Review Wanted: "Time Bandits (1981)"

[Ray_Chill]

Can anyone give me a resounding "Yay" or "Nay" for this movie on DVD? I'm not sure which version is the best for "me?" The heavily priced Criterion ($56 Canadian) or the cheaper and equally hard to find $20 (Canadian) version?

Is this a REALLY good movie? Or, just an average movie? I'm not even sure I've ever seen it since the name or plot doesn't really "ring any bells."

Would I enjoy this movie if I've enjoyed previous Time Travel movies like Back to the Future series, Field of Dreams (a stretch, I know, but it brings flashes of the past into the present), and The 13th Floor. And I even enjoyed (and I use the term rather accurately) the critically lambasted Time Machine?

Any help is appreciated. I can buy the Criterion online from the Canadian version of Best Buy called Future Shop. But, I'll have to do more searching to find the regular version. I also loathe renting DVDs, hence my question if this is a good blind buy. Especially if the Criterion comes heavily recommended.

[Groucho]

The real gauge for this is if you enjoy Monty Python and/or Terry Gilliam films, rather than Time Travel films in general. I really like the film (and have since I was a kid), but I can't really recommend it as a blind buy...simply because it's very quirky and not for all tastes.

I recommend you rent first.

[FunkDaddy J]

I heartily recommend the Criterion (for its commentary) and the recent DiviMax edition for its image quality. Here's my review of the DiviMax edition, in which I talk about both versions.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=9140

[Sonny]

I have the DiviMax, and it's outstanding! I was very pleased. This is the one I recommend.

[cleaver]

Maybe it's just the cast, but I'd describe it as Terry Gilliam does Willow.

[Johnny Zhivago]

Rent it... It's a good movie but not one that I, <i>personally</i>, enjoyed a great deal on my last viewing (I had seen it when it was released but not once since the early 80's)... To be honest, I found it quite a chore to sit through... And I generally love or like the majority of Gilliam's work. This one, it just felt too dated and didn't hold my interest.

[b11051973]

'Time Bandits' is one of my favorite movies of all time. The first time I saw it was in the mid-80s. I caught the last half of it over the weekend on one of the premium cable channels. I have the first DVD version, and this threads makes me want to go out and order the newest version that came out.

Whether or not someone else would like the movie is a different story. It's definitely a weird movie. As said before, Terry Gilliam wrote and directed it. He did all the animation for the Monty Python shows.

[zak52]

Originally posted by Johnny Zhivago
To be honest, I found it quite a chore to sit through... And I generally love or like the majority of Gilliam's work. This one, it just felt too dated and didn't hold my interest.
I watched this a long time ago and decided to give it another view. I ended up feeling the same way you did. It was very tough for me to finish the movie.