Customer Reviews

Big Lebowski

5 star:		(384)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

"Way out west there was this fella... fella I wanna tell ya about. Fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski."

Ahh, who am I kidding? If you're a fan, you don't need me to sell you on this DVD. Hence, I shall review this movie in two parts: For fans, and for non-fans. Dudes and Un-dudes.

FOR DUDES:

The new "bowling ball" edition of Lebowski is awesome. Finally we're given the special features that we've been asking for, for years! No audio commentary track, but the Coens and the Dude himself will give you some insight to the film and its characters. After two disappointing editions, this is so overdue. Two discs, featurettes, that weird intro, Lebowskifest, an interactive map of Los Angeles, it's all here. Most of your questions will be answered, but of course not all...some mystery must always remain. Plus the bowling ball just looks cool. I have mine on my entertainment centre, and it's a conversation starter. "What is that bowling ball doing there?" It's sturdy and it houses the DVDs in two slip cases. Life does not stop and start at your convenience, so be sure to pick this up and enjoy when you can.

FOR UN-DUDES:

One important thing about this film that I must stress is, don't try to understand the plot at first. It's every bit as stupifying as anything you can think of. My feeling (and this is just my feeling) is that The Dude himself (Jeff Bridges) doesn't know what the heck is going on, so neither should you. The plot is not complicated, but your thinking about it might be very uptight. I don't nessesarily recommend that you stick to a strict drug regimen to keep you mind limber, but having a few white Russians might help.

The Dude is unemployed (or "a bum" to some) and spends most of his time having acid flashbacks and bowling with Walter (John Goodman) and Donny (Steve Buscemi). One day his home is broken into by two thugs looking for money. They have mistaken The Dude for a millionaire with the same given name: Jeff Lebowski. During this break-in, Wu micturates on The Dude's rug. That rug really tied the room together. Walter tells The Dude to try to take up the rug issue with the other Jeff Lebowski, the millionaire (David Huddleston). And then is where our tale begins.

An amazing soundtrack featuring Dylan, Santana, Costello, Sons of the Pioneers, and more backs a hilariously confusing movie about a guy in way over his head. There are a lot of facets, a lot of ins and outs, a lot of interested parties and strands to keep in Duder's head. Along the way you will meet The Stranger (Sam Elliot), Brant (Philip Seymore Hoffman), Bunny Lebowski (Tara Reid) and a group of nihilists lead by Peter Stormare. Things are complicated by the appearance of Maude Lebowski (Julianne Moore), a kidnapping, and a ransom note. Can The Dude recover the million dollars? All he wants is a finder's fee. Perferably in cash. He has to check with his accountant on this, but he's worried about being put in a higher tax, uhh, you know. All this with next round-robin of the bowling tournament starting. And The Jesus (John Turturro) is ready to take them down.

Brilliantly written, brilliantly directed, brilliantly performed. Yes, you will be confused on first watch, as it should be. By second, third, and fourth, those stands in Duder's head come together, supported by musical cues (listen for CCR), odd bits of dialogue ("Johnson") and clues. Every strand fits like a puzzle, you just need to look.

I can't recommend this movie enough. If you let it click, you too will become a Little Lebowski Urban Achiever, and perhaps even an obsessive fan, dressing up and going to conventions. You never know. At the very least you might just find a new enjoyment of white Russians. Just don't run out of non-dairy creamer. Is there a Ralph's around?

5 stars. Genius movie.

I adore Jeff Bridges. He's stellar, and he knocked it out of the park playing 'The Dude'. I loved the dark quirkiness of the flick. I got my nephew onto this movie and his g-friend gave him a 'Dude' themed Christmas gift a couple of years ago which contained a housecoat, bottle of Kahlua and so on.

I don't buy many DVD's, but this one is a must have.

