Also worth noting is that I can't think of a single post Munchausen film that had as big action set pieces as that film. Even the WWI scene in 12 Monkeys was pretty tightly shot with the war as a backdrop to what was going on with Bruce Willis' character in the moment.
I feel sorry for what Sarah Polley went through, however Terry Gilliam was the director of Munchausen, not the stunt co-ordinator, pyrotechnics specialist or health and safety officer. How is it all his fault? Is a director entirely responsible for every single thing that goes on during a film shoot? As Gilliam later asked "Is the auteur theory correct?" Munchausen was a traumatic shoot for numerous reasons, the biggest culprit for most of the faults that went on during the film shoot was the producer Thomas Schühly, who lied to Gilliam about how much the film would cost, Schühly and his accountants told Gilliam it would cost $23.5 million to make and it ended up costing nearer to $45 million. If anyone needs to be truly blamed here, it's Schühly not Gilliam, but no actor, young or old should be put in danger.
At least Polley is striking a more conciliatory tone, not wanting people to demonise Gilliam for what Polley went through on that film. Like I've said elsewhere, it WASN'T ENTIRELY Gilliam's fault, most of blame lies at the door of Thomas Schühly, who lied about the budget and didn't keep control of the money going out of the door. Arnon Milchan was originally producer early on, but he left when Schühly seized greater control over the production, it could have done with Milchan's tight control, because Schühly didn't have the discipline or clout Milchan had.