Criterion have announced that they will release a special edition of Terry Gilliam’s 1981 fantasy film Time Bandits on Blu-ray and DVD on December 9th.
In the film, a kid named Kevin goes on a whirlwind adventure through time when assistants of The Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson) steal a map of the universe that shows all of the doorways to different time periods. But while they just want to use it to steal stuff from Agamemnon (Sean Connery) and Napoleon (Ian Holm), using it also catches the attention of Evil (David Warner), who has his own plans for the map.
Directed by Gilliam (Brazil), the film was co-written by his Monty Python cohort Michael Palin, who also stars in the movie.
As for this new edition, along with a 2K digital restoration that was supervised by Gilliam, the Blu-ray and DVD will also include the original trailer; a commentary by Gilliam, Palin, Warner, and co-stars John Cleese, and Craig Warnock; a new featurette, narrated by film writer David Morgan, in which costume designer James Acheson and production designer discuss how they created the various time periods in the movie; a vintage interview with Gilliam done by film scholar Peter von Bagh that was done at the 1998 Midnight Sun Film Destival in Finland; an excerpt of an interview star Shelley Duvall did on Tom Snyder’s show Tomorrow; and an essay in the booklet by film critic David Sterrit.
In addition, the Blu-ray version of Time Bandits will also included an uncompressed stereo audio.
The Criterion version of Time Bandits is currently available for pre-ordering from Criterion’s website, with the Blu-ray listed for $31.96, while the DVD will be $23.96.
