Bluray Review: ‘The Big Lebowski’ Limited Edition Bluray

Posted By: Melissa Hansonon: August 14, 2011In: DVD/Blu-Ray ReviewsNo Comments

I myself didn’t truly discover the greatness of the Coen Brother’s The Big Lebowski until four years ago. I had seen the film, but it didn’t click with me. Then one day I was watching TV and a terribly abridged version was on and I fell in love. For those who have not seen the film, it’s about a case of mistaken identity in which “The Dude” gets mixed up in a kidnapping and a crazy series of events follows involving bowling, White Russians and dream sequences. The cast: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buschemi, David Huddleston, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Sam Elliott, and even Tara Reid. It was not a box office success, but in the years since it’s 1998 release, it’s become a cult classic and can unite even the most unlikely of people.

From the Academy Award®-winning Coen brothers, The Big Lebowski is a hilariously quirky comedy about bowling, a severed toe, White Russians and a guy named…The Dude. Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski doesn’t want any drama in his life…heck, he can’t even be bothered with a job. But, he must embark on a quest with his bowling buddies after his rug is destroyed in a twisted case of mistaken identity. Starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Turturro, experience the cultural phenomenon of The Dude in the “#1 cult film of all time!” (The Boston Globe)

I had the awesome privilege of getting this Limited Edition Bluray to review. I’ve went through it piece by piece. The transfer is pretty excellent, but it’s not going to be HD because it wasn’t shot in HD. It’s better than the DVD version that I have though. The bonus features are fun, but there are no deleted scenes and no outtakes. It does have a digital copy, which is something that I really like.

Available August 16th, 2011 – $29.98 Suggested Retail, but you can pre-order it for $19.99 on Amazon. I <3 amazon.

All the details are below and my comments are in red and italics.

BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVE BONUS FEATURES:

U-CONTROL: Universal’s exclusive feature that lets the viewer access bonus materials without leaving the movie

Scene Companion: Watch cast and crew interviews, behind the scenes footage and more during key scenes with this picture-in-picture companion. I really liked this. It automatically reduces the sound and pops up with either a video in the right bottom corner or with an audio clip. Some interesting facts for fans.
Mark it Dude: This onscreen counter really ties the film together. Keep track of all the “F- Bombs,” “Dudes,” and “Dude-isms” in the film with this ultimate fan guide. Anytime any character mentions the previous, the icon flashes. Nothing spectacular, but it’s amusing.
The Music of The Big Lebowski: Instantly identify the songs heard while watching the film, create a custom playlist of your favorites and even purchase them from iTunes®! I like that you can identify the songs, very cool.

WORTHY ADVERSARIES: WHAT’S MY LINE TRIVIA: Test your Lebowski knowledge by finishing lines of dialogue during the film. Play as Walter or The Dude or in two-player mode against friends. When in this mode, the movie plays, you choose how many players. An icon comes on screen to keep track of the scores. You can’t move to another track or fast forward in this mode. It takes a while for it to get going. The movie will pause and you’ll have to answer multiple choice questions. I would prefer if there were more questions because it’s more distracting since they are so far apart.

BD-LIVE: Access the BD-LiveTM Center through your Internet-connected player to watch the latest trailers and more. This is really useless. Basically, it’s just an annoying box in the corner of the menu with other features.

pocket BLU: The groundbreaking pocket BLU app uses iPhone®, iPod® touch, Android, PC and Macintosh to work seamlessly with a network-connected Blu-rayTM player. Also available on the iPadTM, owners can enjoy a new, enhanced edition of pocket BLUTM made especially to take advantage of the tablet’s larger screen and high resolution display. Consumers will be able to browse through a library of Blu-ray content and watch entertaining extras on-the-go in a way that’s bigger and better than ever before. pocket BLU offers advanced features such as:
You can go here http://pocketblu.com/ and download apps for your smartphone or Mac/PC. The iPhone app is neat, gives you another remote. In my case it’s good because our remote on the Bluray player has to be directly in front to work, so this helps. The Mac/PC app is useless. Why would you want to download something so you could view content that you can just get my going to a website anyway? You don’t need to control the movie from your computer. It’s just fluff.

