Review by Gary W. Tooze
Universal (USA)
1.85:1 1080p
1:57:08
Audio: DD Plus 5.1 English, DUB: French 5.1
Subtitles: Optional English SDH, or French
Extras: Mortimer Young Introduction, The Making of the Big
Lebowski (24:35) and Jeff Bridges Photography
Released: June 26th, 2007
HD-DVD case
22 chapters
The Film:
Mr. Jeffrey Lebowski quiz's his namesake (aka 'The Dude'): "What makes a man Mr. Lebowski?"
Released in 1998 the Coen brothers film The Big
Lebowski centers around the confluence of divergent
U.S. cultural anomalies that are defined by the
essential qualities of two decades. We meet characters
that are stuck in the 70's and who are unable or
unwilling to adapt to the 90's. The cultural referencing
continues with a focal backdrop of the unique community
that has fashioned itself around the American pastime of
bowling. The Coens also found time in the films 118
minutes to honor past film genre's including westerns,
hard-boiled detective pulp and Busby Berkley musicals.
Plot: Jeff Lebowski prefers to be known as 'The Dude'
and is mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski by a pair
of thugs seeking money from his namesakes wife, Bunny.
After assaulting 'The Dude', one of these ne'er-do-wells
takes the opportunity to urinate on his rug. In seeking
reparation he is thrust into a kidnapping plot of the
said young trophy wife to extort money from the
wheelchair-bound husband, Jeffrey Lebowski. Along the
journey, proliferated with cultural referencing, we meet
'The Dude's' friends, his recreational environment as
well as some eccentric new characters. We learn about
him and his attitude which helps define his liberal and
permissive lifestyle.
out
of
Excerpt from Gary Tooze's complete review located HERE
Posters
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Theatrical Release: February 15th, 1998 - Berlin Film Festival
Video: In the first few minutes, I was not impressed by this new HD DVD, thinking that it was not a substantial improvement over the Collector's Edition from Oct. 2005 (reviewed and compared to the original HERE), but it quickly showed itself to be vastly superior in the area of color and detail. This initial apprehension may have been because of the rather lackluster menus but the feature image is definitely brighter and sharper. I was never over-the-moon about the CE appearance which seemed over digitized at times. Now I wouldn't say this is the strongest variance from SD that I have seen, but after watching it, and then the SD CE immediately after, it seems impossible to go back and accept the older image. I thought I saw some saturation and possible edge enhancement but if it was, at all, present it was minimal and dwarfed by the improved attributes. Certainly this might not be a DVD to solely consider the jump from SD player to HD machine but, I think, it does look good enough to sate the fan-base of both the niche film and the budding new format junkies (I also group myself in this latter category).
I had noted about the CE (HERE) that "I do suspect the new colors of being slightly washed possibly due to the shifting of the pixels to remove the old artifacts?!". Well this HD transfer has no artifacts visible, to my eye,... at all. It is smooth and tight. It looks very strong and consistent.
* HD image derived from a digital camera - do not weigh too heavily. It best exhibits improved color depth. Obviously the banding in The Dude's sweatshirt and vertical combing in Walter's face are not present on the DVD - it is a function of my poor lighting and equally poor photography.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 (there is also a 5.1 French DUB) sounds better
than the SD releases. Other HD reviewers are noting this in HD-DVDs as
well and I don't really have any explanation. It could possibly be an
illusion that evolves from the glorious image quality - I don't know.
Regardless it sounds as good as it ever did and a shade more
buoyant at times (to my rather uneducated ears).
Optional English SDH ,or French subtitles support the audio.
Extras: In the extras department the new HD includes the same 5 minute
introduction by a 'Mortimer Young' of 'Forever Young Film
Preservation' as is also found on the 2005 Collector's edition. It
supplies some erroneous, but fatuous background of the film and its
rescue from a Wilmington archive fire. This includes a sample of
re-dubbing from Italian. The HD also includes the Jeff Bridges
Photography digital supplement found on the CE. And all three North
American editions contain the 24 minute The Making of the Big
Lebowski featurette.
Menus
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Finally, the “My Scenes” feature allows you to bookmark your favorite scenes.
--Miscellaneous--
An insert advertises other Universal HD-DVDs.
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