The Baron

For some people that claimed to be such fans of Terry Gilliam expressed surprise, and disappointed, with the release of The Brothers Grimm in 2005, seemed to have forgotten all about the 1988 release of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.  Gilliam clearly has had German "tall tales" on his mind for some time.  Although there was an actual historical person by the rather a long and *somewhat* ridiculous name of Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, Frieherr von Münchausen, most of the stories attributed to him had been tall tales in German speaking areas of Europe for centuries.  The actual Baron himself was known to tell all kinds of tales of things he couldn't have possibly done, like....going to the moon.  Most of the stories that he told were in fact the same tales that had been bedtime stories for a long time.

The cast is all star, featuring the likes of Robin Williams, Jonathan Pryce, Oliver Reed, Eric Idle, a young Uma Thurman, and an even younger Sarah Poley.  The Baron is portrayed with verve by British stalwart John Neville, who is best known to Americans as "The Well Manicured Man" from "The X-Files."

Runtime:  126 min.

Rated PG

Release Date:  10 March 1989

Aspect Ratio:  1.85:1 (Technovision Cameras)

Color (Eastmancolor)

Original Sound Mix:  70mm 6 Track

Filming Locations:  various areas in Spain and Italy

Tagline:  From the director of Time Bandits and Brazil--a new movie full of NOISE....FLYING....

Trivia:

The Baron's horse is named Bucephalus, the same (rather amusing) name of Alexander the Great's horse.

Former Dr. Who actor (and father of actor Sean Pertwee) Jon Pertwee was a strong contender for the part of the Baron.

The song that is sung by the cyclops when Vulcan carries Venus off to the bedroom is a Welsh Lullaby--"All Through The Night."

Though a member of Monty Python, Gilliam is actually an American from Minnesota.  In his home state there is a college named Gustavus Adolphus.

Gilliam told (with some consternation) Turner Classic Movies that the studio put considerable pressure on him to give the role of Vulcan to Marlon Brando, a an idea that he did not like at all!!  The part, of course, went to British acting stalwart Oliver Reed.

Gilliam's original choice for the casting of the Baron was Peter O'Toole.

Musician Sting makes a cameo appearance as a heroic soldier that is ordered to be executed because he is TOO heroic.

The casting of Robin William as Ray D. Tutu, King of the Moon was a last minute event.  He replaced Bond actor Sean Connery.

The film is an end of a trilogy by Gilliam that began with Time Bandits.  In Bandits the hero is a young boy, in Brazil the hero is middle aged, and, of course, with Baron our hero is elderly.

As a silent film buff, I'm pretty sure that the ground breaking 1902 film A Trip To The Moon by French film pioneer Georges Melies, was inspired by some of the tales that the historical Baron Munchausen told.  Her's the film, it's really the first Sci-Fi movie.

The real Baron