Time Bandits (1981)
Family, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Adventure, Comedy • 1h 56m
Overview
Young history buff Kevin can scarcely believe it when six dwarfs emerge from his closet one night. Former employees of the Supreme Being, they've purloined a map charting all of the holes in the fabric of time and are using it to steal treasures from different historical eras. Taking Kevin with them, they variously drop in on Napoleon, Robin Hood and King Agamemnon before the Supreme Being catches up with them.
Director: Terry Gilliam
Cast: Craig Warnock, David Rappaport, Kenny Baker, Mike Edmonds, Malcolm Dixon, Tiny Ross, Jack Purvis, Ian Holm, John Cleese, Sean Connery, Michael Palin, Shelley Duvall, Peter Vaughan, Katherine Helmond, David Warner, Ralph Richardson, Tony Jay, David Daker, Sheila Fearn, Jim Broadbent, Peter Jonfield, Jerold Wells, Myrtle Devenish, Winston Dennis, Roger Frost, Andrew MacLachlan, Marcus Powell, Terence Bayler, Preston Lockwood, David Leland, Leon Lissek, John Young, Derrick O'Connor, Neil McCarthy, Declan Mulholland, Derek Deadman, Charles McKeown, Mark Holmes, Martin Carroll, Ian Muir
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
Director: Terry Gilliam
Director's Cut: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
US Theatrical Cut: Universal Blu-Ray
Love Conquers All Cut: Criterion Blu-Ray
Director's Cut: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
US Theatrical Cut: Universal Blu-Ray
Love Conquers All Cut: Criterion Blu-Ray
Director: Terry Gilliam
Director's Cut: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
US Theatrical Cut: Universal Blu-Ray
Love Conquers All Cut: Criterion Blu-Ray
Director's Cut: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
US Theatrical Cut: Universal Blu-Ray
Love Conquers All Cut: Criterion Blu-Ray
Director: Terry Gilliam
Director: Terry Gilliam
Arrow UK or Criterion US 4K Blu-ray (preference)
Arrow UK & Criterion US 4K Blu-ray have different gradings (preference, Arrow 4K Blu-ray is encoded by Fidelity in Motion)
Arrow UK or Criterion US 4K Blu-ray (preference)
Arrow UK & Criterion US 4K Blu-ray have different gradings (preference, Arrow 4K Blu-ray is encoded by Fidelity in Motion)
R1 DVD for the original Dolby Stereo. Criterion 4K Blu-ray upmix is fine, Sony Blu-ray has phasing issues
R1 DVD for the original Dolby Stereo. Criterion 4K Blu-ray upmix is fine, Sony Blu-ray has phasing issues
Director: Terry Gilliam
Director: Terry Gilliam
Director: Terry Gilliam
Director: Terry Gilliam
Director: Anatole Litvak
Director: Anatole Litvak
Director: Edward Yang
France Carlotta 4K Blu-ray is FiM encoded and superior to Criterion 4K Blu-ray see caps but the Carlotta release is not English friendly
A user writes: 'the 5.0 mix does not closely resemble the matrixed stereo track included on all prior releases (save for a 2003 French DVD which had 5.1). There is significant dialogue emphasis in the 5.0 mix while the older stereo mix has ambient sounds and dialogue mixed at nearly the same loudness. Additionally, the 5.0 mix has minor limiting in select loud sequences and a strange distorted quality on occasion (one notable example is the sound of a plane taking off which plays during a static shot of clouds in the sky). The stereo mix included on the FRA UHD/BD is a downmix of the 5.0 track.'
Director: Edward Yang
France Carlotta 4K Blu-ray is FiM encoded and superior to Criterion 4K Blu-ray see caps but the Carlotta release is not English friendly
A user writes: 'the 5.0 mix does not closely resemble the matrixed stereo track included on all prior releases (save for a 2003 French DVD which had 5.1). There is significant dialogue emphasis in the 5.0 mix while the older stereo mix has ambient sounds and dialogue mixed at nearly the same loudness. Additionally, the 5.0 mix has minor limiting in select loud sequences and a strange distorted quality on occasion (one notable example is the sound of a plane taking off which plays during a static shot of clouds in the sky). The stereo mix included on the FRA UHD/BD is a downmix of the 5.0 track.'
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Criterion Box Set
WB 4K Blu-ray (early pressing has errors of a shot, later pressings fixed)
Criterion Box Set
WB 4K Blu-ray (early pressing has errors of a shot, later pressings fixed)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Criterion Box Set
4K Blu-ray DTS:X mix most closely approximates original surround mix
Criterion DVD has additional features not found on the 4K Blu-ray
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Criterion Box Set
4K Blu-ray DTS:X mix most closely approximates original surround mix
Criterion DVD has additional features not found on the 4K Blu-ray
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Criterion Box Set
WB 4K 5.1: a remix but has higher fidelity
Mono: 4K Blu-ray/1999 DVD
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Criterion Box Set
WB 4K 5.1: a remix but has higher fidelity
Mono: 4K Blu-ray/1999 DVD
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Director: Stanley Kubrick
More Family on Blu-ray
Director: John Lasseter
The original November 1999 end credits start a second earlier on the theatrical versions (found on bootleg telesyncs) rather than the 2001 or 2005 DVDs.
