The Big Lebowski - 20th Anniversary Edition 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital

As a college student with a very busy schedule, life can be very stressful at times. For me, when I get stressed I watch films. This has been my favorite pastimes for many years and, in those years, I have seen many movies. Some of the movies have been entertaining and well made, while others have been complete failures. One film that is among the more memorable is the Coen brothers’ film The Big Lebowski. This 1998 comedy is certainly one of the best, and most hilarious, films I have ever watched. The hilarious dialogue, enthralling story, and great acting are what make The Big Lebowski one of the most influential films in recent years. The dialogue is one of the most effective pieces in this film. It is certainly a film that I, and many people around me, quote frequently. One of the most memorable lines in the movie is the classic, “The rug really tied the room together,” (The Big Lebowski), which is repeated numerous times throughout the film. This is funny because the rug, that is so frequently mentioned, was urinated on at the very beginning of the movie and, it is the only reason why the Dude pushes on through the madness during the film. Another, and equally memorable, quote in the film is at the very end of the film when the Dude utters, “Yeah? Well, the Dude abides,” (The Big Lebowski). This laid back comment is so comical because the Dude has gone through so much at this point in the film, yet he is still content with the way things ended up. The memorable dialogue in The Big Lebowski is credited to the movie’s brilliant writers Joel and Ethan Coen, who also directed the film. Another great component of the Coen brother’s writing can be seen in the film’s outrageous story. There are so many twists and turns in this movie which just adds to the hilarity of it all. The film starts with a bang when the Dude returns to his home, after grocery shopping, and is attacked by two men asking, “Where’s the money Lebowski?” (The Big Lebowski). The comedy in this scene comes from, the Dude getting mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski, and being the inciting incident that throws the Dude immediately into his absurd quest for a new rug. Another hilarious part of the film is when John Goodman’s character, Walter Sobchak the Vietnam War vet, destroys a Corvette he mistakenly thought was a young boys’, with a crowbar, which resulted in the car’s true owner smashing the Dude’s car. In any movie, no matter how good the writing is, the actors must be able to deliver it in a way that is believable. In the case of The Big Lebowski, it must also be funny, and that is exactly what the actors were able to accomplish. The acting is by far the most important aspect of the entire movie. Everyone who was cast in The Big Lebowski was able to deliver every joke with great timing, yet make their character believable even though the story is so off the wall. Jeff Bridges’ portrayal of the Dude could not have been better because he was able to make the absurdity going on around him completely believable. A great example of Bridges’ ability to do this is in the scene where the Dude gets one of his friends ashes thrown in his face while spreading them in the ocean. What makes Jeff Bridges’ acting so funny in this scene is his stoic face and almost non-existent reaction. John Goodman also did a fantastic job as Walter in this film. As his character, Goodman had to go from being completely calm, to being furious, back to acting completely calm in an instant and that’s exactly what he did. The scene that Goodman demonstrates this best is when he pulls a gun on one of his friends for not marking their foul while bowling. To this day, whenever I see Bridges in a film, I immediately think of the Dude. While there are many fans of the film, it is, of course, not for everyone. The biggest complaint I have heard from the people that I have recommended the movie to has been that, while there are many surprises in it, the film doesn’t really go anywhere, which is exactly what I thought the first time I watched the film. Although I do see their point, I think the reason why somebody would say something like this is because, what the Dude is trying to do is get a new rug, since the two men from the beginning of the film peed on his first one. This, to most people, is not a story worth telling or watching, but the movie is more about the Dude’s journey than what he is seeking. I would recommend The Big Lebowski to anybody looking for a good laugh. The one piece of advice I would give, though, is that if you don’t like it the first time give it at least one more chance, if not two chances, all the way through. Because of the film’s memorable dialogue, ridiculous story, and great acting, I would give The Big Lebowski a whole hearted A+.

