Disney's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou [DVD]

I was disappointed the first time I watched it, but I was so puzzled by what Anderson wanted to say about Jacques Cousteau that I kept on watching it, and it gets better with every viewing. It basically seems to be either a critique of Cousteau (with a little bit of Moby Dick thrown in) or an encomium of him and a satire on how an American might have been such a man, with comicbook elements. And there's a Cousteau reference in Rushmore, so I think Anderson is probably a genuine fan of his.But Cousteau was a man with dubious standards. He invented the aqualung and made a fortune and spent it on exploring the oceans - by older standards he was probably a fair conservationist who didn't excite much criticism, but by modern standards he was questionable if not terrible - I remember reading that the animals in his care had a very miserable life (e.g. the seals he kept had a habit of dying of dehydration and getting replaced with others), and his filming was faked some of the time. The Life Aquatic warns that all filming is fake to some extent, Cousteau's, David Attenborough's, Wes Anderson's. A rottentomatoes critic complains of the variety of film stock used by Anderson, missing the point that the more garish stuff very successfully mimics Cousteau's 50s and 60s film stock. But how many of us remember Cousteau's TV programmes enough to get the satire? I see Cousteau DVDs are available, but they are not quite cheap enough for me to want to revisit him.I'm not a huge Bill Murray fan, but I like him in this.

A spotter, less coherent experience than Tenenbaums or any of Anderson's later works, but definitely not terrible either. I particularly enjoyed Willem Dafoe's character and the wonderful performances of Portuguese musician Seu Jorge (a full set of recordings of him covering Bowie songs is featured in the extras). The Criterion Bluray features a crystal sharp image, rich colours, and a detailed and clear soundtrack. You also get a slew of extras including documentaries, cast and crew interviews, and storyboards and photos.

You either like or dislike Wes Anderson films and you either like or dislike Bill Murray's quirky acting style. For me, I love both. I love the very stylised, eccentric worlds that Wes Anderson creates, with vivid colours, great camera angles and sharp scripts. I love Bill Murray's quick humour, his little asides, his mannerisms and his characters offbeat personalities. All that aside, this is a film with love at its heart, for the subject they honour in Jacques Cousteau. If you enjoy all of the above in a film, or you're just keen to try something different, hit the play button on this. In my humble view, it's one of the best films of the century so far.

I don't buy many DVD's at all but since seeing Grand Budapest Hotel ( bought CD on the strength of hearing the score through snippets on Classic FM then the DVD as a consequence) where I found the dry sense of humour absolutely delightful so I bought some more of Wes Anderson's work ..to watch on holiday including this one and I wasn't disappointed.. in fact I have just ordered the rest of them!! ( they will pass some time in a positive way as I broke my ankle on that holiday!!) these are very "different".. quirky, intelligent deadpan humour - will watch over probably several times( something I rarely do) to relive the delicious "jokes" and enjoy those I probably missed! I would recommend starting with Grand Budapest Hotel if you have never seen any of his work.. the best way to see if his earlier work will be for you.

This will not be everyone's cup of tea and it certainly wasn't mine! There's very few parts where this is funny and through most of the film i was just sat there thinking what the hell is going on?? The end section of the film is probably the best but you'll have to sit through what feels like 4 hours before it gets to that.When people ask what's the worst film ive ever seen, this has a potential to be mentioned, real disappointed as the cast is great and so are most of the reviews, just not for me!

Never seen this movie before buying the blu-ray. I liked the Grand Budapest so i gave this one a shot. I like the flat emotional acting in the sometimes awkward social situations in this story. The colours really popped, especially the red hats and blue/green suits of the crew. Maybe my Panasonic ub820 blu-ray player helped a bit to bring out the colours on my full hd tv but i guess Criterion did a great job on this transfer. Definitely worth the gamble of buying this disc.

Another great film from Wes Anderson. Very funny and stylish with some great actors taking part. How they managed to keep straight faces in some scenes was amazing. Highly recommended.

Very nice Criterion Collection release. The 1080p HD Blu-ray is brought to you via a newly restored 4K digital transfer. Looks gorgeous. The 5.1 Surround DTS-HD soundtrack does Seu Jorge justice. Technical aside, it's a fantastic movie and there's an excellent quasi-video diary by Matthew Gray Gubler of Criminal Minds fame who was also part of the cast.