In Wes Anderson's THE LIFE AQUATIC, a group of oceanic explorers who call themselves Team Zissou embark on a journey to hunt down the "jaguar shark" that ate one of their crew members (Seymour Cassel). Determined to avenge the death of his dear friend, team leader Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) is melancholic about the journey he's about to make. Meanwhile, financial troubles and nostalgia for his past make Zissou behave like a reckless playboy, an aging softie, and a past-his-prime tyrant. Surrounding Zissou are a hodgepodge of eccentrics--a pregnant journalist doing a magazine feature (Cate Blanchett), an airline pilot from Kentucky who claims he is Zissou's son (Owen Wilson), an emotionally needy European (Willem Dafoe), an acoustic guitarist who sings David Bowie songs in Portuguese (Seu Jorge), Zissou's brilliant wife (Anjelica Houston), and her ex-husband who is Zissou's seafaring nemesis (Jeff Goldblum). Clad in baby-blue polyester uniforms, Addidas sneakers, and red stocking caps, Team Zissou is a sight to see. And as their deep-sea adventure takes them into dangerous waters where they are attacked by pirates and dazzled by CGI fish, the group finds magic both in their bonds to each other and in the colorful world around them.

In keeping with Anderson's unique brand of escapist humor, these caricatured characters are nothing short of fascinating. While their lives are extraordinary, they act bored, dwelling on banalities like hurt feelings, jealousy, and loneliness. The more absurd their stories are, the more believable their quirky personalities become. With plenty of hilarious moments offsetting the film's tongue-in-cheek sentimentalism, THE LIFE AQUATIC is sure to please seasoned Anderson fans and make new ones of the uninitiated.

Theatrical Release: December 10, 2004 (NY/LA)
December 25, 2004

DVD Features:

Region 1
Note: This release is a New High-Definition digital transfer approved by Director Wes Anderson.
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English
Additional Release Material:
10 Deleted Scenes
Featurette: STARZ ON THE SET
Trailers: Theatrical Trailer
Audio Commentary: Wes Anderson - Director/Noah Baumbach - Co-Writer
Interactive Features:
Illustrated Menus
Additional Products:
Reversible Cover

Distributor Notes: The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

Internationally famous oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) and his crew -- Team Zissou -- set sail on an expedition to hunt down the mysterious, elusive, possibly nonexistent Jaguar Shark that killed Zissou's partner during the documentary filming of their latest adventure. They are joined on their voyage by a young airline co-pilot, who may or may not be Zissou's son (Owen Wilson), a beautiful journalist (Cate Blanchett) assigned to write a profile of Zissou, and his estranged wife and co-producer, Eleanor (Anjelica Huston). They face overwhelming complications including pirates, kidnapping, and bankruptcy. Oscar(R)-nominated writer-director Wes Anderson (2001 Best Original Screenplay, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS) has assembled an all-star cast that also includes Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, and Bud Cort in this wildly original adventure-comedy.

Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

Bill Murray: American actor, LOST IN TRANSLATION, MEATBALLS
Owen Wilson: Actor, screenwriter, THE WEDDING CRASHERS, MEET THE PARENTS
Cate Blanchett: Australian Actress
Anjelica Huston: American actress, THE GRIFTERS/THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS
Willem Dafoe: American Actor
Jeff Goldblum: American actor
Michael Gambon: Irish Stage/Film Actor - A Dry White Season/Sleepy Hollow
Bud Cort: Actor/"Harold & Maude"
Seymour Cassel: American character actor

Wes Anderson: Director/Screenwriter

Barry Mendel: Producer, 'Rushmore' (1999)
Wes Anderson: Director/Screenwriter
Scott Rudin: Producer/Executive

Wes Anderson: Director/Screenwriter
Noah Baumbach: Director/Writer

Mark Mothersbaugh: Film and TV Composer, RUSHMORE (1998)

"[Mr. Murray's] performance is a triumph of comic minimalism....[He] turns tiny gestures and sly, off-beat line readings into a deadpan tour-de-force, at once utterly ridiculous and curiously touching."
"Anderson holds steady to the delicate emotions that run beneath this stormy comedy of betrayal, death and forgiveness....[Wilson gives] a sincerely affecting performance."
"THE LIFE AQUATIC is a micschievous and melancholy thing of wonder....It's daring, different and memorable."
Ranked #12 in Uncut's Best Films Of 2005 -- "Wes Anderson here creates a totally bonkers but entirely charming comedy..."
"An exquisitely evocative movie that elevates rueful melancholia to a superpower..."
"Many of the atmospheric details are marvelous..."
"A movie that's a celebration of both the sea and a certain brand of imaginative exuberance..."
"Bill Murray plays the Cousteau-like hero, an oceanographer-documentarian who's at once funny, screwy, childish, gallant and rueful, or downright depressed."