Rating: 
Summary: An Insane Movie
Review: This is a lousy movie. Thankgoodness for modern technology and better stories in todays world. The age of this film is all that keeps this movie from ultimate destruction. Someone please tell me why anyone would steal and run from a God?! That is pretty sad. No one could possibly believe that they could actually succeed in such a hopeless adventure. And why would god test ultimate evil? This movie is terrible. This movie just dosen't work.P.S. This movie only deserves 1/2 a star if not less. Unfortunately this rate a DVD thing won't give me the options I WANT.
Rating: 
Summary: Timeless Classic!
Review: I watched this film as a child and it's still as wonderful as I remember it! For those of you that lack an imagination, it's too bad!! This is one film that is not for everyone! If you like Monty Python.. you'll love this movie! :)
Rating: 
Summary: The Whole Point of Letterboxing.....
Review: ...is to include ALL of the picture!!!! The point is NOT simply to duplicate the "shape" of the picture seen in movie theaters! Why would anyone prefer LESS image? It makes no sense to me. "Time Bandits" is one of my favorite movies, but I'll stick to the VHS version until somebody fixes the problem. Consumers watch out! This isn't the only movie that's been butchered this way on DVD. Orson Welles' great "Touch of Evil" was given the fake letterbox treatment on DVD, and so was the recent DVD release of Martin Scorsese's "The Last Waltz." I'm sure it's been done on many more releases that I'm not aware of. You can check these films against the old VHS versions to see for yourself. This is a stupid practice that we as consumers shouldn't tolerate.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh sweet Jesus this movie bit
Review: The only reason I EVER EVER started to watch this movie was because it came with my Life of Brian DVD and because I love Terry Gilliam. From the beginning I could tell that this flic was going to hurt. It started out slow and boring and then out of nowhere midget pirates show up in this kids bedroom! After that I went numb and skimmed it over lightly. I don't even remember Micheal Palin being in it but I did like John Cleese as Robin Hood. Please if you have a soul don't watch this movie. I may be a monty python fan but I'm not blind.
Rating:
Summary: YES, THIS IS THE ORIGINALLY INTENDED ASPECT RATIO!!!
Review: In case some of the other reviewers are confused, this film has been presented in the aspect ratio that the director intended it to be in. Yes, the VHS edition shows "more of the frame", but the film was shot with the intention of "matting out" the top and bottom of the screen for theatrical distribution. Therefore in the VHS "full-screen" version, you are only seeing "more" of what the director DOESN'T WANT YOU TO SEE. Although I understand the frustration of those who are used to seeing the "TV" version, this transfer preserves the integrity of the film as a work of art. That may sound pretensious, but as someone who has much respect for Auteurs like Terry Gilliam, I'm sure I come off as pretensious most of the time. Oh yeah, this film is also EXCELLENT, but it's still no BRAZIL. PS: MOST films, with the exception of those shot in Anamorphic or Super 35, are shot in full-frame and then matted for projection. The stuff that the letterboxing "blocks out" is, for the most part, junk. Of course, there are exceptions. Such as when a filmmaker wants the frame to look good in a theatre as well as on television. See Kubrik's "Eyes Wide Shut" (co-written by Frederic Raphael) for a good example of this.
Rating:
Summary: A Terrific early film from Terry Gilliam
Review: I saw Time Bandits many times when it was on cable back in the early '80s, so it is nice to have it preserved forever on DVD. The commentary by Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, John Cleese, David Warner, and Craig Warnock is a nice idea, as you don't get those moments of silence that one often gets when a director does a commentary on his own. They all seem to have clear memories of the film and have interesting stories and insights about the film. The Scrapbook is ok, with photos of production and such finishing up with a photo of Gilliam and Warnock (who played the young boy, Kevin) from 1997. The trailer is terrific fun and offbeat. It's great to see a movie trailer that is out of the ordinary.