The Big Lebowski (Comedy, Crime)
Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman and Steve Buscemi

Universal Studios | 1998 | 119 min | Rated R | Released Aug 16, 2011

Video:
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS 5.1

Subtitles:
English SDH, French, Spanish

Disc:
Single 50GB Blu-ray Disc
Digital Copy
BD-Live

The Film 4/5

The Big Lebowski is essentially about mistaken identity if you care about the plot. Jeffrey Lebowski is known to his friends as The Dude (Bridges) and a gang of criminals pay him a visit thinking that he's another Lebowski who happens to be a millionaire. After they urinate on his rug, he seeks out the millionaire to claim compensation.

The millionaire's wife goes missing and the gang asks for a million dollars in ransom. The Dude is chosen as the courier.

That's about it. The plot is incidental; this is a movie about a way of life.

The Dude hangs out with two of his bowling buddies, Walter (Goodman) and Donny (Buscemi). Walter is a Vietnam veteran who has anger management issues; Donny hardly says a word and is told to shut up every time he tries to make a comment.

The Dude is a mellow kind of a guy. He shops in his robe, gets high, and talks like he's permanently stoned. Walter is a mystery to him because he is so easily annoyed. When a competing team puts a toe over the line during a bowling game, Walter pulls out a gun and insists that it is marked down as a zero. It's a league game after all.

The movie doesn't take itself too seriously and can be classed as a comedy more than anything, but the style of comedy may be different to the type you are used to. Many of the jokes are clever and subtle, and it's rare for the humor to be aimed too low.

Watching The Big Lebowski is an experience. You're never quite sure what it is or where it is going. The plot elements aren't very important, but everything adds up and provides a reason for the characters to do what they do. It's the sort of movie where nothing happens, but you find yourself thinking about it days later.

Fargo and No Country for Old Men are exceptional movies from the Coen Brothers, but many fans would argue that The Big Lebowski is better. I'm not among them, but it amuses me and I'm glad to finally own it on Blu-ray.

Video Quality 3.5/5
Although the Blu-ray is a vast upgrade over the DVD, I'm a little disappointed with the overall look. Colors are much improved and everything looks brighter and cleaner, but the VC-1 presentation could have been better. Fine detail is present in a few scenes, but is lacking for the most part. Faces in particular seem badly defined. It just about earns a passing grade, but don't expect to be dazzled.

Audio Quality 4.5/5
The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track sounds great. The songs carry a lot more weight than in previous releases. Dialogue is clear throughout and the predominantly front-heavy mix blends well with the action. No complaints about the sound.

Special Features 4/5

Worthy Adversaries: What's My Line Trivia - A game for one or two players in which you have to supply missing dialogue from The Dude and Walter.

An Exclusive Introduction (4:40, SD)

The Dude's Life (10:08, HD)

The Dude Abides: The Big Lebowski Ten Years Later (10:26, HD)

Making of The Big Lebowski (24:35, SD)

The Lebowski Fest: An Achiever's Story (13:53, SD)

Flying Carpets and Bowling Pin Dreams: The Dream Sequences of The Dude (4:20, HD)

Interactive Map

Jeff Bridges Photo Book (17:30, HD) - Bridges took shots while filming and explains them here.

Photo Gallery (3:25, SD)

U-Control: Three features with PiP, text and a profanity counter.
Scene Companion
The Music of The Big Lebowski
Mark It, Dude

28-page digibook

The Big Lebowski is a typically quirky effort from the Coen Brothers. While not their very best work, it deserves a place in your collection. Bridges and Goodman excel in their roles and hold the whole thing together. The Blu-ray presentation enhances the experience, but not quite as much as I had hoped. The packaging is good and there's plenty of behind the scenes information if The Big Lebowski is your kind of film.

Overall score 4/5

A wonderful cult classic, full of witty dialogue and anecdotes that give the film a personality of its own. And the amazing thing about this film is that it manages to entertain even though it doesn`t really have a story. Great stuff.

