Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Time Bandits 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 3, 2023

Arrow's UK division has been offering Terry Gilliam some enticements lately, with both this film and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 4K on the release schedule for Region B. One of the kind of hilarious supplements on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas presented Ian Christie relating a humorous anecdote from Gilliam himself that Gilliam, often accused of being out of control and quite possibly uncontrollable, felt he wasn't getting enough credit for having brought in both The Fisher King and 12 Monkeys* on time and under budget, and in some ways those same bragging points would probably be available for Gilliam with regard to this particular film. Gilliam has often aggregated Time Bandits, Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen as a triptych of sorts, and whatever their perceived and/or real differences, the three do offer an absolute phantasmogria of imagery with completely sui generis plot conceits.

*Note that the link points to the Region A 4K release by Arrow, since that's the one I reviewed.

Time Bandits has had a number of previous releases in both Region A and Region B, and while I'll add my own two cents' worth in a moment, those interested will glean some interesting and useful information from Casey Broadwater's Time Bandits Blu-ray review of Image's 1080 release, as well as Svet Atansov's Time Bandits 4K Blu-ray review of Criterion's Region A release and his Time Bandits Blu-ray review of Arrow's own 1080 release from a decade ago (!) (understandably, Svet's reviews repeat some information).

In terms of my reaction to the film, as I discussed just a couple of days ago in my Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 4K Blu-ray review, I'm often an unabashed fan of Gilliam's work even when he's in his most undisciplined form. A lot of Time Bandits has a kind of "hey, we have a ton of George Harrison's money, let's put on a show" feeling, but that doesn't really detract from what is another onslaught of Gilliam's incredibly febrile imagination. The film is stuffed full of memorable vignettes offered by a who's who(m) of both Gilliam repertory players and some fun guest stars.

Time Bandits 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from Arrow's prior 1080 release of the film. This release does not include a 1080 disc.

Time Bandits is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with an HVEC / H. 265 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:

Time Bandits has been restored by The Criterion Collection and is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with 2.0 stereo and 5.1 audio.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution and the film was restored in 4K resolution and graded in HDR10 and Dolby Vision at Silver Salt Restoration, London. The restoration was supervised and approved by Terry Gilliam.

As can probably be gleaned from the above verbiage, this is very similar if not outright identical to Criterion's release, and boasts all of the positives that Svet mentions in his review of Criterion's own 4K release, though as is so often the case and I have a tendency to repeat, different reviewers means different opinions, and my score is just slightly lower than Svet's. That is due largely to some admittedly baked in issues that arise from the almost insane number of opticals this film contains, but there are still some fairly wide variances in grain resolution in particular that are not always connected to such moments. As Svet also mentions, at least allusively, detail levels may not enjoy a huge uptick across the board when compared to the 1080 version, but the palette is really quite amazingly vivid and HDR and/or Dolby Vision add some considerable nuance to Gilliam's always changing array of colors. Saturation is generally gorgeous, and some of the warmer tones in the red and purple spectrums pop amazingly beautifully. That said, there are a number of more coolly graded sequences that feature almost an onslaught of blues, and those are similarly robust.

I do want to hedge on the aspect ratio just a bit by stating that a member had already set this to 1.83:1 when I came to the page to write the review, the aspect ratio of Arrow's 1080 release, which the screenshots in this review are sourced from. Criterion's 4K release (which unfortunately I don't own) has a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, but while I don't have the same easy way to measure pixels on a 4K UHD disc as I have with a 1080 disc, I did do an admittedly unscientific measurement of the black bars on my display, and they appeared to be just slightly narrower than on other 1.85:1 presentations I have. Such a small difference is negligible in any case, but I'm mentioning it here in the interests of full disclosure and completeness.

Time Bandits 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Time Bandits features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that I suspect mimics the LPCM 2.0 track on Criterion's 4K release, but this Arrow release also offers a rather nicely rejiggered DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, as did Arrow's 1080 release, and in fact I frankly didn't notice any major difference in Arrow's 1080 and 4K UHD presentations from an audio perspective. The 5.1 track tends to offer what I'd call discrete placement of individual effects at sporadic intervals rather than going for the surround gusto in a consistent manner, but it is commendably free of the kind of quasi- phased sound that often attends such efforts. Both the surround and stereo tracks provide ample support for dialogue, effects and score, and both tracks artfully maneuver the mix in a sound design that can be, as so many of Gilliam's films are, "noisy" at times. Optional English subtitles are available.

Time Bandits 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All of the supplements from Arrow's previous 1080 release save for the Restoration Demonstration have been ported over to this release:

• Chasing Time Bandits (HD; 20:07) is an interview with Terry Gilliam.


• Writing the Film that Dare Not Speak Its Name (HD; 16:05) is an interview with Michael Palin.


• The Effects of Time Bandits (HD; 15:28) is an interview with Kent Houston.


• Playing Evil (HD; 8:43) is an interview with David Warner.


• The Costumes of Time Bandits (HD; 13:21) is an interview with James Acheson.


• The Look of Time Bandits (HD; 10:43) is an interview with Milly Burns.


• From Script to Screen (HD; 8:33) offers a look at the script along with various breakdowns and stills from the production.


• Original Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:09)

Additionally, the keepcase insert features reversible art, and encloses both Arrow's traditionally nicely appointed insert booklet and also a double sided fold out poster featuring the original theatrical artwork and a recreation of the map seen in the film. Finally, packaging features a slipcover.

Time Bandits 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Considering the drug use that was rampant at least on screen in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and which one suspects Terry Gilliam may have more than a passing knowledge of in private life, to call this film another "high concept" offering from the auteur may have some unintended connotations, but that said, this is an undeniably psychedelic carnival ride from Gilliam. Region B enthusiasts who didn't opt for Criterion's 4K release should be more than satisfied with this disc's solid technical merits and appealing supplements. Recommended.