History Film / TimeBandits

** An unintentional version with Kevin, who arrives when Agamemnon's introduction has him fighting a guy in a bull mask. His distraction allows Agamemnon to win.

* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler:Kevin left alone and parentless, back in the normal world. Who knows how he'll manage.]]

** "I think it's something to do with free will." (Also something of an in-universe: and very literal: ShrugOfGod.)

* PosthumousCharacter: An ambiguous example with Horseflesh, the apparent former leader of the Bandits, who Randall claims is dead. The character was originally supposed to have betrayed the group and joined the Evil Genius, but overtly having seven dwarf characters might have brushed against some [[Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs legal issues]]. The character was demoted to an extra, as the dwarf in the Evil Genius's company, who receives no lines and doesn't do anything. It's unclear if the character is still supposed to be the gang's old leader.

* GodIsInept: Zig-zagged. The Time Bandits claim they stole the map from the Supreme Being, who spends many scenes ineffectually chasing them while nevertheless looking very impressive. Evil calls the Supreme Being a lunatic because of all of his pointless creations, like slugs and nipples for men. Ultimately the Supreme Being does resolve everything and states that it was all according to His plan, saying, "I'm not ''entirely'' dim." However, along the way he seems to be a little vague and distracted, doesn't put much effort into explaining why suffering must occur, and doesn't notice that the Bandits leave a chunk of Evil behind.

* BitterSweetEnding: What happens after Kevin is done surfing through time? [[spoiler:His parents explode and he is left alone beside his smoldering home. The last thing he says is a rather weak, "Mom...? Dad...?" as the camera pulls away, showing him very pitifully alone]]. However, [[spoiler:he's still got the map, and Agamemnon's presence as one of the firefighters implies he might be out to help Kevin as well]].

* CastingGag: Creator/TerryGilliam wrote in, with some humor, the detail in the script that King Agamemnon would resemble Creator/Connery "or an actor of equal but cheaper stature". To Gilliam's surprise, Connery acquired, read and liked the script, [[AwesomeDearBoy offering to accept less money than his usual pay rate to appear in the film]].

* AllPartOfTheShow: The Bandits pretend to be apart of Agamemnon's celebration, performing an elaborate dance routine and pulling Kevin up on stage. Agamemnon doesn't realize that something's wrong until several beats after they all disappear.

** The "personal problem" Vincent has in the Middle Ages, implied to be [[TheLoinsSleepTonight impotency]].

** Evil is surrounded by incompetent henchmen. At one point, he says to one of them who's just said something particularly idiotic, "Oh, my dear Benson, you are so mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence." This is likely his own doing, however, as both of the Mooks who dare to raise serious questions about Evil's plan are blown to smithereens.

* GenreBlind: The dwarves don't recognize Mythology/RobinHood and don't appear to realize that the Titanic is going to hit an iceberg.
* GenreSavvy: Kevin ''does'' recognize Mythology/RobinHood.

* HistoricalHilarity: Kevin and the Dwarves run into Napoleon, Mythology/RobinHood, and the Titanic. All of them are played for laughs, especially Robin Hood.

* AncientGreece: Kevin gets stranded in Mycenae about halfway through the movie.

* AllPartOfTheShow: ... til Agamemnon realizes something is ''horribly'' wrong.

* BuiltWithLego: Evil's inner sanctum is built of [[UpToEleven giant stone legos]], a reference to the many Legos on Kevin's bedroom floor.

* DemotedToExtra: Horseflesh had a big role in the script, but his lines were removed and he's just more of a background character.

** The "personal problem" Vincent has in the Middle Ages.

* GodIsInept: Zig-zagged. The Time Bandits claim they stole the map from the Supreme Being, who spends many scenes ineffectually chasing them while nevertheless looking very impressive. Evil calls the Supreme Being a lunatic because of all of his pointless creations, like slugs and nipples for men. Ultimately the Supreme Being does resolve everything and state that it was all according to His plan, saying, "I'm not ''entirely'' dim." However, along the way he seems to be a little vague and distracted, doesn't put much effort into explaining why suffering must occur, and doesn't notice that the Bandits leave a chunk of Evil behind.

* GreatBigBookOfEverything: The map.

* InsistentTerminology: The word "God" appears a total of twice in the dialogue. Other than that it's always "The Supreme Being."

