Rating: 
Summary: Review of the DVD presentation.
Review: To me Time Bandits is a 5-star favorite. My copy is on my movie shelf right beside Brazil DVD, City of Lost Children DVD, Labrinth DVD, Dragonslayer VHS (come'on DVD!), and Gulliver's Travels DVD (with Ted Danson). I'm a few years older than Craig Warnock who plays Kevin in the movie.Now, the DVD presentation is definately a mixed bag. The picture quality is quite good with an occational artifact or grainy look. Many imperfections are probably on the original. Not much you can do about that. My PC-DVD player indicated that the movie was running in pan&scan. Odd, this is supposed to be widescreen. At first I thought that sound was top notch. However, as I was watching it I noticed the sound seemed "warped". It goes up and down constantly. My old VHS copy had better sound. This is a disappointment. I'd give the picture a 4 out of five and the sound a 3 out of 5. As for extras I enjoyed them all very much. The commentary is great! Craig Warnock (Kevin) is now much older. It sounds like he had a great time making this movie. There's a lot of fun inside info from Gilliam (the director). I wish every movie I owned had commentary. It's a great idea - all thanks to DVDs. So...it you love this flick as much as many people reviewing do...go ahead and buy it. Aside from the disappointing sound, everything else is as good as it'll get! Time Bandits is even better than a 2-speed hedge cutter!!
Rating:
Summary: Never a Python fan, I didn't miss 'em at all.
Review: I am so glad to learn this film is now on DVD! And from CRITERION, no less! I have not seen the DVD version, yet, but I love the film. My only copy is dubbed to Hi8 from the rather crummy, cropped-to-fit Laserdisc a friend had, and I STILL watch it several times a year. Criterion has always been my favorite Laserdisc production company, for their selection of eminently worthy, out-of-the-way classics; for the care with which they restore and transfer a print; and for the selection of ancillary materials they include (e.g., design sketches and viewing notes for Bladerunner). I'm sorry to learn they haven't done as well with the sound on Time Bandits as they might have. But mostly, I want to comment on the film, itself. As my subject line says, I've never been a great fan of Monty Python. (Except in the animation department.) I like them okay, but seldom laugh aloud. And I HAVE always been a fan of select children's literature and film. ...Just to acknowledge my overall perspective and biases. First, I have to disagree with Pauline Kael's comment that Time Bandits "may be one of those rare pictures that suffers from a surfeit of good ideas." To my mind, Time Bandits sustains INFINITELY better proportion between story and ideas than does Brazil, which I thought inexcusably long, with some stretches practically barren. Second, I really think it's the association with Python which has mitigated against Time Bandits having found a truer audience. This film has much more in common with Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, and to some extent with Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time or C. S. Lewis's Narnia Chronicles, than with the Python films I've seen. Its road-story format, unbounded by constraints of strictly linear travel, allows a much freer story form, travelling in and out of myth and [supposed] reality, gleefully both exploiting each for its story-telling strengths and clobbering its delicately exposed foibles. Positing Palin and Duvall as historically reincarnated, circumstantially doomed lovers, first in the legendary era of Robin Hood, and later in the historically infamous [therefore perennially embroidered, and thus itself somewhat fabulistic] Titanic disaster, and in both cases having them be literally "dropped in upon" by Kevin and dwarves at the most romantically disastrous (okay, okay: NEARLY most disastrous) possible moments, is compact story-telling, plain and simple. The film is commenting on the simultaneous futility and implacability of love and of fighting one's destiny; the role of sheer luck (via Kevin ALIGNED WITH dwarves) in first finding oneself in one's own, odd circumstances, and then in making the best of them; the ultimate stupidity of ALWAYS running off madly half-cocked in all directions OR of NEVER doing so (via Kevin VERSUS dwarves); and of the fluid boundaries between consensus "reality" and the imagination in which it is grounded--as when Kevin and Co. abandon the last floating bits of the hapless and [presumably] real Titanic, striking out into unknown waters, only to end up swimming seamlessly back into the realm of the fantastical. I agree that the final battle is somewhat prolonged, but the weaving-in of all the toys from the initial, plot-reversal scene in Kevin's bedroom was a fine touch, I thought. So it required some time to do thoroughly--it no doubt enthralls those children old enough to appreciate delirious action, without being too frightened by it. In addition, unlike some reviewers here, I found the ending rather satisfying. It neither pulled punches, nor sugar-coated what had gone before. Ultimate Evil is, after all, EVIL. REALLY evil, not just a little bit. And even in the face of evil, life is weird and funny and vexing and confusing and rough and joyous and... all the things life is. And not just a little bit. And NOT twits-in-a-sack-race-fall-down funny, like so much of the actual Python schtick. But oddly and wisely and dangerously and stupidly and sadly and infuriatingly and perplexingly funny. Like the look on Kevin's parents' faces when, dumb as their suburban lawn and just as devoid of wonder, they reach for the still-smoking, charred lump of meat which had caused their house to burn, and Kevin yells in horror, "Mom! Dad! Don't touch it! It's EVIL!" You know That Look they get? Just before they disobey the kid and suffer the consequences? THAT's the kind of odd-wise-dangerous-stupid-sad-infuriating-perplexing way life is funny. And even though Kevin knows that, he's still stuck in it. And though he (and all of us) are stuck in it, the firefighter (bearing an uncanny resemblance to King Agamemnon, earlier in the story) is there to point out that the echoes of heroes and legends (and the rather more mundane reality-seeds from which they have always sprung) are all around us. Kevin, although perhaps unwittingly, knows that, too. And now, so do you. Watch the movie with a kid (or just with an attitude like one). Suspend disbelief. Have a lot of fun. Learn something. (From the kid--with you, or within you.) Four stars. At least.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best Python, but no Python actor can be bad.
Review: The wide screen makes this a wonderful movie to see. There's tons of excitement, laughable history lessons, fantastic filming, loveable characters, tons of good child geared humor... but adults will love it, too. It's not standard for some of what the Pythons did, but it's still better than many other movies out there. All-in-all, it's awesome and worth owning. Get it!
Rating:
Summary: Not Monty Python, but then again, it's not supposed to be!
Review: This is the movie that helped gel the Monty Python crew together bringing the team of Gilliam and Palin together with Cleese and his co-hort Chapman (though Chapman isn't in the film). Time Bandits is a cult classic, not really worthy of an award but a way to satire on aspects of people's lives and poke fun at them. This movie falls right into the category of fantasy and, as previously stated by another reviewer, like The Princess Bride, it manages to bring together an amazing cast that balances the movie and the plot keeps it going. Bottom Line: If you are a Monty Python fan, you will laugh, but not as hard as when you saw Monty Python and the Holy Grail for the 30th time. If you love fantasy, you will be pleased and will love owning this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Watch out for widescreen VHS
Review: I'm posting this warning for the second time because the original is hidden by a bunch of DVD reviews: the widescreen VHS version is not really widescreen. It is the TV formatted version with black bars placed across the top and bottom!
Rating:
Summary: More Little People Hitting Each Other!
Review: As one would expect of a Criterion release, the DVD of "Time Bandits" is an absolute pleasure, from the clean film transfer to the many delightful added features. The production scrapbook is a treasure, along with the commentary by Gilliam and Palin. These features truly enrich one's appreciation for the film; not only do they lavish praise on the actors playing the "dwarves" (who, in retrospect, did nothing less than a heroic job), but also reveal many of the clever tricks that allowed them to create such a sumptuously beautiful film for the cost of Speilberg's monthly catering bill. Compare this film to expensive clunkers like "Tron" (which came out a year later!) to appreciate the extent of Gilliam's craft. Cleese's description of his day's work is howlingly funny, and David Warner is generous and wryly amusing. The now-grown Craig Warnock is not particularly eloquent, however, and it's hard to tell if he's joking about the film scarring him psychologically! The trailer is simply awful, after a promising start, but it's indicative of AVCO's cluelessness about how to market such a fresh and original film. They tried to pass it off as Python style comedy, safe for kiddies and fun for grow-ups. In fact, it's nothing of the kind - it's a dangerous and rigorous film that one may wish to keep out of the hands of small children. Despite it's vague resemblance to "The Wizard of Oz" told upside down (or inside out?), "Time Bandits" is not a typical (modern) children's film. It has an old-fashioned Grimm-ness, with creatures dying nasty, sweaty deaths and even "good" characters behaving quite badly at times. In short, it is more utterly honest than any fantasy film made since Disney bowdlerized "Snow White." Understanding that young people like to be frightened, and taking peculiar delight in how "awful" his band of dwarf thieves are, Gilliam places a very real boy (so real, he's almost dull) in an amazing series of situations, exposing him to terrible ordeals with only a shifty gang of unreliable and occasionally stupid companions to guide and protect him - though mostly they ignore him or egg him on to be more like them (being dwarves, he towers over them, both physically and morally). At the very moment he feels he's found the right place to be, they tear him away with no regard for his wishes or feelings, and ultimately thrust him into conflict with forces neither he nor they can comprehend, let alone master. Sounds a bit like growing up, doesn't it? Along the way, Gilliam tweaks various legendary Great and Powerful Figures (Napoleon, Agamemnon, Robin Hood - even Satan [referred to exclusively as "The Evil Genius"]), not to mention technology and consumerism, to reveal the narrow-minded, clumsy, grasping people we grown-ups really are. The ending remains controversial, although I can remember seeing it in my late teens and feeling utterly liberated by it (what teenage boy doesn't want his parents to evaporate, at least once in a while?). There's more honesty and meaning in the last five minutes than any patently false "happy ending" could hope to achieve, although young children conditioned to expect Pocahontas to live happily ever after with John Smith (which, of course, she didn't) may find it too disturbing. "Time Bandits" is a triumphant use of fantasy to articulate truth, of the power of the imagination to find the reality hidden in plain sight (the figures in the final conflict can all be found in the boy's room in the early scenes). It's an unforgettable film, with images and characters that will stay with you for a lifetime, even if you aren't an impressionable, disaffected, precocious brat (like I was when I first saw it), but especially if you are!
Rating:
Summary: Gilliam achieves much with little
Review: Worth it for Gilliam and indie film fans. A group of renegade shrubbery-designers on the lam from the Supreme Being stumble through a hole in space-time into the bedroom of a small boy, whom they abduct to help them steal the treasures of history. Okay, Gilliam fans, rejoice. Python fans, rent it first. Indie filmmakers - here's how to make a plausible looking fantasy film on a (still big) budget. The executive summary: 1. Acting - well done and believable. Appropriately over-the top in places. 2. Plot - fun fun fun and I want that map! Touching in places, and the non-Hollywood ending is perfect. 3. Production design / special effects - good enough. On par with Monty Python episodes / Holy Grail film. Notable exception - everything to do with "Evil". Bonus: see the origins of the "insidiously cheesy machinery" look Gilliam later perfected in "Brazil" and "12 Monkeys". Sets and props are extremely well-used (pay attention to the kids' room at the beginning!)and add richness to the film. The DVD has commentary by the now-grown child lead, as well as some Gilliam miscellany. For fans, well worth the extra investment, even if you already own the VHS edition. Key issue - this is only a date movie if your date can handle "silly." Most American ladies (in my experience) find Monty Python really unfunny. This film is not true Python when taken as a whole, but anything with a little slapstick and cockney accents seems to get painted as such. Warning: I thought that since one lady friend of mine liked Adam Sandler, she'd like TB - I was wrong! Be warned! Overall - fans, buy it. Others - rent it or ask for it for a gift.
Rating:
Summary: Chapter One
Review: This film is entirely entertaining and has a true magic to it which is sadly gone from the films of the 90's. It is, as a work of fantasy, the most engaging and rewarding cinema experience since the days of Jason and the Argonauts. It challenges you to conceive of the incredible imagery presented and also to think as two halves of yourself at once; your simpler yet more life-affirming youth, and your complex, more discriminate adulthood. I refer to this film as Chapter One in the sense that it was the first of Gilliam's three films which deal with the concepts of fantasy and reality. Time Bandits involves a young boy who escapes his parents through his fantasies. Brazil, by far my favorite film of all time, is the second film, dealing with a man escaping harsh reality by his dreams. The final installment is the highly underrated Adventures of Baron Munchaussen, which is about an older man indulging the fantasic reality of his youth to fight off his impending end.
Rating: 
Summary: A WORK IN PROGRESS
Review: Great ideas, superb cinematography but average movie. Terry Gilliam's TIME BANDITS is the perfect example of the - could have been the best - movie. While I watched this DVD, I couldn't help myself to think : why but why am I not excited by such delirious images ? TIME BANDITS isn't a child's dream. Even if Kevin's adventures seem to emerge from the books he has read. Gulliver, the Minotaur, the Trojan wars, Napoleon, Robin Hood are familiar figures to a boy always lost in his imaginary world. But their appearance in TIME BANDITS let me a bit puzzled. One can hardly say that these figures are observed from the point of view of a 10 years old child. The presence of the caustic mind of Terry Gilliam is too obvious. TIME BANDITS isn't a dream but a nightmare. By inverting the structure of Victor Fleming's THE WIZARD OF OZ, Terry Gilliam creates a certain uneasiness in the audience ; in TIME BANDITS, Dorothy (Kevin) isn't searching the Wizard (the Supreme Being) but tries to escape him. More intriguing, Kevin meets the characters appearing in his adventures AFTER the dream ! Furthermore, the final minutes of TIME BANDITS are worthy to appear in a FRIDAY THE 13TH or FREDDY sequel. Great ideas but average movie because TIME BANDITS, too often, is nothing more than brilliant sequences put one after the other without any plot line. That is the main reason why I cannot be enthusiastic about TIME BANDITS : The Terry Gilliam of the Monty Python is still alive in this movie with his TV tricks, private jokes and bad habits. But the creator of BRAZIL has already awaken. A DVD for Sean's hair.
Rating:
Summary: A review of the DVD.
Review: First let me state I like the movie, but I wanted to comment on the DVD edition features. The video at times has dust floaters in it much as you would see in a theater. The sound was inconsistent at times with either too loud music or too soft dialogue. The commentary was some one of the best I've heard. Most directors run out of things to say during the film. Terry is backed up with some of the actors and they all offer interesting tidbits about the making of the film.
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