| | | An adventure as big as life itself.
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), Dolby Surround Sound, Audio Commentary, Featurettes, English, Subtitled, French, Dubbed & Subtitled
To get to know the real man behind the myth, a son begins piecing together a true picture of his father from snippets of amazing stories and magical tales of his youth in this brilliantly fantastical movie from the incredible imagination of director Tim Burton.Throughout his life Edward Bloom (Ewan McGregor) has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, portrayed by five-time Best Actor Oscar nominee Albert Finney (Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Erin Brockovich, 2000), he remains a huge mystery to his son, William (Billy Crudup). Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures in this marvel of a movie.
"A tale that's so enriching, so heartwarming, so funny, so touching and so breathtaking, you'll wonder why the king of wackiness didn't branch out sooner." Clint Morris, Film Threat
"Big Fish really is a big delight." Glenn Kenny, Premiere
"A modern day Wizard of Oz." Scott Patrick, Starz!/Encore
Editor's Note
In Tim Burton's family film BIG FISH, a gifted storyteller named Edward Bloom (Albert Finney), who lives in a small town in Alabama, recounts tall tales of his wild worldly adventures. These are shown in flashback with Ewan McGregor playing the young Bloom. Wonderful special effects and vibrant colors that pop off the screen make this Burton film a much sunnier experience than his macabre gems EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and BEETLEJUICE. Yet his signature quirky artistry is unmistakable, and the movie benefits from crisp production values and a loveable, bizarre cast of characters. Told through a series of vignettes, Bloom's stories involve a witch, a giant, a haunted forest, and yes, a big fish. A self-described small-town hero, Bloom explains how he left home at 18 determined to experience anything and everything life could dish out. He worked for the circus, took on daring assignments as a WWII soldier, and rambled across the country as a zany traveling salesman. Utterly unbelievable yet magical and delightful, Bloom's stories just don't translate to his son Will (Billy Crudup) who wants to know his dad's "true" life story. But little by little--through increasingly outlandish tales at which Will cannot resist smirking--the two begin to understand each other, and Bloom weaves his stories into their genealogical fabric.
| Features | The Author's Journey - Bringing "Big Fish" from the page to the screen. Author Daniel Wallace and Screenwriter John August discuss the origins and inspirations for Big Fish | | Widescreen Presentation | | Audio: English 5.1 (Dolby Digital); French (Dolby Surround) | | Creature Features - Explore the magic of Stan Winston Studios | | The Finer Points - A Trivia Quiz | | Bonus Trailers | | Subtitles: English, French | | 3 Character Journey Featurettes: Edward Bloom at Large, Amos at the Circus, Fathers and Sons | | 4 Filmmakers' Path Featurettes: Tim Burton: The Storyteller, A Fairytale World, Creature Features, The Author's Journey | | Tim Burton Audio Commentary |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Columbia Tri-Star |
| Release Date: 3/27/2007 |
| Running Time: 125 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2003 | | Catalog ID: 00837 | | UPC: 00043396008373 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English | | Available Subtitles: French | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (2004) | | | Danny Elfman, Nominee, Best Music, Original Score | |
British Academy Awards (2004) | | | Bruce Cohen, et al., Nominee, Best Film | | | Albert Finney, Nominee, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role |
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| | Professional Reviews | Rolling Stone
"...[BIG FISH] brims with storytelling sorcery and Burton makes it glitter....[A] marvel of a movie..." 12/11/2003 p.213Entertainment Weekly
"...BIG FISH turns into a wide-eyed Southern gothic picaresque in which each lunatic twist of a development is more enchanting than the last..." 12/12/2003 p.55-6 New York Times
"[Burton] is surely one of the most prodigiously imaginative filmmakers around....There are, true to form, some startling scenes in his new movie, BIG FISH." 12/10/2003 p.E1 Los Angeles Times
"Burton cranks up the visual comedy of the character's self-mythology and lets it rip, sometimes to joyously dizzy effect." 12/10/2003 p.C1 USA Today
"[T]he movie gets better as it goes, as Steve Buscemi and Helena Bonham Carter show up and the story works its way to a finale that can make grown men sniffle." 01/13/2004 p.4D Chicago Sun-Times
"[A] great-looking film, with a fantastical visual style that could be called Felliniesque if Burton had not by now earned the right to the adjective Burtonesque." 12/24/2003 p.48 Movieline's Hollywood Life
"The father-son confrontations are tart..." 02/01/2004 p.100-1 Sight and Sound
"[W]e get a rare Burton fantasia that evokes other American magic voyages." 02/01/2004 p.35-6 Uncut
"This one proves Tim Burton's an absolute master." 07/01/2004 p.142 Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "BIG FISH is a work in pictures -- and what dazzling pictures they are -- infused with a great big heart." 05/01/2007 p.85 James Berardinelli's ReelViews 8 of 10
Big Fish is a little too uneven to attain the same level as something like The Wizard of O
Rolling Stone 9 of 10
Director Tim Burton finally hooks the one that got away: a script that challenges and deepens his vi - Peter Travers
Chicago Sun-Times 6 of 10
... In a sense we are also at the bedside of Burton, who, like Old Edward, has been recycling the sa - Roger Ebert
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