I don't have time to give a review that it at least 20 words long. What's wrong with just giving a star rating?

The Cohen brothers are great in directing a talent group of actors. Every time you see it , you see something different.

At first viewing you will not be sure what to make of this. Watch it again and the charm and humour will shine through. The directing is wonderful and the slow pace allows you to absorb the ambience and humour the directors were looking for. Well worth watching over and over.

The Big Lebowski is a work of comic genius; it's one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Jeff Bridges is hilarious as "the Dude," a pretty simple guy whose life goes all kinds of topsy-turvy after he's mistaken for someone else with the same name - Jeffrey Lebowski. John Goodman is hilarious as his best friend Walter Sobchak, a boisterous Vietnam vet with a quick temper and a pathological need to jump in and take decisive action all the time, and Steve Buscemi is his usual entertaining self as the only reasonably sane person in the entire film. The Big Lebowski is really all about dialogue and delivery. The script is just wickedly funny from start to finish, but it is Bridges' laid-back delivery that really makes the comic engine go, with all kinds of help from John Goodman.

The Dude comes home one night, only to find himself thrown face-down in the toilet and otherwise accosted by two chaps demanding money to pay off his wife's debts. He finally manages to convince the guys that he is not the Jeffrey Lebowski they are looking for - but not before one of the jokers gives his rug a golden shower. The Dude is not at all happy about this, as "that rug really tied the room together." After consulting with his bowling partners (the Dude spends a lot of time bowling), he decides to find the other, obviously rich Lebowski and ask him to reimburse him for the rug. Soon thereafter, the Big Lebowski calls him in and asks him to serve as the courier for a money drop to some guys who kidnapped his pretty young wife Bunny (Tara Reid). That's when all the trouble really starts. The Dude's soon mixed up with all sorts of crazy people (including a gang of nihilists), while Walter manages to get him deeper and deeper into a lot of trouble he never wanted in the first place. There are indeed lots of strands in the Dude's head as the whole story takes a series of odd twists and turns, each of them funnier than the last. And he's got to get ready for the big semifinals of bowling league play, to boot - Walter is very, very dedicated to the bowling league games. It's almost impossible to give a good overview of the plot, and I wouldn't want to do so anyway, as you really have to experience it all for yourself.

You've got to love the Dude. He's just a lazy slacker who wanted his good, clean rug back, and then all this crazy stuff happened to him. Rest easy, though, knowing that "the Dude abides." Sometimes, that's about all you can do in this crazy world. I should mention that the film more than earns its R rating for profanity, as about every third word anyone says is a curse word - so if that kind of thing bothers you, you may be "out of your element" here. I am quite confident, though, that most viewers will laugh themselves silly watching this movie and will want to keep on watching it over and over again. The Coen Brothers hit a grand slam with this one.

I think I am preaching to the choir on this one but The Big Lebowski is one of the greatest comedies ever made.

This is a movie of dialogue and characters. The plot is loose (at best)but it works and the only quibble I have with it is the ending, which happens abruptly and awkwardly - although it does involve nihilists, severed ears and cremation.

The beauty of this movie is the actors. They all ooze talent and use the best comedic script in years to flesh out bizarre, original, hilarious characters. If ever actors in a comedy were worthy of mainstream awards, then Bridges and Goodman would beg to be considered (to say nothing of Turturro and Buschemi). But we all know that would never happen in a world where Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Titanic and Gladiator are "best pictures".

The Big Lebowski has already become a cult favourite and I guarantee it will only grow in reverence. It's dialogue will be lovingly recited for years to come.

And for those of you who can only stomach mainstream Hollywood pap: sorry, no one learns a valuable life lesson at the end, the good guys don't win and the hero doesn't get the girl.

They just go bowling.

This movie rocks.. Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare!! Put them togheter in a movie and you'll get a masterpiece. And now it's avilible in this awsome box!!! BUY now or regret it for the rest of your life!!