The Royal Tenenbaums Blu-ray Ben Stiller

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Wes Anderson

USA 2001

An excessively stylized yet unusually poignant fable about failure and family, The Royal Tenenbaums clinches Wes Anderson's status as American film's most peculiar and particular new auteur. Anderson is so finicky about visual and structural style that Tenebaums -- his third comedy and the follow-up to the glorious Rushmore -- often feels hermetically sealed. This is a New York where every car is a dilapidated gypsy cab, where every building looks like the Waldorf Astoria and every person is a hurt little kid in a grown-up's body.

Sharing a close kinship with the Glass family of J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey and Nine Stories, Anderson's Tenenbaum clan is appropriately self-sufficient. When the three children of the dignified Etheline (Anjelica Huston) and the unscrupulous Royal (Gene Hackman) were young, they each had the chance to spread their wings and fly far away. But two decades later, their early promise is no more, and the playwright Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), the cracked-up tennis star Richie (Luke Wilson) and the bereaved financial whiz Chas (Ben Stiller) have headed home to confront the long-exiled and allegedly ailing Royal. Margot's Oliver Sacks-like husband Raleigh (Bill Murray), Etheline's potential fiancé Henry (Danny Glover) and the Tenenbaum wannabe Eli (Owen Wilson) also get enmeshed in the family meltdown with hilarious results.

Excerpt from Jason Anderson's review on the eye WEEKLY located HER

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 5th, 2000 - New York Film Festival

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Buena Vista (Germany) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Criterion Collection Region 1- NTSC vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Thanks to urs wiki for the DVD screen captures

1) Buena Vista Special Edition Germany - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT

2) Criterion Collection - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

Box Covers

Also available on Blu-ray from Criterion in the UK:

Distribution

Buena Vista (Germany)

Region 2 - PAL

Criterion Collection - Spine # 157

Region 1 - NTSC

Criterion Collection - Spine #157 - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were obtained directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray (August 2012): Firstly, the original DVD comparison was done in a transitional period where we had acquired DVD-Compare and they didn't focus as heavily on the technical stats. We can state though that the Blu-ray disc size is a whopping 47,197,751,685 bytes with the 1:49:55.255 feature filling 33,433,466,880 bytes of that sporting a 34.48 Mbps bitrate. There is notable improvement in the image quality via Criterion's 1080P transfer showing more information in the frame than Criterion's 2002 DVD. The resulting BD visuals are very crisp, very sharp and have pleasing golden hues. It looks impressive on my large screen.

The audio is in a DTS-HD Master 5.1 track at 3789 kbps and similarly improves. Everything sounds crisp and bouncy via Mark Mothersbaugh's original score and the eclectic interlude choices from "Hey Jude" performed by the Mutato Muzika Orchestra to Ravel's "String Quartet in F Major". There are optional English subtitles on the region 'A'-locked Blu-ray disc.

Supplements remain stacked duplicating the decade-old DVD with the fun and informative audio commentary by Anderson, interviews with and behind-the-scenes footage of actors Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, and Danny Glover, outtakes, The Peter Bradley Show, featuring interviews with additional cast members, a "Scrapbook" featuring young Richie’s murals and paintings, still photographs by set photographer James Hamilton, book and magazine covers, and storyboards and more plus a liner notes booklet with an essay by film critic Kent Jones.

Fabulous film that improves with age. Anderson is one of my favorite living filmmakers. This is a unique masterpiece - the Blu-ray is strongly recommended!

***

ON THE DVDs: Both DVD transfers were mastered from clean source material and are nearly identical. The German may be very minutely sharper and the Criterion slightly brighter - nothing you would notice without a magnifying glass. Only the Criterion is a 2-disc and the Criterion has the commentary by Anderson where the German version does not.

- Gary W. Tooze

Menu - Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

These captures are courtesy of DVD-Compare, now hosted by DVDBeaver, and very special thanks to Thomas Koeberl (version captures appreciation noted at bottom). They are captured using the "Forced Weave" method with a set resolution with no bi-cubic filtering and set at a jpeg compression of 90%.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Screen Captures

1) Buena Vista Special Edition Germany - Region 2 - PAL - TOP

2) Criterion Collection - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM