"The Big Lebowski" (1998), starring Jeff Bridges and John Goodman, is a zany Coen brothers' comedy that has become a cult favorite. As Jeff "the Dude" Lebowski, Bridges creates a truly memorable protagonist, a laid-back 1970's type who goes bowling and drinks White Russians. The Dude seems spectacularly ill-suited to deal with the sequence of events that ensue from a case of mistaken identity, but he manages to muddle through somehow, and as the movie puts it, "The Dude abides."
While seeking redress for someone urinating on his rug ("It really tied the room together."), the Dude gets caught up in a web of intrigue. Along the way, he encounters some quirky characters, including a posturing purple-clad Latino bowler named Jesus (John Turturro) and a weird feminist artist (Julianne Moore). The Coen brothers supply the Dude with a visually inventive dream sequence partly done in the style of a Busby Berkeley musical number. The film has a narrator (Sam Elliott) who rambles and at one point loses his train of thought.
"The Big Lebowski" has been available in previous DVD editions, but the Collector's Edition claims to have an all-new digitally remastered picture. There are also a few bonus materials, including a laugh-out-loud-funny introduction to the movie that spoofs those stuffy DVD intros that often accompany restored masterpieces. Also on the Collector's Edition DVD are some black-and-white still photos taken by Jeff Bridges during production. Finally, there's a 25-minute 1998 making-of, although this seems to be identical to a feature available on a previous DVD version.
Below I've listed all the details for the Collector's Edition DVD containing "The Big Lebowski." There is also an Achiever's Edition, which packages the Collector's Edition DVD with eight photo cards, four character coasters and a collectible bowling towel.
DVD Details:
Release Date: October 18, 2005
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1), Color
Feature Film Run Time: 1 Hour 57 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R for Pervasive Strong Language, Drug Content, Sexuality and Brief Violence
English Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
French Dolby Digital 5.1
English Captions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Spanish Subtitles
French Subtitles
Comic Intro (4 min. 40 sec.)
Jeff Bridges' Photography (3 min. 26 sec.)
Making of "The Big Lebowski" (25 min.)
Production Notes (text)
