I love Gilliam films. I love Depp. I love Don Quixote. All this adds up to great frustration in seeing their Quixote film crash and burn. Will we ever see it on screen? Who knows. Maybe someday. But this documentary gives a great glimpse into what might have been, and makes a great counter-story to the in-depth Episode I and X-Men DVD making-of documentaries that showed how a successful film comes together. This one shows the darker side of film-making and what can happen when all goes awry. Very interesting, if completely frustrating to be teased with such a perfect group on a project that may never be completed.

If you are like me and you are interested in how movies are made, then this is one of those documentaries that you shouldn't miss. Not only does it give a good idea of what needs to be done, how much organization it all asks, which obvious problems sometimes can occur... It also shows perfectly that sometimes really everything in life can go wrong.When you see Terry Gilliam's attempt to shoot the movie "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" completely fail, you can only feel sorry for the man, but at the same time you can't help smiling. Some situations are so unreal that you really start to wonder if there is some kind of curse that hangs over this project. Take for instance the scenes in the Spanish desert. It doesn't rain there for such a long time, but as soon as they start, their equipment is almost completely washed away by a small flood. Also the scenes that were completely spoiled by the F-16's, even though the government promised that this wasn't very likely to happen, were all so unreal.But even though the makers seem to be cursed from the beginning until the end with an actor who appears to be too sick to work, other actors who don't show up on time, a flood, F-16's,... I must say that the parts of the movie that were finished looked very promising. I really hope that he will be able to finish his project once, because I truly believe that it might become a good movie. Just by seeing how much fun he had while watching some scenes, made me look forward to it.As a conclusion I would like to add that this documentary might be interesting to show in all movie classes. Not only does it show the many hours of work that go before the actual shooting, it also shows into detail every possible aspect that might go wrong. I guess that this must be very interesting for all would-be and future directors. I give it at least a 7.5/10.

LOST IN LA MANCHA may not be in the same league as HEARTS OF DARKNESS ( The documentary that gives the inside story of the making of APOCALYPSE NOW ) but it's certainly entertaining and stands as a very good example of how not to produce a movie . I may make myself unpopular for saying this but didn't the people involved deserve everything they got ? Terry Gilliam decides he's going to direct a movie called THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE , it's going to feature windmills , giants and some old self deluded bloke from Spain . Perhaps not the greatest plot for a movie but Johnny Depp is cast as the eponymous man so I guess Gilliam got that bit right since Depp has massive box office appeal . With hindsight that's the only thing Gilliam has done right because he soon finds himself having to use what is probably the worst sound stage in Europe since it's the only one available . Things move from bad to worse when Gilliam finds himself with no one to play Don Quixote on the first day of filming and when they finally cast the actor in the part they realise that the only place that location filming can take place is being used by NATO aircraft for training exercises . It's kind of difficult to have a story set in the 16th century when F-16s are flying over head all day . Things move from worse to even worse when a lot of equipment floats away in a flash flood . What else can go wrong you ask ? This is highly entertaining but no one on the production deserves any sympathy . Didn't the producer research what sound stages would be available during filming ? Didn't he research locations and find one that wasn't being used by NATO or suffered from flash floods ? Couldn't he have cast an elderly actor ( A senor citizen ? ) as Quixoite before shooting was due to begin ? These are the faults of the producer rather than the director but Gilliam isn't entirely blameless himself but perhaps his major fault is that he's too much of a nice guy , he never gets angry and treats every setback with a wry smile which isn't perhaps an attribute for a movie director , compare his manner with Francis Ford Coppola while making APOCALYPSE NOW . As I said this is a perfect example - And a very entertaining one too - on how not to make a movie

I had the opportunity of seeing this film as part of the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2002. A group of us, all filmmakers, saw this 'making of' together and were left speechless by what we saw.The challenges faced by this filmmaker (Terry Gilliam) were uncanny and catastrophic and every step of the way, it was captured on film for posterity. From casting problems to actor health problems, to impossible weather conditions, this film shows how a great director is to react when the worst of the worst happens. As a filmmaker, I had to really reconsider whether I knew what I was getting into. Gilliam's composure under fire is amazing. Lost in La Mancha started out as a "making of" Gilliam's "Don Quioxte" but actually wound up being an excellent educational documentary for what can go wrong with even the best of film endeavors. If you're interested in how films are made, I definitely recommend you pick up a copy of "Lost in La Mancha". It is a fascinating insight to the world of high stakes storytelling.