* AnAesop: Consumerism (represented by Kevin's parents' obsession with appliances and game shows) and soulless pragmatism (represented by the Evil Genius's rants about practicality and work to the exclusion of all else) are bad. Kevin, our hero, represents idealism and wonder.

* MomentKiller: Vincent and Pansy are about to kiss when a time door opens above them and the dwarves (and Kevin) fall on them. Repeatedly.

* NonSequitur: When Robin Hood asks a bandit how long he's been a robber, the bandit replies, "Four-foot-one!" Robin, ever the proper English gentleman, struggles to pretend that this is a perfectly appropriate response to his question. It might have been a deliberate attempt to evade the question by the angelic, time-traveling bandit.

* SkyCell: After Evil takes the map, he locks the Bandits in a cage hung above a huge chasm.
* StealthInsult:
--> '''Evil Genius:''' Oh, Benson...dear Benson. You are so mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence.

* ThatsNoMoon: A ship ends up being a hat worn by a giant.
* TimeTravel: The entire premise of the movie.

* TooDumbToLive:
** The Bandits' greed overrides common sense in almost every case.

* GainaxEnding: The film gets progressively more surreal as it goes on. The final battle against Evil is super-trippy, and followed by [[spoiler:an inconsistent AllJustADream fake-out, a couple of people blowing up and a fireman who looks suspiciously like Agamemnon]] winking cheerily at Kevin as he and the other firemen drive off leaving him before the burnt wreckage of his home.

* AllThereInTheManual: According to a novelisation, Kevin's last name is Lotterby and he's eleven years old.

* ChewingTheScenery: Vermin can be seen literally doing this to the stage background while the rest of the Bandits perform their musical number for Napolean.
* CoolOldGuy: Agammemnon. He's a far better parent than Kevin's parents ever were.

* GainaxEnding: The film gets progressively more surreal as it goes on. The final battle against Evil is super-trippy, and followed by [[spoiler:an inconsistent AllJustADream fake-out, a couple of people blowing up and a fireman who looks suspiciously like Agamemnon]] winking cheerily at Kevin.

* AdultsAreUseless: Kevin has more common sense and [[TeenGenius smarts]] than the other bandits. The bandits were written as dwarfs so that audiences would accept Kevin as their equal. Kevin's parents represent the banal, materialistic existence that Evil wants to promote.
* AdultFear: Agamemnon when he realizes that the "magic trick" the Time Bandits drag Kevin into is not a trick and that the boy he just adopted as his son has disappeared beyond his reach.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: One scene takes place on the Titanic, which is labeled as the S.S. Titanic instead of the proper R.M.S. Titanic.

* BitterSweetEnding: [[spoiler:Kevin has lost his parents and his home, but he's still got the map, and Kevin seemed to want to be free of his materialistic parents anyway]].

* DownerEnding: What happens after Kevin is done surfing through time? [[spoiler:His parents explode and he is left alone beside his smoldering home. The last thing he says is a rather weak, "Mom...? Dad...?" as the camera pulls away, showing him very pitifully alone]]. However, many viewers would argue that it is actually more of a BitterSweetEnding.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It's not quite clear whether the minotaur really ''is'' a minotaur or just a burly guy with a full bull headdress.

* ParentalNeglect: Kevin's parents don't care about him at all. [[spoiler: When the house is on fire, his mother is more concerned with running back inside to get the toaster than making sure he's alright]].

* ArtisticLiscenceHistory: One scene takes place on the UsefulNotes/Titanic, which is labeled as the S.S. Titanic instead of the proper R.M.S. Titanic.

* ArmyOfTheAges: The title characters do this to battle the Evil Genius.
* ArtificialHuman: The Evil Genius appears human, but seems to be more machine than organism. His fingertips are on hinges that he can bend back to expose nozzles that fire magic. In the final battle he turns himself into an evil merry-go-round.

* DownerEnding: What happens after Kevin is done surfing through time? [[spoiler:His parents explode and he is left alone beside his smoldering home. The last thing he says is a rather weak, "Mom...? Dad...?" as the camera pulls away, showing him very pitifully alone]]. However, many viewers insist that it is actually a BitterSweetEnding.

* AffablyEvil: The Ogres.