Director: John Lasseter
The original November 1999 end credits start a second earlier on the theatrical versions (found on bootleg telesyncs) rather than the 2001 or 2005 DVDs.
Director: Lee Unkrich
2010 Disney Blu-ray for the original 7.1 mix
The UK version has different voice actors for one of the three army men and all three of the Peas-in-a-pod.
The South African version has Jeremy Mansfield (a famous radio personality) as the voice of Chatter Phone.
Director: Lee Unkrich
2010 Disney Blu-ray for the original 7.1 mix
The UK version has different voice actors for one of the three army men and all three of the Peas-in-a-pod.
The South African version has Jeremy Mansfield (a famous radio personality) as the voice of Chatter Phone.
Director: Robert Wise
Disney 4K Blu-ray, see caps https://slow.pics/c/hE3HUCdj
Disney 4K Atmos is great, a reference quality track. It's a very slight remix (music seems to be from a better source), but it's completely seamless and faithful to the original, better fidelity than anything since the 1994 30th Anniversary Edition LaserDisc.
All DVDs (and 2010 Blu-ray) sound far worse than the 4K Blu-ray/LaserDisc and have various missing sound cues.
Director: Robert Wise
Disney 4K Blu-ray, see caps https://slow.pics/c/hE3HUCdj
Disney 4K Atmos is great, a reference quality track. It's a very slight remix (music seems to be from a better source), but it's completely seamless and faithful to the original, better fidelity than anything since the 1994 30th Anniversary Edition LaserDisc.
All DVDs (and 2010 Blu-ray) sound far worse than the 4K Blu-ray/LaserDisc and have various missing sound cues.
1991 Warner Bros LaserDisc (for original mono track)
1996 Warner Bros 25th Anniversary LaserDisc has isolated music and effects track (incorrectly labeled "music minus vocals") not present on any other release
1991 Warner Bros LaserDisc (for original mono track)
1996 Warner Bros 25th Anniversary LaserDisc has isolated music and effects track (incorrectly labeled "music minus vocals") not present on any other release
Director: Ken Hughes
MGM Blu-ray's stereo track.
MGM's 7.1 track is a remix with a few flaws and much worse fidelity. Capelight's stereo and 7.1 track are both from the remix.
The movie was originally premiered as a roadshow release, with a a 70mm 6-Track Stereo mix. This mix, unfortunately has not been released on home video.
The closest thing to that mix, is the stereo track included on the 2010 Blu-ray. It sounds great, with high fidelity and little filtering. It's lossy, but that doesn't matter very much.
Both the DVD 5.1 and the Blu-ray 7.1 tracks (identical on both discs) are a new remix, rather than a repackaging of the original mix. The 7.1 track sounds quite muffled, though not evenly so. The Capelight Blu-ray's lossless stereo track uses the same remix, but with higher fidelity than the surround tracks, sounding significantly less muffled. Compared to the original, this remix sounds wider and more "cleaned up". The remix contains a handful of errors, for example the intermission cue fades out, rather than ending correctly.
Comparison samples
Director: Ken Hughes
MGM Blu-ray's stereo track.
MGM's 7.1 track is a remix with a few flaws and much worse fidelity. Capelight's stereo and 7.1 track are both from the remix.
The movie was originally premiered as a roadshow release, with a a 70mm 6-Track Stereo mix. This mix, unfortunately has not been released on home video.
The closest thing to that mix, is the stereo track included on the 2010 Blu-ray. It sounds great, with high fidelity and little filtering. It's lossy, but that doesn't matter very much.
Both the DVD 5.1 and the Blu-ray 7.1 tracks (identical on both discs) are a new remix, rather than a repackaging of the original mix. The 7.1 track sounds quite muffled, though not evenly so. The Capelight Blu-ray's lossless stereo track uses the same remix, but with higher fidelity than the surround tracks, sounding significantly less muffled. Compared to the original, this remix sounds wider and more "cleaned up". The remix contains a handful of errors, for example the intermission cue fades out, rather than ending correctly.
Comparison samples
Directors: Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Directors: Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Directors: Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Directors: Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Edit History
2/19/2026
Additional Info
Added
Criterion and Arrow have exclusive extras
Added
Criterion and Arrow have exclusive extras
10/21/2025
Best Video Release
From
Criterion UHD
From
Criterion UHD
Blu-ray.com
Added
https://www.blu-ray.com/Time-Bandits/21525/#Releases
Added
https://www.blu-ray.com/Time-Bandits/21525/#Releases
12/22/2024
