Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1481 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-06-08
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, Cantonese Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Italian, Korean, Norwegian
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 165 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The deservedly multi-award nominated The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button sees David Fincher team up with his Fight Club star Brad Pitt. Pitt plays Benjamin Button, a man born in an old peron's body who in turn ages backwards. While the premise may seem a little mind-boggling for some, Eric Roth (the writer behind Forrest Gump) and Robin Swicord's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story is poetic, epic and intimate all at once. Critics have moaned about its length, but for the story and the characters to become a part of you, this film could not have been any shorter. The Currious Case Of Benjamin Button is a magical tale about love, understanding and acceptance, all themes ridiculously relevant in our time. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett's chemistry lights up the screen. Together with Fincher and the outstanding supporting cast (inlcuding Tilda Swinton, Oscar nominated Taraji P. Henson and Julia Ormond), the tale of little Benjamin Button is uplifting and original. Giving away any scenes or technical effects would be ruining the magic. --Jennifer Kilchenmann

DVD Description
"I was born under unusual circumstances". And so begins The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any mans life can be. Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett with Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas and Julia Ormond, Benjamin Button is a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.

Synopsis
At once epic in scope and intimate in detail, David Fincher's THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is certainly the director's most emotional film to date (though FIGHT CLUB and SEVEN don't offer much in the way of competition). Loosely based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald story, this romantic drama tells the tale of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), born in 1918 in New Orleans as a baby with wrinkles, cataracts, and arthritis. Benjamin will age backwards, getting younger as he watches those around him growing older. Included in that group are his adoptive mother, Queenie (Taraji P. Henson), and Daisy (Cate Blanchett), the love of his life whom he meets when she is just a little girl and he is an old man. They age in reverse, but despite Benjamin's globe-trotting adventures, their lives repeatedly intersect.
The script from Oscar winner Eric Roth bears more than a few hallmarks in common with his earlier work on FORREST GUMP: both adaptations cross decades and continents. But BENJAMIN's script or even the fine acting aren't its most impressive accomplishment; the technology--both CGI and makeup--used to make Benjamin and Daisy age are remarkable, and makes the film entirely believable, but they're certainly aided by fine performances from both Pitt and Blanchett. The triumph of technology only serves to underscore the beauty of this film and of the love story at its heart.

Customer Reviews

The Clock Is Ticking Backwards
Upon first introduction of this film, we know that it is based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The short story tells of a boy born as an old man who, within a few hours can talk and act as such. To avoid embarassment, Benjamins father forces him to dye his hair and play with the local children as a real child. All Benjamin wants to do is read, smoke cigars and have adult conversations as an adult would. Being a short story, you cannot really expect a feature film to be wholly adapted from it, you have to expect massive changes and extensions in order to present a worthwhile and fluid picture to be enjoyed by the masses. What would likely be a film under 1 hour long if it was adapted word for word from the story, we were presented with a treat of a 2 and a half hour story told from the death bed of an aged Cate Blanchett in a pre-hurricane New Orleans hospital.

To start off the story we are presented with a metaphorical plot device in the form of a train station clock running backwards, which was made as a hope that it would mean all the dead soldiers of the first world war could come home alive.

The story as told to Daisy (Cate Blanchett) by her daughter reading from a diary is that of Benjamin Button, an incredible man whos mother gave her life for and was abandoned by his father (Jason Flemyng). He was born with the appearance of an old man, with all the ailments to boot. He was left on the porch of a New Orleans nursing home to be found by one of the nurses known as Queenie (Taraji P. Nelson), she adopts him and christens him with the name Benjamin. Throughout his early childhood Benjamin is expected to die any day due to the illnesses he has and the way he looks, so is forced to live in the home as if her were one of the elderly relatives.

What Queenie starts to become aware of is that as Benjamin gets older, he does not get weaker and sicker as predicted but he's getting younger and fitter. Whilst still looking old but being about the age of 7 he meets a girl who is the daughter of one of the elderly residents known as Daisy. They become friends but cannot be around each other too much due to what he looks like (quite frankly I'm glad they didn't take it any further too early as it was a bit creepy). As Benjamin grows older, he meets his father again, but is not told who he is. He just thinks he is a friendly stranger who offered him a ride and a drink at a bar. Benjamin then moves out to enjoy the adventures of life and is forced to deal with some adult adventures he wouldn't experience if he looked his age.

