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The Adventures of Baron Munchausen



The boundless imagination of Terry Gilliam yields a dazzling fantasy of epic proportions. Inspired by the extravagant exploits of the fabled Baron Munchausen, this spectacle—born of a famously turbulent production—follows the whimsical eighteenth-century nobleman (John Neville) as he embarks on an outlandish quest that takes him from faraway lands to the moon to the belly of a sea monster and beyond, meanwhile waging battle against a vengeful sultan and the tyranny of logic. Packed frame to frame with special effects, mischievous wit, and colorful performances—including a young Sarah Polley as the Baron's no-nonsense sidekick—the Oscar-nominated The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a lavish celebration of the triumph of make-believe over reality.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration, approved by writer-director Terry Gilliam, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the film and special features
• Audio commentary featuring Gilliam and his coscreenwriter, Charles McKeown
• Documentary on the making of the film
• New video essay by critic and filmmaker David Cairns about the history of the Baron Munchausen character
• Behind-the-scenes footage of the film's special effects, narrated by Gilliam
• Deleted scenes with commentary by Gilliam
• Storyboards for unfilmed scenes, narrated by Gilliam and McKeown
• Original marketing materials including a trailer and electronic-press-kit featurettes, as well as preview cards and advertising proposals read by Gilliam
• Miracle of Flight (1974), an animated short film by Gilliam
• Episode of The South Bank Show from 1991 on Gilliam
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic and author Michael Koresky

Forrest Taft wrote: Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:15 am The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Deluxe Edition coming in September.

Can't wait. Truly an underrated film. Any chance the old Criterion extras might find its way to this disc?

Is there any other confirmation of this? I haven't read anything anywhere else about it.

I hope the packaging is quality; the current edition of Munchausen makes the film look cheesier than a hunk of havarti.

Whatever happened to the Baron Munchausen re-release? It was supposed to be announced for September.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen 2 disc SE is going to be released on April 8th, 2008. Amazon.com is running a poll to select the cover of the DVD.

wow three choices and they all look like shit

domino harvey wrote:wow three choices and they all look like shit

At least the third one has a decent concept. The other two are the typical affairs of floating heads that we'd find in the worst covers thread.

I kind of like the third one, even if the execution is a little lame.

Is this going to be the long-discussed director's cut of the film?

The good news is that Munchhausen is getting a Blu-ray release as well.

dx23 wrote:The Adventures of Baron Munchausen 2 disc SE is going to be released on April 8th, 2008. Amazon.com is running a poll to select the cover of the DVD.

Turns out Amazon.com customers actually have some taste. The 3rd cover is way ahead on the voting.

Apparently it took an entire decade and a poll to determine "people don't like ugly DVD covers". Who'da thunk it?

Special Features according to the Bits:

Special features will include audio commentary with director Terry Gilliam & co-writer/actor Charles McKeown, The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen 3-part documentary, 3 featurettes (As We Once Dreamed It, A Voyage to the Moon and The Baron & Bucephalos Charge the Turkish Gates) and deleted scenes.

Hang on to your old disc because I don't see any trailer listed (this is Sony's DVD policy - never advertise the featured movie on the disc it is being sold on) and it is quite a treat. Shame.

That is indeed an awesome trailer.

One of the best.

The L.A. Times reviews the new Munchausen DVD.

Another review. The extras on this one sound really good.

Fletch F. Fletch wrote:Another review. The extras on this one sound really good.

The extras are indeed good. Even Thomas Schuly has been interviewed. He still doesn´t understand why everyone was so concerned about the budget and denies every accusation made towards him. "I became the bad guy because I´m German. It´s the nazi thing, ja." Priceless.

The Narrator Returns wrote: Mon Oct 17, 2022 4:43 pm They're leaving me in suspense about whether or not they'll address the Sarah Polley-shaped elephant in the room with Baron Munchausen.

Specs are back up, and nope! Not that Polley would probably want to talk about it anymore even if Criterion asked.

I think I actually predicted this one a few months ago. It seems to only have the commentary from Sony’s Blu-Ray and not the Criterion laserdisc, no?

This film is interesting in that test screenings of Gilliam’s 2.5-3 hour cut had fully completed visual effects. There is only about 20 minutes worth on the Sony Blu

The Narrator Returns wrote: Mon Oct 17, 2022 4:58 pmSpecs are back up, and nope! Not that Polley would probably want to talk about it anymore even if Criterion asked.

Yeah, I think she’s been very open about discussing her experience in general, but I’m pretty sure she’s extremely unlikely to ever be part of selling this film at this point.

She appears in The doc on the existing blu-ray and touches in the issue, albeit briefly.

This doesn't seem as beloved as Gilliam's other big films, but I love it. It's the purest expression of Gilliam's Romantic belief in the regenerative power of the imagination. While Brazil was in part about how the imagination is vulnerable to being crushed by the mundane brutalities of the world, rendered merely an escape from realities too awful to handle, Baron Munchausen is the obverse, where the power of the imagination can prevail not only over the violence and despair of the world, but even over death itself. It's rare to see a modern artist commit to so Romantic a conception of the imagination. It's wonderful.

Mr Sausage wrote: Mon Oct 17, 2022 6:09 pm This doesn't seem as beloved as Gilliam's other big films, but I love it. It's the purest expression of Gilliam's Romantic belief in the regenerative power of the imagination. While Brazil was in part about how the imagination is vulnerable to being crushed by the mundane brutalities of the world, rendered merely an escape from realities too awful to handle, Baron Munchausen is the obverse, where the power of the imagination can prevail not only over the violence and despair of the world, but even over death itself. It's rare to see a modern artist commit to so Romantic a conception of the imagination. It's wonderful.

This and Tideland are the two that I return to the most and derive the most meaning from

Mr Sausage wrote: Mon Oct 17, 2022 6:09 pm This doesn't seem as beloved as Gilliam's other big films, but I love it. It's the purest expression of Gilliam's Romantic belief in the regenerative power of the imagination. While Brazil was in part about how the imagination is vulnerable to being crushed by the mundane brutalities of the world, rendered merely an escape from realities too awful to handle, Baron Munchausen is the obverse, where the power of the imagination can prevail not only over the violence and despair of the world, but even over death itself. It's rare to see a modern artist commit to so Romantic a conception of the imagination. It's wonderful.

Love it as well, and I'll even say it's my favorite of Gilliam's films. I think a number of Gilliam's fans may have singled it out as their favorite as well (Jonathan Rosenbaum and possibly Jim Jarmusch) so I want to say it is beloved in that sense, but I rarely hear it discussed among casual fans or skeptics of his work.

I'm very happy this is getting a release, but even if there are few new extras, it wouldn't matter, the new transfer upgrade is the main selling point for me. Previous home releases already had extensive extras, so I imagine it would be somewhat difficult to surpass them. The difficulties of the production were thoroughly and openly discussed on the feature-length 'making of' documentary.