Time Bandits (1981)

The Wikipedia article on this one says it best - this was Terry Gilliam's 1st of 3 efforts about escaping the rigors of our rigid reality (the later ones being Brazil-1985 and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen-1988) via fantastical methods. It may be more of a fantasy than sci-fi, but the sci-fi staple of time travel governs the plot. The fantasy aspect is that it just comes across like some kid's fantasy dreamed up one day and events happen for no particular reason. This is most evident in the opening scenes - for no particular reason, a group of time traveling dwarves show up at a kid's bedroom, preceded by the sudden appearance of a knight on horseback. Secret portals and hallways are revealed, showing that most things are not as they seem. It's not long before the kid is off with the dwarves on a series of adventures.

The theme is clear from the start: the kid's parents are rather typical British middle class bores; the boy is constrained, trapped in a sense. The big difference is that Gilliam's later films involved adults trying to escape; here, it's from a boy's perspective. There is some plotting in the mix: the dwarves (said to be representations of the various Monty Python members) are on the run from their master, The Supreme Being (eventually revealed as Ralph Richardson), because they made off with a special map in their plan to get rich. The group first end up with Napoleon (Ian Holm), who has a big chip on his shoulder about being short; he usually spends his time giggling and yelling at his generals. He's friendly to the group, since they are all of a small size. Unfortunately, the group is also targeted by the Supreme Being's opposing counterpart, Evil (David Warner) and the boy gets separated from the rest, ending up in ancient Greece, where he's quickly adopted by warrior king Agamemnon (Sean Connery).
The film comes to life with the intro of Connery as this mythical ruler who also engages in combat with some kind of creature or strange warrior. Connery's charisma always benefited whatever film he was in. But, his role is brief. The same goes for John Cleese, who pops up as an officious, anal version of Robin Hood (and with the most bizarre version of Maid Marian). The rest of the time, the film tries too hard to rack up satirical points about the various eras and the famous personages - Hood especially is given a severe shellacking in this version of his legend. But, I have to admit it's pretty amusing most of the time, in Gilliam's dark sort of way, mixed in with Gilliam's penchant for surprising, even grotesque violence.  The two opposing entities - The Supreme Being and Evil - are obviously Gilliam's versions of God and the Devil, the governing forces of the universe. BoG's Score: 7 out of 10