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Time Bandits - Criterion Collection

Time Bandits - Criterion Collection

List Price: $39.95
Your Price: $35.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A fantastic adventure trhough time, One of my favorites!!
Review: What could be better than time travelling midgets who steal from famous people throughout time. If you are a fane of Monty Python or any other off the wall comidies you will love this film as well. If you don't like it I will by all DVDs back for 1 cent each!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: one of my favorite films
Review: I've seen this film 50 times and I still enjoy it

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Terry Gilliam's worst film.
Review: Director Terry Gilliam is one of the greatest directors out there. Can't tell that by watching this bomb.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Time Bandits over Star Wars
Review: I will not go into the plot because the whole experience of "Time Bandits" should be a total surprise the first time around! I will say that it's my third favorite Gilliam movie after "Brazil" and "12 Monkeys" and when I first saw it I was totally blown away. The screenplay, written by Gilliam and supporting actor Palin, tries to escape from the Star Wars mind set that took over Hollywood around that time. Infact, all elements of this movie work so hard to run away from the usual rules of the American screenplay. Another aspect of this film is the production design and special effects that are quiet compared to all those space ship explosions that we're so used to. The effects are only used as a tool over the plot line being guided around them. I respect Criterion for this DVD but I think they could have gone a bit farther. While their "Brazil" DVD really pushed the features, "Bandits" only has a single scrap book. I wanted more. But the print is lovely and the commentary is worth listening to, even though I don't think Gilliam is that talented at doing it. His two subjects tend to be "Dissing America" and "Hatred for TV," which is okay but gets dull after a while.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Pretentious junk
Review: Save your dough.

A british kid goes on adventures with a bunch of hammy-acting little people. At the end, his parents die for no apparant reason. (Before some film school moron e-mails me with the reason, I got it. It was just dumb.)

Get "Brazil" or "Munchausen" instead. Gilliam's off his game here. Or try "12 monkeys." That's a great film

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Interesting . . . .
Review: I watched this movie (for some obscure reason) in a Cinema History class, and was amused if somewhat disappointed. Expecting something slightly more "pythonesque", considering that Monty Python members Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam wrote the screenplay, I was a little surprised by the style of the film, and the plot: the proper young British boy and the gang of over-enthusiastic dwarves travelling the universe in search of adventure, fleeing from the supreme being who would take away their means of amusement.

Still, as long as a movie makes me smile, I'm happy, and I must admit I got a couple of laughs out of "Time Bandits". Some high points in the movie included the all too brief scene with John Cleese as Robin Hood ("And how long have you been a robber? Jolly good . . ."), which lasted about three minutes - odd, considering that Cleese's name was listed first amongst the credits. Sean Connery's bit was also one of the more interesting parts, as well as the Michael Palin scenes - which I have yet to comprehend the meaning of, but which were amusing all the same. "Time Bandits" is one of the stranger movies I have seen, aimed at a younger audience than the Monty Python movies, but also dealing with issues above that, and an interesting movie for most people. Unfortunatly, its ending is worse even than the sudden blotting of the camera screen, as in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," which may have been the cause of some of the more unkind reviews. When you realise that it's the end of the movie, you're left completely hanging, and half the appreciation drops away with the ground. Still, it's an interesting movie, and fun for most.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The videotape version is blurry.
Review: In view of the sheer output of Monty Python, the term "Monty Python" could be interpreted to mean an entire genre. The Meaning of Life, for example, is one of the finest offerings that Monty Python has bequeathed upon humanity. The first 20 minutes of The Meaning of Life is, arguably, the most astonishing 20 minute sequence in the entire history of film. The Meaning of Life deserves at least 5 stars. But movie under review, Time Bandits, deserves no more than 3 stars. First of all, the videotape is unconscionably blurry. Unlike films such as As Good As It Gets or Sleepless in Seattle, which can be enjoyed as a radio show, Time Bandits derives its attraction from its visuals, e.g., period costumes and science fiction special effects. Hence, much is lost in the videotape. And for that matter, unless you have a high definition television, much would also be lost with viewing from a DVD and an ordinary TV. Time Bandits really cannot compete with other fantasy and science fiction movies from the early 1980s. Time Bandits was released during the same time frame as, e.g., Indian Jones, Superman, and Poltergeist. In Time Bandits, the actors materialize in different historical situations, and visit, e.g., Napoleon, Robin Hood, a Greek emporor, and The Titanic. But what happens during most of these encounters is not really coherent and does not make for appealing viewing. Most irritating is the finale, which involves extensive and arbitrary use of explosions and smoke bombs. Is there anything good that I can say about Time Bandits? Yes. I very much admired the extensive use of the Andante from Mahler's Sixth Symphony in the soundtrack. It was also nice to hear a George Harrison composition during the final credits.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Dumb
Review: I sat through about half an hour of this film. It was the dumbest movie I have ever seen. I couldn't sit through anymore. It felt like I was getting stupider by the minute. I can't believe that this movie would be made. I am sure there are a lot of better scripts that have been written.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Splendid movie, average transfer
Review: This is a great movie, one of Terry Gilliams three great fantasies (though all of his movies have their fair share of magic.)

The one problem no one seems to mention for the criterion disc is that there were definitely several parts (most noticably the scene near the end where God helps them clean up the big mess) where the print quality was kind of poor, with white flecks in the image and holes in the film and everything. Definitely not something I'd expect from a Criterion Collection release.

Actually, the previous non-Criterion release, though it has no commentary, and is a lower quality transfer, seems to be transferred form less damaged film, and has fewer flecks and holes in the film! Still, this is a great movie, and a good DVD, with great commentary. And ending credits music I jsut realized is by George Harrison, awesome!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Childs Adventure
Review: Adults may be entertained, but it is truly a childs movie. It centers on a young boy being abducted by dwarfs that are stealing things of value from history via a time portal. He joins them for the sake of adventure and they are all chased from historical events by a variety of people. Some great cameos from stars like Sean Connery.

Some good comedy and wonderful sets make this a step above many children adventure movies. Definitely imaginative story. I recommend it for the whole family but teenagers may be bored with it since it centers on one young boy living out his fantasies. It may not appeal to most girls or women. Some of the Monty Python crew are in it.


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