Time Bandits Question (1 Viewer)

[Chas_Michael]

Which "Time Bandits" DVD release has the best picture quality?

 

[Phil L]

The Criterion.

 

[JohnJB]

Amazons review of the Criterion version says it has exactly the same master as Anchor Bays, I had the latter and it was like 99% of non 16:9 disks i.e. shit

Anyway both are horrible non anamorphic, I'd wait this masterpiece will definately get good treatment eventually from somebody (unlike Criterion) who knows how bad non anamorphic looks if your TV is decent sized.

Extras are nice Criterion (and I love all the anamorphic disks I've bought from you) but anamophic should be mandatory & if all the UK satellite channels can broadcast films in anamorphic why not timeshift them if you cannot spend the time on anamorphic transfers.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

if one *had* to choose between the 2 transfers,

I the anchor-bay worse compared to the criterion? I'm asking bcs I accidentally ordered the anchor bay by mistake (for $9) and want to know before I open the package.

Pisses me off to no end that Time Bandits and Brazil are 4x3 lbxed but as long as I have a $9 DVD in front of me...I need some advice regarding the relative quality.

-dave

 

[soop.spoon]

Supposedly both discs use the same transfer. The Criterion version just has more extras.

 

[John Berggren]

I prefer the Criterion for extras. I have not seen the other disc's transfer, but I presume it IS the same. Too bad it's non-anamorphic. Yet another release that I'll have to replace in time.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Can anyone confirm if it's true that they both use the same transfer? Has anyone compared the two directly?

 

[RobertCharlotte]

The Criterion version just has more extras.

Just so I don't trip over my own confusion: isn't this something of an unusual situation? I was under the impression that Criterion usually had fewer extras than most other releases.

 

[Daniel I]

Most Criteron releases are extra packed. I have a feeling that Superbit titles are maybe what your thinking of.

Daniel I

 

[Bjorn Olav Nyberg]

RobertCharlotte,

Criterion extras are not usually chopped up into a lot of smaller sizes to provide longer bullet point lists on the back of the cover, and many Criterion DVD's also are without extras.

But when they do include extras they are almost always of exceptional quality.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

BTW, have we confirmed that both the criterion and the anchor bay use the same transfer? If so...I'll open the shrink wrap on my $9 anchor bay...

 

[Jeff]

Yes, they are the same.

 

[John P Grosskopf]

The transfers both use the same master which was used for the both the Criterion and Paramount widescreen laserdiscs in the mid 90's.

Though they use the same source, I believe the Criterion version is on a dual-layer disc, possibly meaning fewer compression artifacts than the AB platter. Also, Criterion does aditional in-house processing and color correction of the master recordings they receive to maximize picture quality on each disc. This means the color balance/contrast/etc. between the AB & Criterion discs may be a bit different when compared directly. The difference however, will probably not be great enough to just the $15-$20 difference in cost between the AB & Criterion discs (unless you really want the extras).

I have both the Paramount and Criterion LDs, and rented the Criterion DVD version to see if it was worth purchase. The DVD picture was very close to the LD, with only a slight lessening of noise in the picture.

In the sound deopartment, both Lds are CLEARLY supereior to the Criterion DVD (and I assume the AB version). For that reason alone I'm holding out for an anamorphic S.E. with remastered sound, and sticking with the two version I already have.

If I had to by a DVD version, I'd go with the AB $9.00 version (which can be found at Sam's for that price or less BTW), as I assume it's quality will be at least as good if not better than the Paramount LD, which is very watchable.

 

[Dean Cooper]

For that reason alone I'm holding out for an anamorphic S.E. with remastered sound

I was wondering if there was anything out there that would indicate that a SE is ever going to be released? Does anyone know out there?

Dean

 

[Jon Robertson]

I think JohnJB exaggerating the bad quality of the picture to a huge extent, but the one to go for, if you can, is the R2 from Anchor Bay.