The film itself is great from start to finish. The time travel element is realized in a creative way and adds a bit of excitement to the story. From Kevin almost getting the father of his dreams (as played by Sean Connery), meeting Robin Hood (John Cleese) who comes off like a member of the royal family, ending up on the Titanic, and much more.
Reading the reviews of Time Bandits, people seem to really love this film or really hate it. The folks who love it seem to like to go into great detail as to why they love it and the people who hated seem to just write one or two lines of text about how the movie was awful. If you hate the movie, tell us why. A review that simply says 'This movie was awful' along with several other reviews describing in detail how great a film is will probably act as encouragement to buy the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Letterbox format chops top and sides of original
Review: Time Bandits is my favorite movie, and the Criterion DVD is worth the cost to me because of the commentary by Gilliam and many of the actors. That said, it could have been so much better if the entire movie had been printed, rather than cutting off the top and bottom to make a "letterbox" format, with the same aspect ratio, but about 1/2 the visual information. What a sorry thing to do to such a wonderful movie! I know another reviewer warns of "fake letterbox," but here is what it says on the liner notes: "Time Bandits is presented in its original theatrical aspect ration of 1.85:1. This digital transfer was created from the 35mm interpositive." How could you read this and believe the transfer would throw away so much of the film? The close shots are especially annoying. The VHS version is actually closer to the film visually than the DVD. If I didn't love this film enough to care about the commentary (which apparently refers to a LaserDisk print, actually), I'd return the DVD in a heartbeat. What a shame.
Rating:
Summary: CRITERION is NOT the Paragon of Quality
Review: Criterion has successfully promoted itself as the place to go for quality, putting out the best films in the best transfers with the most bonus materials. All the while charging considerably more for their products. Well DON'T you believe it! They certainly cut corners on this DVD. I noticed that everything looked a little claustrophobic as I watched this DVD, so I compared it to the VHS version. The black bars in this actually COVER UP part of the picture!!! They tried to fake the widescreen, apparently. Why would they do such a thing? The recently released "Notorious," also by Criterion, is a shabby print that also costs far more than the previously released version. Take my advice...stay away from Criterion products!
Rating:
Summary: Ambitious fantasy for the whole family
Review: Where director Terry Gilliam scores highly, quite apart from the casting coups of Richardson and Connery, is that the film sees things from the child's point of view. this is good both for children watching the film, and for any adults who still have a child-like sense of fun and adventure. This is aided by clever casting of midgets in the principle roles and a capable and likeable actor as 'point of identification' Kevin. Whilst it's not so surprising to see them, John Cleese and Michael Palin also turn in good performances, as do the other members of the star-studded cast. The visuals are suitably surreal and imaginative with my favourite scene being the boat on top of the island which turns out to be the giant's head. There are plenty of other set pieces which show Gilliam's skill as a designer (he storyboarded the whole film) as well as director. The story itself has some good dialogue (the script was co-written by Gilliam and Michael Palin) and a plot which is as full as it needs to be to move from set piece to set piece, and leads us to an ultimately satisfying yet unexpected ending.
Rating:
Summary: An epic of epic proportions
Review: Simply put, well, there really is no "simply put" about any of Terry Gilliam's films which is what makes them so wonderful. One of the most imaginative, spell-binding stories ever put to contemporary film. On the surface it's a fun flick graced with the intensity of Sean Connery, the innocent splendor of the lovely Shelly Duval, and the obscenely masterful comic of Michael Palin and John Cleese. But taken in context of the Trilogy, as I understand it, comprised of Time Bandits, Brazil, and The Adventures of Baron Munchuesen, the film captures the sheer ludiocrisy of life as a child in a world of mindless adults as only Terry Gilliam in his brilliance could portray. A true masterpiece That I personaly feel is matched only by Brazil in painful satirical ingenuity. Top marks, Mr. Gilliam. I should die a happy man if ever I could congratulate you personally.
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