I’m sure that somebody, in writing of Terry Gilliam’s films, has declared it thus and yea verily that anyone who cares at all about the cinema must revere Brazil, which I’d forgotten had come out before Munchhausen. All praise be to Brazil, that most perfect of films and for God’s sake see the director’s cut and not the one with the butchered ending, blah blah. In truth, I saw Brazil once and am pretty sure it was the unbutchered version, since it ended with Sam Lowry being quite lobotomized and in Fantasyland forever. I don’t own it, and the main reason is that it ends with the main character being lobotomized. There are actually more reasons than that, but twill serve. I didn’t care much for Brazil when I first saw it, so haven’t been much interested in repeated viewings. Unlike Hollywood execs, however, I would not suggest to change any of Gilliam’s original vision for the film.

The making of Munchhausen would be enough to put anyone into a permanent bad mood, just thinking of what I know about its filming. But of the 4 Gilliam films I’ve seen, this is my 2nd favorite, Time Bandits being the first. Part of it is that I was already familiar with who and what the Baron was, and so was very excited with what Gilliam could do with his tall tales. Overall, I was delighted, although would have preferred that the Baron himself be “in his own time,” so to speak, at his peak of youth and vigor and adventures, rather than railing against the Age of Reason as he does. Sarah Polley as Sally, the outspoken girl who tags along with the Baron, is very annoying, but admittedly, very necessary to the story. Without her, the Baron would never have accomplished his mission of saving the town. I was also surprised to learn that Polley is actually Canadian and not English, since her accent seems flawless, although actual Brits might beg to differ with me on that point.

Being a child of comic books (and still am), I have to admit that his “extraordinary servants” and their various superpowers were and are my favorite part of the film. Eric Idle’s Bertholdt literally tearing up the floor of the Sultan’s palace before shooting off at supersonic speeds on an errand… well, we’ll just call it a rewind scene. Gilliam’s soft spot for Jack Purvis shows, too, who is cast as Gustavus, my second favorite of Munchhausen’s servants, aka he of the leather lungs and phenomenal hearing. Jonathan Pryce is back, too, as a lisping civil servant rumored to be Gilliam’s answer to Sid Scheinberg, the American producer who’d made his life a living hell during the filming of Brazil. His scene with Sting, in a cameo as a brave soldier, is one of my favorites, as he orders him executed for performing so exceptionally that other soldiers were sure to feel bad about themselves in comparison. Pure bureaucratic thinking.

Robin Williams’ almost-cameo as Ray D. Tutti (“King of Everything”), or more accurately, King of the Moon, but who’s quibbling, drags for me, too. I know many people think Williams can do no wrong and is always hilarious when trying to be funny, but I'm not one of them. These days I all but fast-forward through the entire moon sequence. There’s funny, and there’s… sensory overload, and Williams gets there way too often when “riffing.” The cardboard city, though, complete with tinny music and an unseen crowd cheering on the Baron, which traps the Baron and Sally, is inspired. I’m just a big fan of models, so what can I say?

Because the Baron’s servants are my favorite characters, it’s no fun for me to see them old and decrepit, except for Albrecht, who seems the same except for being bald. Of course they all manage to pull themselves together in the end and save the day (And there was much rejoicing). Oliver Reed, an actor who’s always a welcome sight, embodies the earthy god Vulcan as a short-tempered bourgeois oppressor of his Cyclopean employees. Uma Thurman looks the part as Venus, who, yes, really is married to Vulcan in mythology. As for doing more than looking pretty, well, that’s too much to ask of her.