Advanced Remote Control: A sleek, elegant new way to operate your Blu-rayTM player. Users can navigate through menus, playback and BD-LiveTM functions with ease.
Video Timeline: Users can easily bring up the video timeline, allowing them to instantly access any point in the film.
Mobile-To-Go: Users can unlock a selection of bonus content with their Blu-rayTM discs to save to their device or to stream from anywhere there is a Wi-Fi network, enabling them to enjoy content on the go, anytime, anywhere.
Browse Titles: Users will have access to a complete list of pocket BLUTM-enabled titles available and coming to Blu-rayTM Hi-Def. They can view free previews and see what additional content is available to unlock on their device.
Keyboard: Entering data is fast and easy with your device’s intuitive keyboard.

uHEAR: Never miss another line of dialogue with this innovative feature that instantly skips back a few seconds on your Blu-rayTM disc and turns on the subtitles to highlight what you missed. This is really cool. You push the yellow button and it skips back a few seconds and turns on the subtitles.

ADDITIONAL BONUS FEATURES: The volume varies with each, watch out each time one starts.

THE DUDE’S LIFE: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi and John Turturro take a look back at their performances and their delivery of the Coen Brothers’ dialogue that became classic movie lines. Short featurette with quick thoughts on the main characters.

AN INTRODUCTION: Featuring Mortimer Young, a practitioner of “non-uptight” film preservation. His restoration of the famous “toe scene” will blow your mind.

THE DUDE ABIDES: THE BIG LEBOWSKI TEN YEARS LATER: A freewheeling conversation with the cast about the film’s decade-long reign as a cult classic, including a discussion about what ever happened to the “little Lebowski” that the Dude and Maude made that fateful night! The stuff here is used in the Scene Companion that you can watch with the film. This is the featurette for the 10 year anniversary.

THE MAKING OF THE BIG LEBOWSKI: A behind the scenes look featuring interviews with the Coen Brothers. Featurette made for the original release of the film. Focuses a lot with writers/directors Joel and Ethan Coen. (Not in HD, of course)

THE LEBOWSKI FEST: AN ACHIEVER’S STORY: An in-depth look at the popular Lebowski Festival, formed by the legion of fans in honor of the film. If you’re a fan of the film and have never been to one, you are really missing out. I went a few years ago and had an awesome time. I spoke with a Dude, Walter and Bunny where were from Westchester. We drank White Russians and spoke along as the film played. This short film is made by a fan an covers the origins up until 2008.

FLYING CARPETS & BOWLING PIN DREAMS: THE DREAM SEQUENCES OF THE DUDE: From aerial flights over Los Angeles with his bowling ball chasing Maude on a flying carpet, to the large scale “Busby Berkley” dance sequences as The Dude goes flying through the legs of all the bowling pin headed dancers, this piece examines how these “ahead of their time” scenes were constructed. Short film with some funny stories about the set that day.

INTERACTIVE MAP: Take a tour of the locations of The Big Lebowski, then and now. Choose a location and a short video plays describing it. Kinda neat, but I wish there was a play all.

JEFF BRIDGES PHOTO BOOK: For more than 30 years, Jeff Bridges has been snapping pictures on movie sets. The accomplished photographer presents exclusive shots taken on the set of The Big Lebowski providing personal commentary on each photo. Very amazing photos and enjoyable commentary. You get to see a alot of the crew. The guy really had a good time and it shows.

PHOTO GALLERY: Slideshow of Jeff Bridges’ on-set photography. Pictures slideshow. Not nearly as entertaining as the being narrated by Jeff Bridges.

CAST AND FILMMAKERS:
Cast: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Turturro
Directed By: Joel Coen
Written By: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Executive Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
Producer: Ethan Coen
Co-Producer: John Cameron
Director of Photography: Roger Deakins
Production Designer: Rick Heinrichs
Edited By: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Tricia Cooke
Casting By: John S. Lyons
Costume Designer: Mary Zophres
Original Music By: Carter Burwell

TECHNICAL INFORMATION CONTINUED:
Picture Format: Widescreen
Aspect Ratio: 1:85:1 Rating: R for pervasive strong language, drug content, sexuality and brief violence Languages/Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French (EU) DTS Surround 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0/2.0 DTS Express