First, read all seven novels of Raymond Chandler. That's the beginning. (Yes, The Dude is Marlowe.) Next, compare the film to two other all-time greats: Richard Lester's A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (music; nearly flawless cinematography; absurd and jarring juxtapositions) and Richard Linklater's BEFORE SUNRISE (the thematic similarity: the attempt to communicate meaningfully as a member of the human species). If you don't get the connections I suggest, then you won't get the connections. (There's a beverage here, man!) Next, recognize that cult films reverberate for a reason. Meeting a random guy at a bar with whom one suddenly forms a strong bond when one utters the line, "Effing Nazis": that's indicative of deep structures. One must assume that this film reaches far into the human psyche without one's needing to understand why. Next, recognize that the casting is perfect, as is the frame-by-frame editing. Note that The Stranger makes the film possible. Note that the music is as big a character as Walter and the Dude. Without the music, it would not be the greatest film ever made. Note that one primary theme is the human race's attempt to communicate with mutual understanding and that in every instance in the film, the attempt fails. (Again, compare with BEFORE SUNRISE. Linklater's film is the other end of the continuum, but the theme is precisely the same.) Note, then, the irony that the audience understands this perfectly (that the film is about the inability of humans to understand one another), even if one might not be able to articulate the idea. Note that one of the reasons the film cuts so deeply is that we ourselves are The Dude. (We have seen ourselves, and we are The Dude. And we are Walter. And Donny. And little Larry.) Note that one can watch the film a seemingly infinite number of times and still find nuances that one has missed. The film coheres and coheres and coheres, although it's a film about incoherence. Note how well one can make analogies with other works that feature Jungian archetypes: THE WIZARD OF OZ; GONE WITH THE WIND; DEATH OF A SALESMAN; riff on forever--this is a remarkable embodiment of our heroes with a thousand faces.) Note that the jokes never cease to be funny. "An Irish monk?" "It's already the tenth." "The Supreme Court has roundly rejected Prior Restraint." Okay, that's enough from me. The Coens had extra time on this one because of the delay in getting Bridges and Goodman at the same time. So these fanatic storyboarders had time to be more fanatical than usual. They were inspired. The timing was right. They transcended themselves. There is no explanation. Serious scholars can write enlightening books about this film. I suggest a few angles above. The Chandler interconnections alone are worth a monograph. But one need not write such stuff unless one enjoys the process. Because that, too, is the whole point: Enjoy it. Despite the police chief of Mailbu, it's the whole dern human comedy. Watch it again and again because one then can feel that one wasn't gypped by the good Lord. (And if you never got it: "I see England, I see France; I see queenie's underpants." That's a clunker.) Here's what I wrote years ago about the film. It's still true: One needs to have a pronounced sense of absurdity to appreciate this film. But personally having an existence in which I have been forced to worship the Great God Irony, I find THE BIG LEBOWSKI to be truly a perfect film. Its humor is incessant; its ensemble cast performs flawlessly; the closing image of a professional bowler scoring yet another strike surely is emblematic of the film's own technical, emotional, artistic, intellectual, and psychological success. Jeff Bridges as the Dude, a sixties burn-out and slacker--and John Goodman as Walter Sobchek, Vietnam Vet and devout Jew--form a heavenly union. The shaggy-dog-story plot is the skeleton upon which hangs an utterly immaculate set of absurdist images, from the Hispanic deodorizer of shoes to the BRANDED writer in the iron lung to the blanket-tossed beach party babe (whose costume changes to a devilish red when she's glimpsed in the Dude's dream sequence: only the Coen brothers could incorporate such minor details with such intelligence and purpose!). I've watched this film literally twenty times. Its power does not fade. It satisfies every time. Each moment, each camera angle, each cut, each fade, each expression, each utterance: perfection itself! The maniacally laughing policeman in the car lot; the In-and-Out Burgers through the broken windshield; the crematorial ashes in the Dude's face: what brilliance! Buy it; watch it again and again. Ye who have eyes and ears to see and hear--enjoy! To all the people involved in making the film: congratulations on being in precisely the right place at the right time. Life almost never works this way. And that's why we like the Dude at the check-out line with the half-and-half on his mustache. The Dude: C'est moi!

Impossible de le lire

Exellent film des frères coen beau film exellent acteurs

Primero que nada debor decir que si no has visto esta película quizás no te parezca que valga la pena comprarla en 4K y no te culpo. No es de esas cuya fotografía valga la pena pero oigan, es que se ve excelente en 4K. Es una comedia de culto de los hermanos Coen con las grandes actuaciones de Jeff Bridges, John Goodman y Steve Buscemi. Hace un par de años salió un spin-off de un personaje que interpreta John Turturro en la película pero no tuvo el mismo impacto y la verdad es que tampoco la he visto. Esta es una película que vale la pena ver al menos una vez en tu vida, no importa el formato y si te atrapa tenerla en tu colección, no importa el formato pero si es en 4K y la consigues a buen precio adelante.

