Time Bandits Theme of Good vs. Evil

Folks, there's a character in Time Bandits actually named Evil, so you can bet there's going to be a cosmic balancing act going on in this baby.

In the movie, God totally claims at the end that the whole purpose of everything that has happened has been to test Evil. Evil, of course, has his own ideas about how the world ought to work, and by extension, those ideas are evil. Evil is big into technology, machinery, and, well, stuff. Materialism is his middle name. God's creation, on the other hand, is out of control: wild, chaotic, sometimes violent, but definitely unique and different.

Good and evil are clearly defined here, but the things they're fighting for are a little different than you might expect.

Questions about Good vs. Evil

  1. Are there characters who hide evil beneath a good surface and good beneath an evil surface? Who are they?
  2. How do the various characters express good and evil in their actions?
  3. How is technology viewed as an instrument of evil? Where do we see concrete examples of that principle in action?
  4. Why is good often shown as distant or indifferent?

Chew on This

Take a peek at these thesis statements. Agree or disagree?

With the exception of Evil and the Supreme Being, no figure onscreen is either entirely good or entirely evil.

Heroes and villains are divided pretty cleanly here, with good and evil fairly well defined.