The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou [Criterion Collection]

Director: Wes Anderson Wes Anderson

Overview

"The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou comes to DVD with all the class that people have come to expect from all of Wes Anderson's Criterion releases. This time, the movie is being released strictly from the renowned company, with this single release and another two-disc special edition release that's ripe with exemplary supplemental material. Anderson's adventure comedy gets its second wind here on DVD and should now have room to flourish not under the critical microscope that plagued its theatrical release, but through a certain acceptance and understanding that comes from repeated viewings and, in this case, a healthy dose of extras that shine a new light on the gifted director's fourth feature. This disc presents the film with a gorgeous new high-definition transfer that, along with dual Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio mixes, gives life to the brilliant soundtrack and superb cinematography. The picture looks stunning, with brilliant colors and just the right amount of film grain in the image. Also included on the disc is a commentary from Anderson and co-writer Noah Baumbach. Recorded in a café, where they wrote most of the film, the track gives the viewer a look into the director's relationship with his new collaborator, who seems to respect film just as much as his new buddy, while also displaying a keen knowledge of the director's past works. The talk is a bit dry, though that should be expected. By the end of the track, the two hope that they didn't come off too pretentious, given the admission that they aren't prone to delve into this kind of critical self-analysis too often, which is a good thing since the track does tend to dip into heavy cinema talk from time to time. Other extras include a batch of ten deleted scenes (highlighted by a classic bit with a scorched Willem Dafoe), as well as the original theatrical trailer and a 15-minute ""Starz on the Set"" cable special."

Product Details

Release Date:	05/10/2005
UPC:	0786936286892
Original Release:	2004
Rating:	R
Source:	Touchstone / Disney
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	1:58:00
Sales rank:	11,909

Special Features

Closed Caption;New high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Wes Anderson and enhanced for widescreen televisions; Commentary by Wes Anderson and co-writer Noah Baumbach; Ten deleted scenes; "Starz on the Set": Behind-the-scenes featurette; Theatrical trailer; Reversible cover and menus featuring Eric Anderson's original illustrations

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Bill Murray	Steve Zissou
Owen Wilson	Ned Plimpton
Cate Blanchett	Jane Winslett-Richardson
Anjelica Huston	Eleanor Zissou
Willem Dafoe	Klaus Daimler
Jeff Goldblum	Alistair Hennessey
Michael Gambon	Oseary Drakoulias
Noah Taylor	Vladimir Wolodarsky
Bud Cort	Bill Ubell
Seu Jorge	Pele dos Santos
Robyn Cohen	Anne-Marie Sakowitz
Wallace Wolodarsky	Actor
Waris Ahluvalia	Vikram Ray
Niels Koizumi	Bobby Ogata
Pawel Wdowczak	Renzo Pietro
Peter Stormare	Actor
Seymour Cassel	Esteban du Plantier
Matthew Gray Gubler	Actor
Mark Mothersbaugh	Composer
Waris Ahluwalia	Actor
Antonio Monda	Festival Director
Isabella Blow	Antonia Cook
Pietro Ragusa	Academic
Eric Chase Anderson	Air Kentucky Pilot
Don McKinnon	Air Kentucky Pilot
Niccolò Senni	University of Alaska Intern
Andrea Guerra	University of Alaska Intern
Tony Shafrazi	Larry Amin (as Tony Shafrazi)

Technical Credits

Wes Anderson

Noah Baumbach

Wes Anderson	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
Barry Mendel	Producer
Scott Rudin	Producer
Noah Baumbach	Screenwriter
Rudd Simmons	Executive Producer
Daniel Acon	Special Effects
David Ambrosi	Stunts
Olivier Burgaud	Sound Effects
Danilo Bollettini	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

While Wes Anderson's particular and unique visual style is abundant throughout The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, his skills as a screenwriter have abandoned him. The filmmaker Noah Baumbach collaborated with Anderson on the screenplay, marking the first time Anderson has written with anyone other than Owen Wilson. The biggest difference between this film and his others is that Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums were filled with humor derived from characters who were usually laced with melancholy. This focus on fully-rounded characters allowed the emotional highs and lows to connect with the audience. Life Aquatic offers up a protagonist whose goals are never clearly defined. Aside from a section of the film where Zissou organizes a rescue of his crew, the script never gives the character a strong enough objective. That leaves Bill Murray to fill in the gaps. His conception of the character seems to be far more interesting than the one that has been written. The director gives Murray enough room to do what he wants to with the character. (Not even The Razor's Edge allowed Murray this much empty visual and emotional space to fill up with melancholy, cynicism, and brooding.) The Life Aquatic screenplay never allows the characters to be anything more than two-dimensional figures (even when the actors are giving it their all) so the melancholy feels unearned and the quirkiness feels shoehorned into the proceedings. At best, The Life Aquatic shows that Anderson is a gifted enough image maker to keep most viewers looking at his film even if they have no emotional investment in the characters.