The Big Lebowski von den Coen-Brüder ist ein Film, der direkt schon nach dem ersten Anschauen eines meiner absoluten Lieblingskomödien wurde. Der Film hat coole und schrille Charaktere, die man einfach nur lieben muss. Jeff Bridges als der Dude ist einfach nur perfekt besetzt. Er verkörpert den Slacker wirklich sehr gut und wirkt auch glaubhaft in der Rolle, als wäre sie quasi auf ihm zugeschnitten. Auch John Goodman als Walter, der den Dude immer wieder Probleme bereitet, desöfteren Wutausbrüche kriegt und ständig den Vietnam-Krieg erwähnt, ist genial in seiner Rolle. Selbst Steve Buscemi, der nicht viel in dem Film sagt, verleiht seinem Charakter allein schon durch seine Präsenz viel Tiefe. Der Film ist super geschrieben und gespickt mit erinnerungswürdigen Popkultur-Zitaten, die einem lange im Gedächtnis bleiben. Abgesehen davon punktet The Big Lebowski mit einem herrlich schwarzen Humor, der im Vergleich zu den meisten anderen Komödien zu keinem Zeitpunkt aufgesetzt oder forciert wirkt. Der Streifen ist zurecht ein Kultklassiker !!! Die Bildqualität kann sich durchaus sehen lassen. Den ganzen Film über bleiben die Schärfe und der Detailgrad stets solide, allerdings wirkt das Bild allgemein einen Tick zu weich. Da hätte man ein bisschen mehr rausholen. In dunklen Szenen kommt es auch zum Detailverlust. Der Kontrast stimmt aber allemal und die Farbwiedergabe ist natürlich. Zum deutschen Soundmix kann ich nichts sagen aber die englische HD-Tonspur ist sehr gut. Zwar sollte man nicht viel von einem Film, der zum größten Teil aus Dialogen besteht, erwarten. Dennoch punktet der Sound durch klar verständliche Dialoge und einer nahezu erstklassigen Soundqualität bei der musikalischen Untermalung. Die Extras liegen teilsweise in HD und SD vor. Wie bei vielen anderen Universal-Titeln ist wieder das tolle U-Control Feature mit dabei. Sämtliche Extras in HD sind absolut sehenswert und interessant. Die anderen Features in SD können sich auch sehen lassen. Ein Wendecover ist ebenfalls vorhanden Cooler Kultfilm auf einer guten Blu-Ray. Ein Muss für jeden Coen-Fan.

In this Chandleresque story about mistaken identity, a missing trophy wife called Bunny, white Russians looking to make a few bucks and an all-important bowling competition, Jeff Lebowski (The Dude) wonders how his simple life suddenly got so complicated. When the Dude gets a night time visit from a couple of goons looking to recover a debt from a wife he doesn't have, it's quite clear the none too bright dimwits have got the wrong man. When they realise their mistake they decide to soil a rug that "really ties his room together". Deciding the real Lebowski, whoever he is, should recompense him, he sets off looking for a new unsoiled rug but soon finds himself drawn into a complicated film noirish comedy of errors. Although the Coen brothers have made some fabulously entertaining films in their career that are usually as witty and sharp as a lemon wedge pocked right into your eye, perhaps none are as sharp and wildly entertaining as The Big Lebowski. Packed with characters to die for, the plot, for the most part, is not nearly as interesting or as funny as the pitch perfect performances and the hilarious script. Lines of dialogue so laugh out loud funny delivered with such conviction by Buscemi, Goodman and Bridges mean that like many of the '40s and '50s detective mystery films starring people like Humphrey Bogart that this film is loosely based on, the often complicated plot takes a back seat. It doesn't really matter if you are not quite sure what is going on because the journey, along with your companions, is such a pleasure to undertake. Although the story does eventually make sense and things are wrapped up with a reasonably neat conclusion, it's the getting there that really matters not the eventual destination. Jeff Bridges's eventual tombstone and definitely his obituary may very well have and make some reference to the "Dude", who has now become an American cultural icon. Lines from the film are now quoted almost as much as those from Withnail and I and The Rocky Horror Picture show. His portrayal of the ageing stoner who finds himself in a new confusing world where people have issues and agendas is beyond brilliant. There is very little to like about him in reality, he doesn't work, is usually very high, spends much of his life bowling and generally slobbing about in loose-fitting clothes, however, Bridges manages to instil the Dude with such warmth, likeability and good humour that it's almost impossible to dislike him. His dysfunctional relationship with his bowling buddies is a bit like a marriage that doesn't quite work but none of the participants can be bothered to do anything about it. The arguing at cross purposes, not really listening etc should be annoying in the extreme, but it's not it's very funny. As you would expect the mystery unfolds at a leisurely pace and not everything is as expected. Just like the best mysteries, there are a couple of red herrings to complicate things and add interest. The supporting cast including Julianne Moore, John Turturro and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman are fabulous and lift the whole production to a new level. The two drug-fuelled dream sequences are a nice touch that, although very different in tone, still manage to fit in perfectly with the flow of the film. These scenes are often badly done and stop the narrative in its tracks. Here they actually compliment it. Pretty much ignored on release, TBL now has such a dedicated following it may very well be the Coens most recognisable film, perhaps excepting Fargo. Superb and extremely funny.