“What sort of Supreme Being created such riff raff? Is this not the workings of a complete incompetent?”
King Agamemnon was introduced in the original script as: “The warrior took off his helmet, revealing someone that looks exactly like Sean Connery, or an actor of equal but cheaper stature.” To writer/director Terry Gilliam’s surprise, when Connery saw the script he expressed interest in the role and his agent approached them for the part. Ruth Gordon was originally cast as Mrs. Ogre but was replaced before filming began because of a broken arm. Jonathan Pryce was offered the role of the Evil Genius but had to decline because of his prior commitment to Loophole (1981). He later worked with Gilliam taking the lead role in Brazil (1985) and in The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen (1988). Young Craig Warnock who played Kevin, won the role after a wide search for the right child actor. An agent had seen Warnock’s brother and sent him to an audition. It was coincidence that Craig was even there, but Gilliam cast Craig instead of his sibling because “the young man seemed rather intelligent yet aloof and quiet”, as opposed to the stereotypical cute little boy. Gilliam shot the film with low camera angles to give the audience the perspective of a child, or a dwarf – the heroes of Time Bandits. The footage of the Titanic sinking is taken from the film, A Night to Remember (1958) – colorized and then slowed down. Gilliam reportedly also wrote a screenplay for “Time Bandits 2”, but never followed through with the film project due to the deaths of Jack Purvis and David Rappaport, the two most prominent little people featured in the first movie.
