Review of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) by Kai82 — 11 Dec 2022

It is one of the great movies that is forgotten as not many people watched it. The movie has an excellent cast, is well crafted and entertaining. The story is based on the stories of the German Baron Munchhausen a noble that had fantastic adventure that are outrageous and impossible.

The truth behind is that Baron Munchhausen really existed and told stories of his adventures. Because those were too outrageous or overblown for some mockery stories were made up. Those were extremely popular and so successful that his name is a synonym for liar even after centuries.

Back to the movie. Story: In a by Ottoman besieged city a theater stage play about Munchhausen takes place. After a few moments an elderly man interrupts the play claiming to be the real Munchhausen and tells the audience the real story.

It is rated as adventure / fantasy movie but can be also seen as comedy / satire. It tells the feats of Munchhausen famous tales while telling another story of the besieged city and its inhabitants. It is entertaining but I say it has a few lengths.

The ending is incredibly good but in a way that I can see others hate it. The cast is excellent and you should recognize Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle from Monty Python (It is not a Monty Python movie or even similar).

John Neville as Baron Munchhausen is excellent. He delivers all facets of the character. Also Sarah Polley as Sally Salt, Jonathan Pryce as mayor and Robin Wiliams are excellent. We have a praiseworthy performance and the whole cast delivers.

The practical effects are nice and a bit of a homage to the source but I have to say some look not that good. Overall this is a nice movie I liked (but not loved). Worth a try if you can even find it as like I said it is mostly forgotten.