Time Bandits: Special Edition (1981)

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General		Extras
Category	Adventure	Audio Commentary-with T Gilliam, M Palin, J Cleese, D Warner & C Warnock Theatrical Trailer Interviews-Crew-with Terry Gilliam & Michael Palin Interviews-Crew-Clapperboard 1981 interview Gallery-Photo-Scrapbook Gallery-Film Notes Gallery-Photo-Dream Facts Gallery-Photo-Production Photo Gallery Storyboards-Missing Storyboard scenes Storyboards-Storyboard extracts Storyboards-Hidden Spiederwoman Storyboard with Photo & Script
Rating
Year Of Production	1981
Running Time	111:08
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (67:51)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Terry Gilliam
Studio Distributor	Umbrella Entertainment	Starring	John Cleese Sean Connery Shelley Duvall Katherine Helmond Ian Holm Michael Palin Ralph Richardson Peter Vaughan David Warner Craig Warnock
Case	Amaray-Opaque-Dual-Secure Clip
RPI	$24.95	Music	Mike Moran Ray Cooper George Harrison

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes, some cigar smoking
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, one scene after the credits

   Time Bandits is a unique film because it is an adventure that appeals to both children and adults, but it is cinematically presented from the viewpoint of a child (the Pixar animated films also have a similar premise to their plots, which makes them highly successful). This was done because the central character is a child, Kevin, an 11 year-old boy whose parents are materialistic and seemingly addicted to watching television game shows. Kevin's parents neglect him and Kevin spends his time thinking about his heroes from history that he has read about, such as King Agamemnon. One night he falls asleep and meets six dwarves who travel through time with a map they have 'borrowed' from The Supreme Being, who use the map to rob famous people throughout history and become rich. Kevin thus meets the famous people he has looked up to and read about in books such as Napoleon, Robin Hood and King Agamemnon, the trouble is that Kevin's heroes aren't quite what they seem to be in real life.

    Time Bandits was financed by Handmade Films, a production company set up by Beatle George Harrison and Denis O'Brien in 1978. The first film they financed was Monty Python's Life of Brian in 1979 and Time Bandits was the third film they financed after The Long Good Friday. Time Bandits was successful at the box office in 1981 and has since become a cult hit in the ensuing years, as can be judged from the many DVD releases of the film since 1999. The question remains for Region 4 fans of the film.... is this 2-disc release by Umbrella Entertainment the definitive version of the film on DVD? Read on to find out more, but in the meantime, fellow MichaelD reviewer Michael Cox has written a detailed review on the previous Region 4 DVD, including a comparison with the Region 1 Criterion Collection version and the Region 2 Anchor Bay version. It is an excellent and comprehensive review and it can be referenced here.

Video

    This Region 4 release by Umbrella Entertainment is a port of the recent Region 2 25th Anniversary re-issue by Anchor Bay in 2007 which was also a 2-disc release.

    The aspect ratio of the film is 1:85:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced for widescreen televisions. This is a huge improvement over the appalling Pan&Scan 1:33:1 full frame release by Rainbow in 2002

    The main feature occupies 5.7gb on a dual-layered DVD, with an average bitrate of 7.2 mb/sec. Despite the healthy bitrate, the picture transfer remains soft with artefacts still in the transfer. However, it is sharper than previous releases such as the Region 1 2004 US release or the Criterion Collection release.

    The colour is muted but contrast is more evident in this transfer than previous DVD releases.

    There are some instances of telecine wobble, for example in the credits and film artefacts occur from time to time, as mentioned previously, but these do not distract from the viewing as they are often brief. There are also some occurrences of macro-blocking evident in the transfer, for example the picture breaks up slightly at 50:21 and 50:29.

    There are no subtitles provided, as is normal practice for Umbrella Entertainment and personally I find this abysmal. However, in Umbrella Entertainment's defence, most other releases of the film on DVD have no subtitling included either.

    The RSDL change occurs at 67:51 during a scene transition that fades to black, unfortunately the film's soundtrack is paused at this point and thus the layer change is noticeable for the viewer.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The DVD case states that there are three audio soundtracks, a Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtrack. In fact the main feature has a remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtrack while the audio commentary utilises a Dolby Digital 2.0 track. The original Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded soundtrack that was included on the 2007 Region 2 Anchor Bay 25th Anniversary release is not included on this Region 4 version of the film.

    The main feature has an upgraded Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 kbps and a DTS 5.1 track encoded at 768 kbps. The audio commentary is encoded in Dolby Digital 2.0 at 192 kbps.

    Dialogue is clear and synchronised perfectly throughout.

