Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1068 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-10-17
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, Full Screen, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Dutch
• Dubbed in: German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 113 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Big Lebowski, a casually amusing follow-up from the prolifically inventive Coen brothers (Ethan and Joel), seems like a bit of a lark and the result was a box-office disappointment. It's lazy plot is part of its laidback charm. After all, how many movies can claim as their hero a pot-bellied, pot-smoking loser named Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) who spends most of his time bowling and getting stoned? And where else could you find a hair-netted Latino bowler named Jesus (John Turturro) who sports dazzling purple footgear, or an erotic artist (Julianne Moore) whose creativity consists of covering her naked body in paint, flying through the air in a leather harness, and splatting herself against a giant canvas? Who else but the Coens would think of showing you a camera view from inside the holes of a bowling ball, or an elaborate Busby Berkely-styled musical dream sequence involving a Viking goddess and giant bowling pins?

The plot--which finds Lebowski involved in a kidnapping scheme after he's mistaken for a rich guy with the same name--is almost beside the point. What counts here is a steady cascade of hilarious dialogue, great work from Coen regulars John Goodman and Steve Buscemi, and the kind of cinematic ingenuity that puts the Coens in a class all their own. --Jeff Shannon

Special Features
Full Screen
1.85 Wide Screen
German
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround English German
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
English\German

Synopsis
The Coen brothers have done it again. Mixing in Leninist philosophy, mistaken identity, crazy characters, a kidnapping plot, and a deep love of bowling, they have unleashed upon an unsuspecting world the many glories of THE BIG LEBOWSKI. Jeff Bridges plays Jeff Lebowski, known as the Dude, a laid-back, easygoing burnout who happens to have the same name as a millionaire whose wife owes a lot of dangerous people a whole bunch of money--resulting in the Dude having his rug soiled, sending him spiraling into the Los Angeles underworld. The film is beautiful to look at, especially the scenes in the bowling alley, which feature a vast array of bizarre characters including Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Sam Elliott, and the movie-stealing, riotously funny John Goodman as the Dude's crazy best buddy. As usual in Coen brothers films (BARTON FINK, RAISING ARIZONA), the dialogue is hysterically warped; the plot is confusing, complicated, and kinetic; the soundtrack is virtually another character; and the acting is weirdly stellar. THE BIG LEBOWSKI is yet another thoroughly entertaining foray into the strange and fascinating world ruled by Joel and Ethan Coen.

Customer Reviews

All that heaven allows...and Bowling
I've read that comedy is the most difficult genre to get right and probably the most difficult acting job to get laughs from, but watching The Big Lebowski, the Coens and every one of the actors involved make it all look so easy. This film's full of artists at the top of their game.
TBL's got everything, character acting, over the top character-vignettes, (see John Turturro's purple-clad bowling saviour), slapstick (John Goodman's turn as a homicidal ex-vietnam-obsessed marine who's other obsessions include bowling and his ex Cynthia's religion to which he's converted and doggedly won't now give up), terrific set pieces, mistaken identity, long-lost children, dreadful corny porn, mad feminists, its central character's steadily increasing confusion, and the most bewildering, triumphant and frequent use of the word f**k with its derivations, since Kevin Smith first put fingers to word-processor in New Jersey. Don't let the profanity put you off. Just treat those words as coughs or verbal shuffles as the characters strain to think their way out of the particular 'fine mess' they've found themselves in at that point in the film.
Make no mistake, this is a really clever piece of writing that you won't be able to take-in properly in just one viewing or even two, and with each viewing it just gets better. Clever ideas, combine with clever language and even situation comedy.
In the situation comedy stakes, check out the Dude trying to explain to the police why he's worried about a brief case that had been in his POS car, both just stolen, and his and Goodman's furiously inept attempts to interrogate the boy who stole the car while the adolescent's father lies prostrate in an iron lung that's gassing away in the background. After respectfully complimenting the father's TV writing they then proceed to scream at the young offender: one of the most obtuse, dense, zoned-out, morons I've ever seen on screen...if the camera'd held his face any longer, we'd have seen a line of dribble try to escape and then run for it, from the side of his mouth.
Its situations seem absolutely ridiculous, but what happens during them emerges directly from the characters, so everything works, everything. How often can this be said about movies we've seen? Even those with Bowling in them?
While I realise that TBL suits a certain sense of humour and that many won't see the merits in its succulent details that I've come to love, just watch it with an open mind, in one long sitting and then watch it again.
Yeah, I think its brilliant, but that's just like my opinion ...Man.

THE GREATEST FILM EVER MADE
Well, I think it is but that's, like, just my opinion, man. Perhaps a more accurate description would be a fascinating piece of social commentary wrapped around an updated L.A. film noir pastiche but that's, like, just my opinion, man. And it is good value for money because you get another film, 'Gutterballs' included too!

This film will appeal to anyone with a Creedence tape or two in their car. And to Brother Shamuses. And Vietnam vets who have adopted Judaism as their religion. And fragile pacificts. And video artists. But not to nihilists.

the big lebowski
The Coen brothers ("Fargo") have done it again. Mixing in Leninist philosphy, mistaken identity, crazy characters, a kidnapping plot, and a deep love of bowling, they have unleashed upon an unsuspecting world the many glories of "The Big Lebowski". Two mobsters break into the apartment of Jeff Lebowski in the errant belief that they are accosting a millionaire - not the laid-back, unemployed, stuck in the '70s Jeff Lebowski who calls himself Dude. Through a complex kidnapping plot, the Dude and his budy are swept up in a hilarious Coenesque comedy/thriller of extortion, double-cross, deception, embezzlement, sex and dope.