Hey folks, Harry here. Personally, I can't wait to get this DVD. Sounds like a great disc and Anchor Bay usually does a real great job. Fucking Quint doesn't share. No. Forget about it. I let him see my pretties, but he doesn't unzip and let me see his. Oh sure, I hear about Kraken's 4 fist seaman fun, but where's mine QUINT? Eh? Oh, you know you want it too, you readers all want a piece of Quint. Fucking Kraken. Oh well, here ya go...
Ahoy, squirts. Everyone's favorite crusty seaman, Quint, here with a little look at the newest release of the brilliant Terry Gilliam's masterpiece of children's fantasy, TIME BANDITS.
Although I said it's a children's fantasy, that's only partially accurate. Anyone who has seen the film can testify that it works on many levels. It has lots of midgets, which is a big plus no matter if you're 7 or 70, it has Sean Connery being a badass, also a big plus, and it has David Warner playing Evil incarnate, which is a super bonus plus.
Where is my McFarlane EVIL figure, by the way? David Warner's performance, his appearance, the very feel of the character cries out to be done up the McFarlane way... Maybe when he's finished making a thousand different molds of Aliens and Predators we'll get our EVIL (and while I'm at it, I want a TALL MAN, PENNYWISE THE DANCING CLOWN, any of the KILLER KLOWNS and an ANGELA from SLEEPAWAY CAMP)!
I never got to have the CRITERION experience with TIME BANDITS. I rented it a few years ago, but the disc was so scratched up I couldn't even get through the film, so I can't really do a comparison to CRITERION's out of print edition.
What's super special about this edition is the inclusion of a 20-some-odd minute interview with Gilliam and Michael Palin about the inception of BANDITS, the shooting and the arm-wrestling matches played with the studio. It's actually a really neat look into the behind the scenes of the movie, with pictures from partially filmed scenes, an unpolitical description from Gilliam of how he tricked the studio into letting him alone and discussions about having to switch up scenes to accommodate the "real" actors, like Connery.
My favorite bit is the pics from the partially filmed scene entitled "Spider Women." CREEPY CREEPY CREEPY! They had to scale back some scenes due to budget and this one got the ax, but not before they shot a little. The knitting old women hanging in webs are fucking insanely creepy!
Anchor Bay also included an hour-long documentary on Gilliam from THE DIRECTORS series. This chronicles Gilliam's filmography from before joining the Pythons all the way up to FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS. It includes interviews with Shelly Duvall, Brad Pitt, Amanda Plummer and a bunch of others including, of course, Gilliam himself. Overall, the Gilliam documentary is pretty well done, but they gloss over so much, passing by with barely a mention.
Picture and sound are good... I didn't notice anything super-amazing in clarity... It sounded and looked like TIME BANDITS to me! Big words on the cover of the DVD say this is DIVIMAX approved transfer, whatever the hell that means. I've never heard of DIVIMAX before this DVD, but it looks and sounds fine.
Overall, this sure isn't a Criterion disc, but if you don't have the movie already and have been looking to get an affordable copy, you can't go wrong with this release. Anchor Bay already released a barebones TIME BANDITS disc, so it's possible that TIME BANDITS may be their next ARMY OF DARKNESS and we'll get a billion different releases. I guess that's better than none at all!
Go, get this release and get the nifty fold-out MAP insert. Small, but cool, nonetheless. The DVD comes out next Tuesday.
Alright, squirts. I have to get ready for the SANTA BARBARA FILM FESTIVAL. Should be tons of fun. I'll be throwing reports and interviews at you in a couple weeks! 'Til then, this is Quint bidding you a fond farewell and adieu.
-Quint
email: Did you see what Gaawwwddd just did to us, man?! Email the fiend, Quint, here!!!
