While attempting to secure financing for his masterwork Brazil, director Terry Gilliam decided to take a break from his long, frustrating pursuit and quickly wrote a treatment for this children's fantasy in the course of a single weekend.

Time Bandits combined the autuer's love of history and whimsical fantasy into a darkly comic childhood fable. Co-written by fellow Python alum Michael Palin, Bandits is a twisted, surreal and decidedly British affair with a clever production design that often belies its modest budget. Though not quite the classic many have declared in recent years, it's a solid work of children's entertainment that's subversive enough for adults to enjoy as well. Time Bandits begins with the wild imaginings of neglected youth Kevin (Craig Warnock), who pours over books on mythology while his parents spend much of their time hooked on frivolous games shows. One night he finds that his wardrobe contains a hole in the space-time continuum when a lost group of small "transdimensional" traveler's suddenly break through. Kevin learns that the six intruders once worked for the Supreme Being but eventually grew bored and hatched a scheme to become rich by stealing the Map of the Universe (which shows convenient holes in the continuum). This allows them to travel anywhere in history and abscond with precious antiquities from famous past events. When the Supreme Being locates the runaway thieves through the wardrobe, Kevin is forced to escape with them into the past. He eventually becomes an unwitting accomplice as they steal their way through time; simultaneously being sought out by the Supreme Being and his hell bound antithesis Evil (the wonderfully deadpan David Warner).

The plot of Bandits is more or less a series of comedic star-filled set pieces as Kevin and the band of wee thieves find themselves in several famous historical (and mythical) scenarios. One of the funnier, and most absurd, is their first stop to Napoleonic times where they attempt to entertain a bored Napoleon (Ian Holm) with an ill-conceived song and dance routine. In Greece, Kevin finds himself separated from his friends and discovers a short-term surrogate father in Agamemnon (a suitably dashing Sean Connery). While the segment with Connery is quite touching, it also manages to slow the film's momentum. (A problem inherent throughout Gilliam's episodic odyssey.) Another Python alum, John Cleese, has some fun as a dim Robin Hood who befriends the thieves - only to give their stolen booty away to the poor. And when the bandits are inadvertently sent back into the time of legends, their dealings with Winston the Ogre (Peter Vaughn) and his pushy wife (Katherine Helmond) are pure Python. Also in a funny recurring bit, writer Michael Palin and Shelley "The Shinning" Duvall play a couple of doomed soul mates who constantly find themselves unlucky in love time after time.

While much has been written about the high profile cameos, the young star of the film and the title bandits themselves are rarely ever mentioned in a critical context. Certainly odd when you consider their characters carry the dramatic weight of the entire story. As Kevin, Craig Warnock is especially good, balancing just the right amount of awe and determination needed for such a tricky role. His interaction with the adult cast has a wonderful boyish casualness that is easily overlooked by their showy performances. The bandits themselves are just as good, all veteran performers of the stage and screen. The late David Rappaport as Randall (more or less the leader) has some wonderful dramatic moments in between the many bits of physical comedy thrown at him. Kenny Baker (R2-D2 in Star Wars), Tiny Ross, Malcolm Dixon (an Oompa Loompa in Willy Wonka), Jack Purvis (from Labyrinth) and Mike Edmonds round out the wee rogues gallery assembled by Gilliam and all share a wonderful rapport. Many of them returned to work for the director again in his various fantasy features. Ultimately, Bandits is too episodic and fractured in momentum to be considered a classic in the same vein as The Holy Grail (which Gilliam co-directed with Terry Jones) or Brazil. However, given what Gilliam was able to achieve with it's modest budget (an unbelievable 5 million) and it's amiable, throwaway storytelling, it works on several levels. As a charmingly slick "goof" on epic films it's quite funny and, compared to other children's fantasies, Bandits never patronizes its younger audience.

This is at least the third DVD version of this favorite to hit the stores. Notably missing from this Anchor Bay release is the wonderful audio commentary from the Criterion DVD, which featured not only Gilliam and Palin but several of the actors including Warnock. Aside from that mistake (and it's a huge one), this two-disc release does include some nice extras. First off, the liner notes (always a welcome addition) are well written and offer a few insights not covered in the DVD extras. It also unfolds into a cool replica of the Map of the Universe. The extras on disc two feature the hysterical international trailer (and one for the less interesting US re-release), an informative half hour interview with Gilliam and Palin on the film's inception and an hour-long retrospective on the director's impressive career. Also on the second disc is a Gilliam bio and a great DVD-ROM of the original screenplay. The actual film, presented on disc one, is a beautiful Divimax high-definition transfer that offers amazing clarity. Compared to the original Criterion release, the Divimax version seems to offer a richer color palette, but the image quality is basically the same. The crisp Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX audio is some of the most textured sound design produced by this company. From a purely technical level, it's one of the best releases yet from Anchor Bay.