The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) is Terry Gilliam's fantasy comedy, and you can watch it online on iFILM. A city is under siege by the Turks when a decrepit old man storms a theatre stage and insists he is the real Baron Munchausen.

To lift the siege, the Baron, played by John Neville, sets off to round up his old gang of misfits: a servant who outruns bullets, a strongman, a whirlwind dwarf and a marksman with impossible eyesight. The journey carries him to the Moon, ruled by a mad king whose head floats off his body (Robin Williams), into the fires of Etna to meet Vulcan (Oliver Reed) and inside the belly of a giant sea monster. Young Sally (Sarah Polley) tags along while Death himself circles the old man, biding his time.

Gilliam shot the picture across Italy and Spain on a runaway budget that nearly sank the studio, yet the baroque sets and stunts were built by hand, with no computer trickery. Uma Thurman appears as Venus and Sting turns up in a brief bit. Stream The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) online on iFILM.