Moonrise Kingdom remains one of my favorite films of 2012, and I stand by everything I wrote in this review back in May. As a big fan of Wes Anderson‘s films, I own most of them on DVD because they really hold up well after repeated viewings. While I don’t think Moonrise Kingdom quite ranks among The Royal Tenebaums or my favorite Anderson film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, mainly because of several nonsensical moments that go a bit too far in lapses of logic, even for Anderson. But anyone who loves his style or quirky indie films ought to watch Moonrise Kingdom, which might nonetheless be his most accessible film (with the exception of Fantastic Mr. Fox). But anyone looking for the in-depth DVDs of Anderson’s past films will be disappointed.
The Disc
Are you interested in Wes Anderson’s filmmaking? If so, you should purchase the Criterion Collection versions of any of his previous films, because you won’t learn much from the features on the Moonrise Kingdom disc. They are:
A Look Inside Moonrise Kingdom — A three-minute praise session of Wes Anderson featuring writer Roman Coppola and most of the primary cast. It’s actually the same as a making of feature that debuted on the internet before the film’s release (hence all the “go and see it” urgings at the end of the feature). Despite the title, you won’t learn much about the making of the film.
Welcome to the Island of New Penzance — Another feature that debuted on the internet before the film’s release, this consists of four minute-and-a-half showing some lighter moments with Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Ed Norton, and Wes Anderson himself working with the young actors. All of the parts are narrated by Bob Balaban. Surprisingly, it gives a bit more of a look behind the scenes than the previous feature, with a handful of shots of Anderson and his crew working on the film. It all totals just over six minutes.
Set Tour with Bill Murray — The best of the three features (and yet another one that debuted on the internet) follows Bill Murray talking about the film and doing a tour of the set of Summer’s End. As an added bonus, he’s definitely a few drinks in (Sailor Jerry, to be specific). Still, it only amounts to just over three minutes and, I don’t know about you, but I can watch Murray riff all day.
As with many of these releases, you get three versions of the film (Blu-ray, DVD, and digital copy). The Blu-ray and the DVD have the exact same features, so feel free to bring that one to your buddy’s house who has yet to upgrade to Blu-ray.
Movie Rating: Yet another piece of evidence that Wes Anderson is one of the most unique and brilliant voices in film today (8.5/10).
Disc Rating: You probably ought to wait for the eventual Criterion release down the line for much more detailed features (4/10).
Moonrise Kingdom will be released on DVD and Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on October 16 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
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