Having been teased with a HD DVD release in 2007 and a 10th Anniversary Edition DVD in 2008, Lebowski fans will finally get to see the Dude on Blu-ray when Universal releases The Big Lebowski: Limited Edition on August 16th. The studio announced that the cult comedy has received a new remaster for the Blu-ray transfer and will be presented in its theatrical 1:85:1 aspect ratio. New special features will join those previously released on the 2-disc 10th anniversary DVD to make this the most comprehensive collection of supplemental material on the film to date.
The disc itself will be housed in a 28-page digibook featuring production stills highlighted by many of the movie's timeless quotes. Also within the book's pages is an interview with Jeff Dowd, the man is who is credited as the Coen Brothers' real-life inspiration for "The Dude".
The film's classic soundtrack will be presented in DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 and a digital copy will accompany the Blu-ray disc. It is not known at this time whether the special features outlined below will be presented in high definition.
New Special Features:
Scene Companion: A picture in picture mode that features cast and crew interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and more during key scenes.
Mark It Dude: On-screen counter that keeps track of all the "F-Bombs", "Dudes" and "Dude-isms" in the film.
The Music of The Big Lebowski: Instantly identifies the songs heard while watching the film, and allows the creation of custom playlists.
Worthy Adversaries- What's My Line Trivia: Trivia that tests your Lebowski knowledge by finishing lines of dialogue during the film. Play as Walter or The Dude or in two-player mode against friends.
U-CONTROL
pocket BLU
BD-LIVE
Mobile-To-Go
uHEAR
Additional Special Features:
Jeff Bridges Photo Book: Exclusive shots taken on the set of The Big Lebowski by Jeff Bridges himself.
The Dude's Life: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi and John Turturro take a look back at their performances and their delivery of the Coen Brothers' dialogue that became classic movie lines.
The Dude Abides- The Big Lebowski Ten Years Later: A conversation with the cast about the film's cult classic status.
Flying Carpets and Bowling Pin Dreams- The Dream Sequences of the Dude: Featurette on the making of the surreal sequences in the film.
The Making of The Big Lebowski
The Lebowski Fest- An Achiever's Story: An in-depth look at the popular Lebowski Festival, formed by the legion of fans in honor of the film.
An Introduction: Featuring Mortimer Young.
Photo Gallery
Interactive Map
Universal has made clear that this digibook will be available for a limited time, but gave no news on when a standard edition will arrive to replace it. Pre-orders should be available on Amazon shortly.
As shocking as this may be to read, I have yet to see this film. From all the reviews and buzz around it, it being in many of my friends' Top 10 or favorites, I'll do a blind buy and watch for the first time the way films are meant to be watched: On Blu-ray.
Very nice that this will include the same features as the previous release, and some, and a new remaster in it's original aspect ratio. Top-tier choice in order to please fans, Universal.
veritas - glad to here you'll be joining the pack of dude-lovers (wait that came out wrong). But seriously, you think way back when motion pictures were invented they said "Oh, we're using a cinema at the moment but in about 100 years you'll see movies as they were meant to be seen - ON BLU-RAY".
that made me laugh at it's sillyness. will totally be getting this
Another Coen Bros. movie on blu!! Although not my favorite (I feel the movie falls apart in the 3rd act), I'll be getting to make sure to support the Coens on Blu! Now bring on The Hudsucker Proxy (WB), The Man Who Wasn't There (Universal), O Brother, Where Art Thou (Touchstone)!
I've been checking this site daily for years for two pieces of news: Conan the Barbarian and The Big Lebowski. Now they're both coming out in the same month. Excuse me while I do a happy dance.
It'll have to be a mighty impressive presentation to get me to upgrade my HD-DVD, but cool beans none the less.
But, I've got to echo the calls above for O Brother Where Art Thou. A shame that one of the greatest Coen Bros movies is still without a blu-ray release date.
When I saw this, Kevin Smith was filming Dogma. Kevin, Jason Mewes and Chris Rock were sitting in the theater I was in, in the back. It was crazy. Can't wait for it.
Wow, Universal is really getting it's act together concerning catalog BD releases! This is an automatic no-brainer for me!
Digibook....Great bonus content....newly remastered. Keep up the great work Universal.
ugh fuckin Lebowski again...so tired of hearing about this film. I get it, you hip people think it's funny. I'm waiting for the Cohen's true masterpieces, "Raising Arizona" and "Miller's Crossing" on Blu!
I didn't get it the first time I saw it, either. In fact, to this day, I still think the story is a pretty generic "misfits try to pull off a crime."
It's the characters, man. The characters and the dialogue. That's what makes this movie. The Big Lebowski isn't about the events that transpire so much as it's a series of memorable scenes with great characters and dialogue.
Finally Freakin Finally!!!!!! I can't wait, but why a stupid Digibook version? I don't own any digibook blus and it would look kinda awkward in my collection. But I can't wait any longer and I can ignore the fact that it's a digibook.
Finally, I’m happy about this news, but cant be too happy when its Universal. And if it includes all the previous special features, the trailer better be included in that as well, cause Universal has a history of dropping trailers and just plain sucking.
Ummmmmmmmmm... the cover art is far from what I would call "perfect".
At the end of the day, despite being better than the majority of previous cover art for The Big Lebowski, and better than most 'floating head' cover designs that must cost studios thousands of cents in design fees, the above cover art is still lacklustre and pales in comparison to the original theatrical poster.
Oh, please. Dear, for your information, the Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint. Lady, I got buddies who died face down in the muck so that you and I can enjoy this family restaurant!
Finally. I was praying the gods would smile upon the eventual Lebowski Blu with an illustrious Criterion treatment, but this will suffice. I'll take an elaborate book packaging over a lame blu case with no interior art anyday.
Can't wait! I'm just gonna go find a cash machine....
I know a lot of people will be excited about this. I've tried multiple times but this movie is just not for me. Maybe it's because I don't smoke pot. Congrats to those of you who are excited. Personally I can't wait for Miller's Crossing and, to a lesser extent, Raising Arizona.
Love, love, love this film, I think it's the best comedy to come from the Coens (Raising Arizona a close second, hopefully that will be next)
I pray for a UK Release, I love quirky special features like "Mark it Dude" where they have counters, I don't know why, I guess it's the small things that have a greater impact.
New Transfer sweet did not notice that the first time.
I read in an interview with Jeff Bridges in EW he refuses to watch movies he has made but the only movie he will watch is The Big Lebowski. He considers it his The Godfather.
What other movie would you guys compare this to? I am only asking because I've never seen it before and I am interested in picking the Digibook release when it comes out.
The question is does digital remaster mean over DNR'd thus destroying the detail like the Back to the Future films where the versions on TV are better then the Blu-ray.
Gonna hold on to the HD-DVD just in case Universal do another destruction job.
Already have the HD DVD and have enjoyed it's high-def goodness for the past year. But I just had to preorder this on 5/23. I could not resist the BD Limited Edition. I already had my HD DVD collection tied together, now the BD collection will be completely tied together, man.
