The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou [Criterion Collection]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

The first effort from director Wes Anderson since his critically beloved The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou finds the filmmaker re-teaming with a number of familiar faces, including Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston, and Seymour Cassel. Murray plays Steve Zissou, an eccentric and renowned oceanographer who has decided to seek out and enact mortal revenge on a shark that ate one of the men on his team. Along for the ride is Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson), a young man who has joined Zissou's crew after showing up claiming to be the seaman's long-lost son and Zissou's co-producer (and estranged wife), Eleanor Angelica Huston. As the expedition ensues, the two bond and Plimpton falls for a female journalist (Cate Blanchett) who is writing a piece on Zissou. The crew meets a host of obstacles on their journey, including pirates, kidnapping, and bankruptcy. Adding a flair of whimsy to the film's aesthetic, the sea creatures and underwater scenes in the film have been created using stop-motion animation under the direction of Henry Selick, the man behind The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. The ensemble cast also includes Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, and Bud Cort. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Cinemascope)
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Features:
  • cc
  • 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

AWARDS

• Berlin International Film Festival

•     In Competition - 2005

• Boston Society of Film Critics

•     Won Best Ensemble Acting [Runner-up] - 2004

• Broadcast Film Critics Association

•     Nominated Best Ensemble Acting - 2004

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Bill Murray - Steve Zissou
       Owen Wilson - Ned Plimpton
       Cate Blanchett - Jane Winslett-Richardson
       Anjelica Huston - Eleanor Zissou
       Willem Dafoe - Klaus Daimler
       Jeff Goldblum - Alistair Hennessy
       Michael Gambon - Oseary Drakoulias
       Bud Cort - Bill Ubell
       Seu Jorge - Pele dos Santos
       Seymour Cassel - Esteban du Plantier
       Robyn Cohen
       Noah Taylor
       Wallace Wolodarsky
       Peter Stormare
       Matthew Gray Gubler - Intern

• Director:

  Wes Anderson

• Producer:

  Scott Rudin, Wes Anderson, Barry Mendel

• Screenwriter:

  Noah Baumbach, Wes Anderson

• Cinematographer:

  Robert Yeoman

• Featured Music:

  David Bowie

• Composer (Music Score):

  Mark Mothersbaugh

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Randall Poster

• Featured Music:

  Scott Walker

• Editor:

  David Moritz

• Production Designer:

  Mark Friedberg

• Art Director:

  Giacomo Carducci, Stefano M. Ortolani, Marco Trentini, Roberta Federico, Simona Migliotti, Eugenio Ulissi

• Co-producer:

  Enzo Sisti

• Associate Producer:

  Daniel Beers

• Executive Producer:

  Rudd Simmons

• Costume Designer:

  Milena Canonero

• Set Decorator:

  Gretchen Rau

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Pawel Wdowczak

• First Assistant Director:

  Sam Hoffman, Inti Carboni

• Casting:

  Douglas Aibel

• Special Effects Supervisor:

  Renato Agostini

• Second Unit Director:

  Roman Coppola, Franco Salamon

• Stunts Coordinator:

  Franco Salamon

• Stop-Motion Animation:

  Henry Selick

• Supervising Sound Editor:

  Scott A. Jennings, David Giammarco

• Animatronic Effects:

  Edge Innovations

• Musical Performer:

  Seu Jorge

• Visual Effects:

  Gray Matter FX

• Visual Effects Supervisor:

  Gray Marshall

• Second Unit Director:

  Luigi Spoletini

• Digital Effects:

  Inc. Look Effects

• Second Unit Camera:

  Stefano Falivene

• Visual Effects Supervisor:

  Jeremy Dawson

REVIEW:

• 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. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi