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Here’s the deal… I love The Criterion Collection. I adore films presented in high-definition. But for the life of me, I just can’t warm up to Wes Anderson. The guy certainly has his fans, but whether it’s the precocious silliness of Rushmore, the holier-than-thou philosophy of The Life Aquatic, or the pretentious banter of The Royal Tenenbaums, I’ve never found myself swept away by the filmmaker or his output.

So while it was with baited breath that I popped in Criterion’s first Blu-ray Disc title, I reacting very coldly to Bottle Rocket, Anderson’s first feature-length film. This wasn’t the first time I’ve seen the picture; I’ve attempted repeat viewings of Rocket, Rushmore, and Tennenbaums but had no success in improving my attitude toward them. Bottle Rocket came off as smugly as ever, with capable actors being anchored by a comedic sensibility that has always seemed preppy and pitiless to my tastes. (Hey, maybe I’m the snob. Who knows?).

The movie has a simple premise: bumbling robbers trying to make good. Anthony (Luke Wilson) and Dignan (Owen Wilson) are pals who really want to make it as thieves. And after staging a few “warm-up” robberies (starting with Anthony’s parent’s house), they enlist pal Bob (Robert Musgrave) to join their criminal clique. They hit the road, Anthony gets the hots for a housekeeper (Lumi Cavazos), and the crew gets embroiled with a true thief of the highest caliber (James Caan), who definitely wants to show them who’s boss.

For anyone familiar with Anderson’s work, they know that Bottle Rocket ain’t about story, it’s about talking. These buddies have a distinctive banter that they adhere to throughout the film, and most fans of the film cite this tweaked camaraderie as one of the movie’s grandest assets. The Wilson brothers ultimately would make names for themselves in the Hollywood machine, but while their chemistry is notable, I felt their real gifts were being held back by a filmmaking style that was too mannered for its own good.

This writer can moan and groan all he wants, but Bottle Rocket has a legitimately wide fan base and, to Criterion’s credit, this is an excellent debut Blu-ray title (The Man Who Fell to Earth’s Criterion BD will also be released on 16 December). Anderson fans will be interested with the release; high- definition devotees will be curious to see what Criterion has to offer in the Blu-ray Disc department; and, Criterion Collection proponents like me will simply watch anything they decide to unleash. Bottle Rocket is definitely a single-watch for me, but I’m nevertheless thrilled to see Criterion begin to issue content on Blu- ray Disc.

Now hurry up with that Seven Samurai Blu-ray Disc release, guys!

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Bottle Rocket is presented in its original 1.85:1 format, and this 1080p transfer is stellar, although there are a few blemishes. There are no edge halos and there are no instances of compression artifacts. Color accuracy is enormously satisfying; there is no smearing of saturated hues, and flesh tones are accurate and consistent. The dynamic range of contrast is also exceptional, with black levels staying inky deep throughout and whites popping with clarity. But there are blemishes. There are more examples of dirt and grime on Bottle Rocket’s transfer print than I was hoping. Criterion fans are already arguing about the level of grain apparent on this high-definition presentation, but Criterion’s perspective is to present a film as it was originally produced. Apparently, in Bottle Rocket’s case, that would be with grain aplenty.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Although there is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound track, it acts more to preserve the film’s humble sound recordings rather than opening-up the soundscape. Most of the presence in the surround channels belongs to music cues, but there’s a bit of distinction between front and surround dialogue that envelops nicely. Dialogue is presented with appropriate clarity and volume. And although music definitely figures prominently in the film, it doesn’t overwhelm the other elements in the mix. Sound effects and atmospherics also get an impressive treatment – both loud moments (scenes at the shooting range come to mind) and calmer ones both have a nice dynamic range that fleshes out the film’s sonic side. Not too shabby.

English subtitles are included.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Far more engaging than the film itself is the screen-specific audio commentary by Anderson and Owen Wilson. They have a marvelous rapport, and their goofy recollections and descriptions of production challenges are fascinating.

From the commentary, there’s quite a bit of information overlap in the Making of Bottle Rocket featurette, which, at twenty-six minutes, stays a little longer than it should. It should be noted that all video bonus materials are presented in 1080p.

Then we have the original short film of Bottle Rocket made in the early ‘90s (13:00), and a set of eleven deleted scenes. There’s an anamorphic test scene (the film was originally going to be shot in 2.35:1), a pair of stills galleries, and two short films: The Shafrazi Lectures No. 1: Bottle Rocket (11:00), which is basically a scholarly appreciation of the film; and, Murita Cycles (27:00), a film by Barry Braverman from 1978 that was an obvious influence on Anderson’s film.

Final Thoughts

Bottle Rocket looks and sounds just great on this Blu-ray Disc, and there are a number of interesting bonus features to sift through (including an excellent commentary track). This writer still can’t say he really likes the movie at all, but seeing as Wes Anderson has a lot of fans, I’m sure this one will be a solid seller through the holiday season.