Customer Reviews
This movie is great! 
2008-01-13
This movie is great. It has comedy, drama and suspense. I'm going to be looking at the soundtrack soon too. Some people don't like it, but I love it. I guess it just depends on personal tastes. Overall, a good buy.
An Excellent Film. 
2007-12-07
This film is one of the best I've seen in quite some time. This is a film everyone should see. All the roles are played perfectly. The camera work is superb. The story ranges from excellent dry humor, to almost bringing you to tears. The bonus disc has a wealth of interesting material, and gives you a great inside look.
Better than Darjeeling Limited.... 2007-11-27
I originally saw this at the theater and thought it was okay. But saw it again (due to my disappointment with his new movie) and my opinion has changed. I think this movie is vastly underrated I bought the criterion DVD and I have to say the picture looks fantastic on my 42 inch plasma, kudos to criterion for doing a great transfer. Also, Anderson's persistent use of wide angles makes for great images on the flat screen. I think Anderson should use his talent for meticulous set design which is so rich in this movie, and consider doing a sci-fi movie. I think the result would be incredible. By the way, the DVD menu makes a great screen saver with a cutout of the Belafonte and the little dolphins floating around.
As for what makes this movie work for me the second time around: Bill Murray, David Bowie's music, and the deadpan humor. There is a scene late in the movie between Jeff Goldblum and Bill, after the pirates have attacked and Bill (Steve Zissou) is at the mercy of his arch-enemy Hennessey (Goldblum) because his ship is dead in the water. The tension that has been building between the two finally comes to climax in a restrained but hilarious way. Watch what Goldblum does to Zissou's new pet. Funny. YOu need to be an active audience with Anderson's movies. They challenge you because you must pay attention to the character's ulterior motives which are revealed through subtext (and set design).
Suffice to say, I rediscovered other such scenes which had me laughing (trust me it's hard to make me laugh). Like the Big Lebowski, which I didn't like at first but came to realize had many layers of themes to explore, so my feelings are the same for this movie.
I think this movie is Kafkaesque in the sense, that the humor is derived from horrible circumstances and character's trapped by their own insecurities...give it a second chance.
Exremely underrated 2007-10-03
This film is extremely underrated. As Rushmore and The Royal Tennebaums it's about fathers or paternal figures coming to terms with their resentful sons, but this one, even more than Rushmore, it's about trying to mantain your spirit as you grow old. The best scene: when Murray finds the jaguar shark and says "... I wonder if he remembers me", and everyone caresses him. The Sigur Ros song is a great touch.
You know what: we will remember you Zissou, you're that great!
Very funny, but not for everyone 2007-08-07
As one reviewer said perfectly "The Life Aquatic is very funny, but its not for everyone" I would like to add to this statement and tell you a bit about the film, before you give in two hours of your time to watch this. Then maybe from the brief description you will decide if this is a film you will enjoy. "The Life Aquatic" has a very simple storyline. Bill Murray plays Steve Zissou who is a famous oceangrapher who is going after the shark that killed his partner while shooting his documentry. The film itself uses alot of dry humor, if you are a fan of slapstick, then this film is not for you. What we get here is a excellent perfomance from Bill Murray, who is once again in great form. You will be seeing Murrays side of his humor that is more gentle and dry, more like his peformances in Rushmore, Kingpin, and Lost in Translation. If you are a fan of Murrays slapstick humor from the movies "Meatballs", "Stripes", or "Ghostbusters" then you might be dissapointed. The film also includeds a great supporting cast along with William Defoe who is in rare form as I believe a German assistant to Murray. The film does have some hangups, as it is really slow. I mean slow. It clocks in at around two hours, and it feels a bit longer because this movie depends all on dry dialoge and there is very else action wise that is happening. If they could have cut it down a bit, I wouldnt have complained, so its not perfect, but still a very good performance buy Murray and Defoe, and still very funny, if the dry type of humor is your thing.
wes's best 2008-06-25
I think a lot of people don't get this film at all. I happen to think this is Wes Anderson's best, most fully realized work. It's also one of the hardest films to try and explain to someone who hasn't seen it. For me it succeeds on all levels, narrative, visual and acting. Bill Murray is incredible. After you've watched the film once, turn it on again and watch it without sound. Note Murray's mastery of gesture.
Quirky and irresistable 2008-04-02
I recently watched this film for the second time (I first saw it when it was initially released on DVD) and I enjoyed it more the second time than I did the first.
The movie has an almost surreal, dream-like quality about it. Many of the sea creatures are stop-motion animated rather than CGI which sort of lends a tongue-in-cheek quality to the whole experience. The music (mostly David Bowie songs, but also a "score" that sounds like it was composed and performed on a $20.00 Casio keyboard - another quirky touch courtesy of Mark Mothersbaugh of "Devo" fame) doesn't really seem to fit into the context of the film, but somehow it just WORKS.
There are many pop (and not so "pop") cultural references and gags throughout the film, but you must keep a sharp eye and ear open for many of them ("Not this one, Klaus" is a phrase that is obviously an homage to Francois Trauffaut's "Jules and Jim" - cute.)
I wouldn't say the film is laugh-out-loud funny, but there are many humorous turns of phrase and a few scenes of physical comedy than put a smile on your face. Bill Murray's deadpan delivery of his lines in fiendish. Zissou is a jerk, but you can't help but love him.
The set for Zissou's boat, the "Bellefonte" (another pop reference to Cousteau's own boat, the "Calypso") is obviously just that; a set. You can see how the actors are walking through doors to get from one room to the next depite the obvious fact that there are no walls on one side of all of the rooms. Another great "surreal" touch.
This movie may not be for everyone due to it's intense quirkiness, but I found it to be very original and a refreshing change of pace from the usual trash Hollywood likes to dish out on a regualr basis.
And, by the way, if Jacques-Yves Cousteau had been alive to see this film, I think he would have found it delightful and been honored by the tribute to him that this film obviously is.
Please give this film a try, but keep an open mind.
Classic Bill Murray 2008-03-28
Bill Murray is great in this flick, and teamed with Wes Anderson, it's a sure bet.
Funny 2008-03-24
If you don't know anything about this film, please realize that you aren't going to laugh like you might have in Meet the Parents or Old School. It isn't that kind of movie. It's a lot like The Royal Tenenbaums (The Criterion Collection) so, if you liked that film, this one is a good fit for you. I found the story pretty creative and fun to see what came of it, but I didn't have expectations of things being realistic or easy to follow. I also think the acting in this movie is terrific.
Just a little late 2008-01-26
DVD was fine, but I got it the day after Christmas! Luckily my daughter got so many gifts that she enjoyed getting one the day after all her others!
