Visible crew/equipment: When they're building the petticoat balloon, the camera slowly goes back. Look at the lower-right corner of the screen: there is a man wearing a stadium jacket. He's a crew member.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Robin Williams, Uma Thurman, Eric Idle, Oliver Reed, Sarah Polley, John Neville
The Baron, upset with his servants unwillingness to fight, gives himself up to turk. However, he makes sure he motivates them first. Right before he is executed, Adolphus fires his musket and breaking the executioners blade, preventing the execution. This starts a fantasic battle where the Baron and his servants go back into form, defeating the turk, and saving thr town with their fantastic powers. During the victory parade the evil elected public servant assinates the Baron. The town mourns as the Baron is lowered into the ground. We come back to the original scene, the play, where the Baron finishes his tale by mentioning that was one of the only one of the many times he has met his death, something he does not recommend. However, with the help of his remarkable servants, he was able to defeat the Turk, and save the town and everyonelived happily ever after. The elected public servant appears with troops and demands the arrest of the Baron, who declares for the townspeople to open the gate, and prove he his tale is true. After a minor non violent revolution, they over power the troops, who were commanded to fire on anyone who does not follow the public servants orders, and they open the gates revealing a defeated Turk army. They celebrate at the unbelievable turn of events. Sally has the epiphany that it was not just a story. The Baron rides off into the sunset, salutes the town, and disappears.
BIG Black
More mistakes in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Baron Munchausen: Everyone who had a talent for it lived happily ever after.
Trivia: Despite being nominated for 4 Academy Awards (and despite its decades-long cult following), this film was a box-office disaster upon its release, grossing only $8 million against a reported production cost of $46 million. Director Terry Gilliam denied the film cost anywhere near $40 million, and other reports place the total cost at around $35 million. But, even with this more conservative estimate, Gilliam went far beyond his initial budget of $25 million.
Question: When Baron Munchausen and his cohorts clean out the Sultan's vault, the Sultan's horrified Treasurer crosses himself in the Catholic fashion. But, in this film, the Sultan is head of the Ottoman Empire (a Muslim empire), and the closest members of his court (such as his Treasurer) would surely be Muslim. So the treasurer's Christian gesture stands out as unlikely, at best. This seems to be a character error, but was it intended as a deliberate joke? If so, what was the joke?
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Answer: The Baron is a teller of tall tales and massively exaggerated stories, so it is all from his limited point of view. The Ottomans did have Christian members of staff, especially doctors and such but the treasurer would never be a non-Muslim.