It has ported over the commentary, scrapbook and trailer from the Criterion disc, but also a beautiful new anamorphic transfer, 2.0 and 5.1 sound mixes, a new 30-minute video interview with Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin that features lots of info that isn't in the commentary, lots of stills, script extracts/photos/storyboards of deleted scenes, the complete original screen treatment and - best of all - a reproduction of THE map is included in the case!

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Dude,
the PQ of the DVD really *is* that bad on my 480P 16x9 monitor! It looks worse than some VHS tapes I've seen...NO KIDDING!!! Absolutely NO detail at all (looks like it's been taped off of cable), noisy, tons of aliasing and scan-line artifacting...MPEG compression GALORE...color that is totally out of wack. And that's just the beginning!
OMG, there's really a 16x9 r2 disc? WHY OH WHY Artisan can't you do right by R1??!!!
:frowning:

 

[Jon Robertson]

Oh, sorry - didn't realise you were referring to the US Anchor Bay disc. It's only single layer (and done when Anchor Bay were still issuing crap), whereas the Criterion is dual layer with far superior encoding.

 

[Vic_T]

I did a search and found one reviewer that actually did a back to back. He said they looked identical (this was a while ago, and I'm too lazy to look for the site again, so I won't be citing my resource -sorry). The difference in the two discs is the extras. Criterion does do and excellent job, but I did find the Anchor Bay version for $7. I believe the Criterion retails for $40. I love Gilliam's films, don't necessarily need to pay and extra $33 to hear him talk. I do think I will shell out the extra cash for the Life of Brian Criterion disc, though. The lure of the two commentaries is just too strong. It's singing to me as I type.

 

[Brian Kidd]

I don't think that anyone should be busting on Criterion for these discs. Both BRAZIL and TIME BANDITS were early dvd's from Criterion and they had to use the source material that they already had access to. The extras are always intelligent and educational. I'm a Criterion fan.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Both BRAZIL and TIME BANDITS were early dvd's from Criterion and they had to use the source material that they already had access to. The extras are always intelligent and educational. I'm a Criterion fan.

Brazil is an excellent 4x3 lbxed transfer. Bandits is a horrid shriek-inducing 4x3 lbxed transfer that is brimming with video-noise artifacts that have no relation to film-source deficiences. If Criterion had only been provided this shoddy video master they should have refused to produce the disc.

That being said, even when Criterion was doing film-tape transfer for Brazil, they brazenly refused to go 16x9 even while other studios were doing 16x9 transfers as a matter of course. The head of Criterion disliked DVD with a passion, and made several long-winded speaches that were utter non-sense about how DVD was something that would never satisfy the videophile because it used "compression" whereas laserdisc would always continue to be the videophile's medium of choice because it stored each frame of video in its entirety.

Scary. Apparently no one had ever explained to him that the analog-limitations of laserdisc and a 480 interlaced composite NTSC signal are in no way the "original film frame" of which he spoke.

In any case, it was the arrogance and ignorance of the studio that kept them from producing 16x9 masters. It is (in part) because consumers like myself and others sent email after email *arguing* with the folks at Criterion that they needed to start to master in 16x9 that they finally gave in and let go of their "we don't want 27inch 4x3 TV viewers to have any downconversion artifacts and we don't care that DVD can look dramatically better in 480P on a 16x9 HDTV" position.

Now apparently they've seen the light...perhaps someone new is in charge. I'd still like to see a little less filtering on their transfers...Royal Tennenbaums looks great on a direct-view TV but lacks detail and resolution on a front projection system. Not to mention the copious levels of EE that have been introuced in the picture! No studio has any right to claim that they produce reference-level transfers and DVD mastering if the image looks overly filtered with obvious ghosting/ringing artifacts on a 100" screen!

If they're going to charge us $40 a pop for their DVDs and tell us that they are the best that they can be...it's our job as the videophile community to help them learn how to justify that price and succeed in meeting their stated goal of reference video and sound quality.

-dave