The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

This movie is fun, funny and adventurous, while at the same time carrying a substantial life lesson you can take with you about acceptance, forgiveness and how to stop being angry at what life has done to you in the past. Despite how it can be hurtful and indifferent, it is also beautiful and wonderous. The futility and foolishness of chasing the past by trying to get revenge, trying to be what you once were or thought you were, chasing accolades, and being self-absorbed; and, instead, lift up others onto your shoulders and actually be there for your friends and the people who love you, who can actually be allowed to love you, once you let go of the past and start living forward, as embodied in the last two scenes (the shark scene, and then the premiere of the documentary they were filming). The shark scene made me bawl my eyes out. It is probably my favorite movie for all of those reasons. Plus it has a great soundtrack, has so many great lines and exchanges, and moves at a deceptively efficient pace. Every frame and line seems so perfect, I like to play a game where I try to find one that is less than perfect. So far I haven't been successful. Overall vibe is it's like a combination of Hemmingway/Captain Ahab/The Royal Tannenbaums if they were constantly smoking weed. I also feel like another over all message is that life is an adventure; so take lots of pictures, listen to some great tunes, be there for your friends, don't be afraid or angry, and be chill.

I love every Wes Anderson film, and this one felt like a must-own. The subtle humor, beautiful cinematography, and distinctive color palette make it such a joy to watch. The ensemble cast is wonderful, and it’s one of those movies that truly brightens my day.

The Life Aquatic is a great movie that focusing on a primary plot moving element which is ultimately to take revenge on an unknown sea shark doubly named the "Jaguar Shark", which ate the friend of protagonist Steve Zissou. The movie has many whimsical almost magical notes that allow the viewer to live in the world director, Wes Anderson, has created to suite his requirements of finding the shark and having several character sub plots for several characters we slowly start to know, understand, and finally connect with. Steve Zissou is the man we find ourselves rooting for especially. He is a man that has followed his passion his whole life and appears to be very well traveled, intelligent, and obsessed with creating the environment to document his every adventure with a full camera and sea faring crew including 6 unnamed interns. Positioning the movie as a documentary to find and kill this Jaguar Shark, Anderson allows the movie to be slightly poetic and having a need to make for a good movie. One of Zissou's crew members is a full time Soundboard expert for the documentary that plays David Bowie songs with his acoustic guitar, adding to the whimsical feel. The movie also strives to give the audience a good feeling. That Zissou, despite going through depression and older age, seems to be a constant driving force for the crew, but in his own way which includes a focus on very detailed oriented and well thought out plans essential to make his mission a complete success. For instance, a short break in the movie occurs for Zissou to explain his sea-faring ship to the new member of his crew, his son, which is slowly verified throughout the course of the film. As Zissou takes us through his ship he explains, that when he purchased the boat, and for how much; and a small fact about each room. The kitchen, he explains has the most technological instruments on the ship. By saying that piece of seemingly insignificant information actually tells the viewer that he takes high importance in the simple pleasures in life of having high quality food. However, you never see the crew eat, or is this fact ever mentioned again. This gives that reader a sliver of information that this crew eats well, and divulges what Zissou's priorities are or that he works hard to provide a meaningful and generally happy life. The movie also has many sub plot moving points and many insignificant plot points that are just fun to watch but upon further glance it's these scenes that give insight that could have only been narrated. One instance, is when Zissou accepts a gift of the multicolored miniature sea horse that was given to Zissou by the first mate's son. Through a course of events the bag, which held this marvelous creature, was punctured. The quick thinking Zissou grabs a champagne glass with seamless hesitation and fills the sea horse and it's water into the champagne glass and rising it above his head as he makes his exit through the busy room. The other insignificant scene/character includes the two albino dolphins which have been outfitted with video cameras to swim aside the ship giving some reconnaissance to the control room within the ship's hull. Zissou constantly doubts the effectiveness of these two dolphins claiming them to be worthless. Later in the film, however, these dolphins play in a minor part for a laugh in the movie giving the viewer the chance to see the dolphin find something, and Zissou not quite catching it. One more instance of the insignificant plot points are the glowing jellyfish that drifted onto the beach when the tide pulled back. Hundreds of glowing jellyfish illuminate the beach. Ned, Zissou's so-called son, holds that microphone boom for Zissou's documentary. The scene is used to allow Zissou to allow Ned to enter a scene in his documentary when Ned asked `why do the jellyfish glow'. The viewer gets more insight into Zissou's want to get to know his son. It becomes more relevant when we find out that Zissou knew he had a son since he was born, and never made an effort to find him earlier in his life. Which begs the question, why is Zissou trying to rekindle the relationship, and why is Ned continuing to accept the fact while he continues to be a member of the Zissou crew. The answer seems to be ideals and a sense of adventure for the complete unknown with well-developed story themes with a different almost child-like view on life while they prepare and hunt for the Jaguar Shark.

