values and scenery to life. Also outstanding is Michael Kamen's score, it is absolutely stunning and fits perfectly. Not only that, I think it is one of Kamen's best.

The dialogue is odd but in a delightful way being also clever and witty, and the story is widely imaginative complete with some fun literary and such references. Gilliam's direction is superb pretty much, and the characters are unique and engaging.

The acting I have no problem with. The standouts are Robin Williams, Eric Idle and especially Jonathan Pryce, but this doesn't stop John Neville and Sarah Polley from being likable as well.

Overall, a wonderful film that I have been very fond of since childhood. 9/10 Bethany Cox