    The music by Mike Moran, with Trevor Jones credited in the Greek scenes, is both subtle and dynamic when incorporated in action scenes that contain conflict. During these scenes the soundtrack comes to life, with every channel employed to good effect, including the subwoofer. Unlike other reviewers of this DVD worldwide, I personally enjoyed the upgraded 5.1 soundtracks with the DTS track having more range than the Dolby Digital one.

    The sound effects are separated equally between the front and back, with dialogue coming from the centre speaker as is traditional

    The subwoofer is also used to good effect to support action scenes, especially during conflicts and explosions.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Audio Commentary by director Terry Gilliam, co-writer and actor Michael Palin and actors John Cleese, David Warner and Craig Warnock

Theatrical Trailer

Interview with Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin (27:15)

Interview - Clapperboard 1981 interview (17:01)

Gallery-Photo-Scrapbook

Gallery-Film Notes

Gallery-Dream Facts

Gallery-Photo-Production Photo Gallery

Storyboards-Missing Storyboard Scenes

Storyboards-Storyboard Extracts

Storyboards-Hidden Spiderwoman Storyboard with Photo and Script.

    Time Bandits has been released in many versions worldwide, including three times each in the United States and the United Kingdom.

    The original Anchor Bay Region 1 United States release was not 16x9 enhanced for widescreen televisions and included the theatrical trailer and cast and crew biographies for extras. The Criterion Collection Region 1 release was also not 16x9 enhanced for widescreen televisions. It includes the original ambient Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded audio soundtrack but the video transfer is hazy and red. Extras include an audio commentary with director Terry Gilliam, actor and co-writer Michael Palin and actors John Cleese, David Warner and Craig Warnock, a Time Bandits scrapbook and the theatrical trailer. The 2004 Anchor Bay Region 1 re-release has a video transfer 16x9 enhanced for widescreen televisions (finally!) and a boosted Dolby Digital 5.1 EX soundtrack. Extras include an interview with Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, a documentary on the films of Terry Gilliam, a Terry Gilliam biography, a Collector's Booklet including Liner Notes, a map of the universe foldout, the screenplay in text format and theatrical trailers.

    The original Anchor Bay Region 2 release has an audio commentary with director Terry Gilliam, actor and co-writer Michael Palin and actors John Cleese, David Warner and Craig Warnock, a deleted scene script and storyboards (17 pages), an interview with director Terry Gilliam and actor and co-writer Michael Palin (27 mins), Storyboard extracts (19 pages), a Production photo gallery (22 pics), Dream facts (10 pages), "Time Bandits" scrapbook (2 mins 53 secs), Theatrical trailer (3 mins 12 secs), Production notes (5 pages), a Photo Gallery (31 pics), and Cast and crew biographies of Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, Sean Connery and David Rappaport. The image is 16x9 enhanced for widescreen televisions and the audio transfer includes the original Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded soundtrack and an upgraded Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The 2007 25th Anniversary Region 2 Anchor Bay re-release has an additional DTS 5.1 soundtrack and the 17 minute Clapperboard interview with Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin. The 2009 Optimum Home Entertainment release uses the same audio soundtracks as the 2002 Anchor Bay release and the same video transfer as the 2007 25th Anniversary release. The audio commentary is dropped for this version and only an interview with Gilliam, the Scrapbook extra and theatrical trailer are included as extras.

    The Region 2 Studio Canal French release is virtually identical to the Region 2 Anchor Bay 2002 release, while the Region 2 German and Scandinavian versions of the film are basic single-disc versions, although still better than the appalling and abysmal previous Pan&Scan Region 4 release by Rainbow which also had no extras!

    In my opinion, the 2007 Anchor Bay Region 2 25th Anniversary release and the Region 4 2009 Umbrella Entertainment releases are the best versions of the film currently available on DVD.

    Time Bandits is the first film in Terry Gilliam's Dream Trilogy which includes 1985's Brazil and 1989's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. The film has clever references to things from Kevin's bedroom throughout the historical scenes and the final act scenes in the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness, have a look for them the next time you view it. The actors that Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin were able to get for a small budget help to make the film memorable, especially with Sir Ralph Richardson playing The Supreme Being and Sir Sean Connery playing King Agamemnon.

    The current release by Umbrella Entertainment is the best release available on DVD, easily eclipsing the quality of the previous Region 4 release by Rainbow. However, the original film elements require restoration work as all releases on DVD (and even the 2009 Region B Blu-ray release by Optimum) are soft and contain minor film damage. Until this is done, fans of this cult classic by Terry Gilliam will not see the film in a definitive version that they deserve.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall