Time Bandits

[MichaelB]

THEY DIDN’T MAKE HISTORY, THEY STOLE IT!

The film that established Terry Gilliam as more than just Monty Python’s resident animator, this delightfully inventive children’s fantasy is about young Kevin (Craig Warnock) who finds himself travelling through holes in the space-time continuum in the company of half a dozen fractious dwarfs.

Along the way, he encounters Agamemnon (Sean Connery), Robin Hood (John Cleese), Napoleon (Ian Holm) and winds up as a passenger on the Titanic, although not necessarily in that order. But is this just random entertainment laid on for history fan Kevin’s benefit, or part of a wider struggle between the forces of good (Ralph Richardson) and evil (David Warner)?

At the time, this was a rare example of a small-budget British film successfully taking on American blockbusters. Now, it's a much-loved fantasy classic bursting with inspired images and ideas: Gilliam and co-writer Michael Palin (who also appears) are clearly enjoying themselves as much as their audience.

CONTENTS

• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original Stereo 2.0 and 5.1 Dolby Surround options
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Chasing Time Bandits: A new interview with Terry Gilliam
• Writing the Film that Dares Not Speak its Name: A new interview in which Michael Palin discusses co-writing and acting in Time Bandits
• The Effects of Time Bandits: A new interview in which Kent Houston, founder of the Peerless Camera Company, discusses Time Bandits’ optical effects
• Playing Evil: A new featurette in which actor David Warner remembers producer George Harrison and playing Evil in Time Bandits
• The Costumes of Time Bandits: A new interview with costume designer James Acheson
• The Look of Time Bandits: A new interview with production designer Milly Burns
• From Script to Screen – A new animated featurette in which Milly Burns takes us through her production notebooks, locations photographs and storyboards revealing how twentieth century Morocco was transformed into Ancient Greece
• Original Trailer
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original theatrical artwork and a recreation of the map seen in the film
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by critic James Oliver

[MichaelB]

Blu-ray.com gives Time Bandits perfect marks for video and audio.

...and here's the Beev:

Well, this seems the definitive package of Time Bandits - great new extras and a robust, full video and audio presentation.

[MichaelB]

Restoration guru Robert A. Harris has finally bought a multiregion Blu-ray player, and his inaugural disc is Arrow's Time Bandits.

He liked it. A lot.

[FrauBlucher]

Why in the world is he just getting to a multi region existence now? This is one of the most surprising things I've heard in a long time. Well, better late than never. That's good. We'll be getting his reviews on MoC's, BFIs and other great releases coming from that side of the sphere.

[knives]

Multiregion Bluray is still a difficult endeavor in the US.

[Gregory]

Difficult in what way? Our forum, among others, has had a thread for years to provide info about making the switch, and it's not that expensive for all the options it opens up.
Welcome aboard to Harris.

[David M.]

Multiregion Bluray is still a difficult endeavor in the US.

In what way?

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_ ... %20blu-ray" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[knives]

Price for one. Secondly maintaining them. When I first went for Bluray I got a multiregion player and it was such a hassle that I've stayed away waiting for the tech to become a more reasonable purchase.

[MichaelB]

Both my multiregion players are still working perfectly. And they cost me £115 the pair.

[David M.]

Yeah, I don't mean to jump down your throat here, but what about a Blu-ray player needs maintaining? Is that a reference to the firmware updates for the troublesome BD-Java discs Hollywood is putting out?

[knives]

Yes, they seem temperamental machines. Also Michael that's why I specified in the US.

[David M.]

Not sure if this changes your outlook on the issue, but basically every disc I've seen that came out of the UK (including the ones I'm responsible for) are authored in HDMV mode. HDMV is the simpler mode that loads instantly, doesn't break the player's Resume functionality, and doesn't offer internet functions and therefore doesn't need firmware updates.

So, although you might run into the occasional problem with Hollywood BD-J titles, the discs coming from independent UK distributors should never need firmware fixes to play.

[knives]

That does help in consideration (and that my last multiregion broke under a Kino disc evidences that to me). Maybe when I have a bit of money though I still believe that multiregion Blu should not be expected on the level of DVD.

[Emilio]

Not sure if this changes your outlook on the issue, but basically every disc I've seen that came out of the UK (including the ones I'm responsible for) are authored in HDMV mode. HDMV is the simpler mode that loads instantly, doesn't break the player's Resume functionality, and doesn't offer internet functions and therefore doesn't need firmware updates.

So, although you might run into the occasional problem with Hollywood BD-J titles, the discs coming from independent UK distributors should never need firmware fixes to play.

Now that is good information to know!

Thank you very much, David.

[David M.]

That does help in consideration (and that my last multiregion broke under a Kino disc evidences that to me). Maybe when I have a bit of money though I still believe that multiregion Blu should not be expected on the level of DVD.

Kino are using BD-J (on all the titles of theirs that I looked at). Although I doubt with any web features.

Just for clarification, you would have had the same problems whether or not the player was region modified. But I understand that multi region mods can sometimes be disabled by firmware updates.

I don't think I've ever seen a single disc from a British independent studio that was done in BD-J. (Nearly) all of the London facilities (and myself) are using the plain HDMV authoring style in Sonic/Rovi Scenarist. Artificial Eye, BFI, Masters of Cinema, Arrow, Momentum... it's all HDMV.

[Stefan Andersson]

That does help in consideration (and that my last multiregion broke under a Kino disc evidences that to me). Maybe when I have a bit of money though I still believe that multiregion Blu should not be expected on the level of DVD.

Hi!
Very sad to hear about your blu player being broken by a Kino BD-J disc.

I´m collecting info and may buy a multiregion player. Can you give more info about the BD-J problem? Does it disable the player and/or the modded unit altogether, making the player unusable? In other words, should I avoid all Kino discs?

[manicsounds]

The "Hello, I'm Hood." line and scene cracks me up each time I see it. The Arrow disc is an amazing step up from the Criterion disc, even though the Criterion had the excellent commentary track. So far Arrow has had an excellent release year and this disc may be right at the top of that list.

[manicsounds]

The Criterion commentary is the only special feature I know that includes Craig Warnock (Kevin), reminiscing 20+ years later. I know that he stopped acting early on, but I'm a bit surprised Arrow didn't get him to be on the special features for this set.

[David M.]

I'm a bit surprised Arrow didn't get him to be on the special features for this set.

I'd be amazed if that didn't cross their minds. When an obvious thing is left out like this, it's much more likely (I'm speculating here) that the person didn't want to talk, wasn't available etc.

[MichaelB]

I don't know the production history of this title, but it's normally absolutely routine to try to track down all the living stars of a film when preparing a special edition - for instance, Angie Dickinson and Clu Gulager were approached for The Killers. But they both said no, or their agents did.

[yoloswegmaster]

4K UHD coming soon in August.

[hearthesilence]

I guess the HDR will have to be the selling point - someone uploaded some grabs to caps-a-holic and at least in terms of detail, it's not the upgrade I hoped it would be. To be fair, that's really a credit to the previous Arrow Blu-ray, which is what I have - Arrow's disc looks superb while leaving all the grain intact and unfiltered. One wonders if Arrow's own UHD will be a better presentation than Criterion's UHD.

[therewillbeblus]

Is the Arrow or Criterion BD better? Do both UHDs have HDR?

[nicolas]

Is the Arrow or Criterion BD better? Do both UHDs have HDR?

Both UHDs come with Dolby Vision. I strongly assume that Arrow and David Mackenzie have found a way to top their BD which Criterion has only managed to match (!) or improve only very slightly with their UHD release as caps have shown.

If Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or the upcoming Mallrats are two examples, we should be in for a treat as their respective UHDs manage to present an astonishing increase in detail over what were / are strong BDs. These new releases make the old ones look pale. Fear and Loathing in DV on my TV is a demo disc.