What I can really say about this film with whole hearted honesty is that I absolutely loved it. From start to finish it felt genuine, the maternal love of Queenie for her adopted son came across as authentic thanks to the sublime acting of Taraji. The affair scene with Tilda Swintons character, (although I truly dislike the woman as she looks like someone who was repeatedly hit in the face with a dog by a tramp, and sounds like the queen if she smoked 5 packets of cigarettes a day) is done really well and you get the feeling that Benjamin (Pitt) is genuinely falling for her.

Apart from the main plot of Benjamin Button being quite heart wrenching at times, the sub plot of an aged Daisy keeping herself alive until the end of the story is told is quite something. The make up, setting and in some cases special effects all come together well to present a believable setting of a progressive early 1900s New Orleans. The superb performance of Taraji P. Nelson deserves special mention as she now shows the world some genuine acting talent. This has to be Pitts oscar win as for this role it would truly be deserved, however, I would not be surprised if it were highly overshadowed by 2008s biggest blockbusters.

Actor Brad Pitt and director David Fincher strike gold for the third time in a row!
The other two films which Brad Pitt did with David Fincher are the modern classics Seven and Fight Club. Benjamin Button is a totally different film again in which Brad Pitt proves yet again that he is the most talented actor of his generation. I found the story to be very intriguing and at times a little upsetting. Benjamin Button when born is a baby whom is very old and as time goes by he is getting younger. This is a strange idea which makes many profound things happen in his life. The special features are extremely interesting in how they made Brad Pitt look much older and smaller then what he is in real life. The blu-ray picture is excellent and I feel Benjamin Button will become another classic over time as with the other two films Brad Pitt has done with David Fincher.

Movie: 3.75/5 Picture Quality: 4~5/5 Sound Quality: 4/5 Extras: 4.5/5
Version: U.S.A / Criterion-Paramount / Region A
MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / AACS
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Running time: 2:46:02
Movie size: 47,543,949,312 bytes / 47,54 GB
Disc size: 48,515,380,917 bytes 48,51 GB
Total bit rate: 38.18 Mbps
Average video bit rate: 30.96 Mbps

DTS-HD Master Audio English 3588 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3588 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps / Dolby Surround

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Number of chapters: 16

#Audio commentary by David Fincher

Disc 2 (All special features presented in HD)
***********************************************

# First trimester:
1. Preface
2. Development and pre-production
3. Tech scouts
4. Storyboard gallery
5. Art direction gallery

# Second trimester:

1. Production - Part 1
2. Production - Part 2
3. Costume design
4. Costume gallery

# Third trimester
# Visual effects - Performance capture:

1. Benjamin
2. Youthenization
3. The Chelsea
4. The simulated world

# Sound design
# Desplat's instrumentarium
# Birth:

1. Premiere
2. Production stills

#Theatrical trailers - 1 and 2

********************************************************************

Version: U.K, Germany / Warner / Region Free
VC-1 BD-50
Running time: 2:46:03
Movie size: 43,657,291,776 bytes
Disc size: 43,982,327,792 bytes
Total bit rate: 35.05 Mbps
Average video bit rate: 24.75 Mbps

Dolby TrueHD Audio English 1454 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1454 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio German 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Italian 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Portuguese 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Thai 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Turkish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround

Subtitles: English SDH, Cantonese, Mandarin, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish, Spanish (Latin American), Thai, Turkish
Number of chapters: 19

* Commentary by director David Fincher
* The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button
o Pre-Production (RT 32:20; New Featurette)
o Production Part I (RT 24:14; New Featurette)
o Production Part II (RT 31:36; New Featurette)
o VFX- Benjamin (RT 16:52; New Featurette)
o VFX- The Chelsea (RT 8:50; New Featurette)
o VFX- Youthenizationo (RT 6:21; New Featurette)
o VFX- Performance Capture (RT 7:57; New Featurette)
o VFX- The Simulated World (RT 12:50; New Featurette)
o Sound Design (RT 16:29; New Featurette)
o Desplats Interumentarium (RT 14:52; New Featurette; Interviews by Alexandre Desplat and the scoring of Benjamin Button)
o Costume Design (RT 7:33; New Featurette)
o Tech Scouts (RT 12:53; New Featurette)
o Birth (RT 4:00; New Featurette)
* Easter Egg (RT 2:00)
* Digital Copy