I wouldn't say that this is the damndest movie I ever saw, because I've seen damnder and I don't know whether that's a compliment or a criticism. Wes Anderson, who wrote and directed this movie, lives in his own special world. It's not one in which I could live long and stay sane, but it's a curious place to visit for two hours. That's "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou." As you can see from the product description and other reviews, it has a dynamite cast. While Bill Murray, who in my book can do no wrong, is clearly its leader, this is very much an ensemble piece. it's a comedy that made me laugh out loud about three times, though I wasn't counting, rose an occasional chuckle and a sustained smile. It's whimsy committed to celluloid, without a mean bone in its body or a strong bone in its plot. In fact, it moves from one curious episode to the next, with almost no story at all so. If you've just finished "The Collected Works of Raymond Chandler," this would be a nice warm toddy to calm you down. It's a character piece with some very strange characters, set in a production design that may remind boomers of their high-school chemistry classrooms. Its last thirty minutes are "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" if Walt Disney had ingested his Kingdom's Magic Mushrooms. Visually, it's a lot of fun. The stop-motion animation is charming: Ray Harryhausen on Uncle Walt's mushrooms. I struggled between three and four stars on this one but leaned leniently. For a Criterion Collection item, it was dirt-cheap: about six bucks. I'll watch it again to convince myself that it's just what I thought I saw the first time. It may grow on me. If it doesn't, I'll let you know. If it does, I hope there's a mild disinfectant that will clean it off.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is a brilliantly quirky and visually inventive film. Wes Anderson’s unique storytelling shines through in this offbeat adventure about a washed-up oceanographer on a mission for revenge. The quirky characters, deadpan humor, and stunning cinematography make it a truly memorable experience. Bill Murray’s performance as Steve Zissou is both hilarious and surprisingly heartfelt. A must-see for fans of indie films and quirky comedies.

Bill Murray is my absolute favorite actor ever. I can't find a movie he's in that I don't at least like. Even when he voiced my favorite comic strip character, Garfield, I enjoyed hearing his familiar voice. So picking my favorite Bill Murray film is a very tough thing to do, so I just decided to take the highest ranking one on my list and do a review of it. Actually, it seems fitting I would do a review of The Life Aquatic. Wes Anderson also happens to be one of my favorite directors (no, not just because of his name) and his films are delightfully quirky. This one happens to be my favorite of his as well, so the combination of the two seems like the perfect recipe right? Absolutely. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou follows the title character, a deep-sea diver, on a revenge quest to find and kill the shark that murdered his longtime diving partner and best friend, Esteban. He decides to make his revenge scheme his next big documentary, and takes his film crew with him. Along the way, a longtime fan named Ned Plimpton (played by Owen Wilson) who believes that Zissou is his father, decides to tag along with him, hoping to get to know and become closer friends with the famed oceanographer. There are a lot of memorable characters in The Life Aquatic, as is usually the case with Wes Anderson films. Willem Dafoe has a lovely role as Klaus, the German sailor in the crew. Also included are stellar performances from the likes of Anjelica Huston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, and Bud Cort. There's also an awesome musician who sings Brazilian translations of David Bowie songs while playing a guitar, and a lot of awesome things happen throughout the film, not limited to being overtaken by a pirate crew. Bill Murray is simply badass in this film. I literally can't think of any other way to describe how he is in this. I dare say that it's his best role, and I really don't know what I'm going to do with my life after he is long gone. I suppose the very foundation of cinema will crumble, wither away, and die, and we will be left with no real new films anymore. I'm being facetious of course, but you all know what I mean. Bill Murray is a delightful actor, and he has some of the most memorable roles I've seen. Steve Zissou is one of, if not his actual best role in his career thus far. An underrated masterpiece.

One of favorite Bill Murray movies.

Great movie

Movie is excellent and the Criterion packaging is very well done.

Le film est très bien. Seulement ce blu-ray n'est pas lisible en Europe (zone A) donc pourquoi le vendre sur Amazon.be ?

Film - Genug gesagt - alle Meinungen schon dabei....ich bin großer Fan von Wes Andersen... Eine Szene die die Tiefseetaucher - Welt verändert. Schlüsselszene? Zissou kommt auf seine "Insel" und trifft auf seine Frau. Sie sagt zur Begrüßung: "deine Katze ist tot." Was im ersten Moment als sehr plumpe Szene daher kommt. Entscheidet für den Zuschauer die Art wie man bereit ist den Film zu schauen. In diesem Moment schlüpft man in die Rolle eines der Zuschauer die der Premiere des Filmes am Ende beiwohnen. Eine im Film abgesprochene Szene ohne den Zuschauer zu informieren? Der Dialog ist offensichtlich von Zissou vorher mit seiner Frau abgesprochen worden. Seine Frau ist extrem gelangweilt weil sie meiner Meinung nach kein Bock hat bei dieser Farce mitzuspielen. Er kritisiert dies mit dem Kommentar, Sie hätte das doch gefühlvoller sagen sollen. (Was er sich für den Film gewünscht hätte). Sein Sohn ist nicht eingeweiht. Weswegen er später nach dem Namen der Katze fragt worauf Zissou so etwas wie "Sch... auf die Katze" antwortet. Ab diesem Zeitpunkt ist der Film beim erneuten schauen, auf mehrere ebenen zu beurteilen. Sehe ich gerade den Ablauf der Geschichte, oder das gespielte im Film, für den Film, im Film. Und das sind wesentlich mehr Szene als einem beim ersten/zweiten oder dritten Mal auffällen. Diese Spielerei mit dem Zuschauer ist das was mir an dem Film so Spaß macht. Neben Darstellern / Ausstattung / Liebe zu Detail und natürlich Dafoe. Aber ich kann wirklich gut verstehen dass man den Film auch echt Sch.... finden kann. Mich jedoch bringen die Filme von Wes Anderson immer wieder zum Staunen. Super!! Ach ja...und die tolle Musik nicht zu vergessen!!

Excelente edição, conta com extras nunca lançados na edição simples em DVD no Brasil. E toda a arte da edição é maravilhosa, como de costume com os títulos da Criterion

Magistrale Bill Murray a metà tra Jacques Cousteau, Peter dei Ghostbuster e Brancaleone che vive quello che rimane di un passato glorioso. Tutto girato sulle coste italiane, la regia di Wes Anderson e la bellezza del paesaggio si valorizzano a vicenda.