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Bottle Rocket

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Wes Anderson first illustrated his lovingly detailed, slightly surreal cinematic vision in this witty and warm portrait of three young middle-class misfits. Fresh out of a mental hospital, gentle Anthony (Luke Wilson) finds himself once again embroiled in the machinations of his best friend, elaborate schemer Dignan (Owen Wilson). With the aid of getaway driver Bob (Robert Musgrave), they develop a needlessly complex, mildly successful plan to rob a small bookstore—then go “on the lam.” Also featuring Lumi Cavazos as Inez, the South American housekeeper Anthony falls in love with, and James Caan as local thief extraordinaire Mr. Henry, Bottle Rocket is a charming, hilarious, affectionate look at the folly of dreamers. Shot against radiant southwestern backdrops, it’s the film that put Anderson and the Wilson brothers on the map.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED DOUBLE-DISC SET SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:

- New, restored high-definition digital transfer supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson and director of photography Robert Yeoman
- Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
- Commentary by director/co-writer Anderson and co-writer/actor Owen Wilson
- The Making of Bottle Rocket: an original documentary by filmmaker Barry Braverman featuring Anderson, James L. Brooks, James Caan, Temple Nash Jr., Kumar Pallana, Polly Platt, Mark Mothersbaugh, Robert Musgrave, Richard Sakai, David and Sandy Wasco, Andrew and Luke and Owen Wilson, and Robert Yeoman
- The original thirteen-minute black-and-white Bottle Rocket short film from 1992
- Eleven deleted scenes
- Anamorphic screen test, storyboards, location photos, and behind-the-scenes photographs by Laura Wilson
- Murita Cycles, a 1978 short film by Braverman
- The Shafrazi Lectures, no. 1: Bottle Rocket
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by executive producer James L. Brooks, an appreciation by Martin Scorsese
- Original artwork by Ian Dingman

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY

DVD:
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Jeff wrote:With all of the apparent love for this film on the forum, I was surprised to find that there wasn't a thread for it.

YouTube now has the original 13-minute short film that paved the way for the feature.

I thought our "love" for this film was ironic.

domino harvey wrote:I thought our "love" for this film was ironic.

I'm not sure. I've only seen the feature once, and I liked it well enough to buy the cheap DVD, but haven't watched it since. It's definitely my least favorite Anderson film, but I found the short interesting nonetheless.

At one time, there were plenty of members clamoring for a Criterion release. Perhaps most of them went over here.

I certainly like this better than The Life Aquatic.

I would rank them best to least-best as Rushmore, Life Aquatic, Bottle Rocket, Tenenbaums. but I love all 4. That short is such terrible quality, I would hope that if there ever was a special edition (criterion or otherwise) that they clean it up and include it.

SncDthMnky wrote:I would rank them best to least-best as Rushmore, Life Aquatic, Bottle Rocket, Tenenbaums. but I love all 4. That short is such terrible quality, I would hope that if there ever was a special edition (criterion or otherwise) that they clean it up and include it.

You really like The Life Aquatic that much? I find it very disappointing. Rushmore, Tenenbaums, Bottle Rocket, TLA. Rushmore is sublime.

I above all don't want to resort to listing any movies in order of preference, but I will say that the Life Aquatic is a lot of things but it's almost certainly not a movie.

denti alligator wrote:Rushmore is sublime.

Rushmore is so sublime! He'll never top it, I'm afraid...

domino harvey wrote:I above all don't want to resort to listing any movies in order of preference, but I will say that the Life Aquatic is a lot of things but it's almost certainly not a movie.

You should have set us all straight over two years ago when we all confused it for one. Now that would make for an interesting thesis: The Things Wes Anderson Makes Aren't Really Movies, Trust Me.

Well to be fair, I only said the Life Aquatic wasn't a movie. Don't get all defensive, I quite liked Tenenbaums and feel Anderson has immense potential for greatness.

Life aquatic is a tale of one's attempt to escape reality by immersing himself in a world he knows and understands, only to experience a tragic epiphany without closure and be brought back into the reality of life. On the surface atleast.

I like Bottle Rocket well enough but I feel it is by far Anderson's weakest project. It certainly lacks the character arcs and emotional depth of his other films. I would only want to see a special edition DVD if there was commentary from Owen Wilson who does such a hilarious and great job on the Rushmore DVD.

For me it goes: The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, The Life Aquatic, Bottle Rocket.

That said, I really appreciated The Life Aquatic a lot more when I saw it again on DVD. I think you got it Snc in terms of what the film addresses, but to me it's also about a man having done something worth remembering in his life (and worth losing a great friend for). The scene in the sub when Steve Zissou says, "I wonder if he remembers me?" and "[11 and 1/2 was] my favorite age" gets the waterworks going in me each time and neatly sums up his journey.

Anderson does have a way of summing up the entire themes and character development of his films with one line.

In The Royal Tenenbaums (in another scene along with Margot getting off the bus that gets me weepy every time) it's when Chas tells Royal "It's been a rough year." (along with the "I've always wanted to be a Tenebaum" line).

In Rushmore, it's "I don't know. I think you just got to find something you love to do, then do it for the rest of your life. For me, it's going to Rushmore."

As for Bottle Rocket, it's probably "On the run from Johnny Law... ain't no trip to Cleveland."

Perhaps, it's greatly reductive of me and I could be very wrong, but to me those lines really sum up those films neatly. Very few directors could get away with it, but I think Anderson conceives his worlds so well and so fully that he can get away with it.

domino harvey wrote:Well to be fair, I only said the Life Aquatic wasn't a movie. Don't get all defensive, I quite liked Tenenbaums and feel Anderson has immense potential for greatness.

My snide comment was more directed at the lack of explanation. Why isn't it a movie?

Antoine Doinel wrote:Anderson does have a way of summing up the entire themes and character development of his films with one line.

As for Bottle Rocket, it's probably "On the run from Johnny Law... ain't no trip to Cleveland."

I always felt it was the line, "They'll never catch me... because I'm fucking innocent." but anyways...

I would rank Life Aquatic as Anderson's weakest film to date with Bottle Rocket just under Rushmore which is his strongest film. I think that BR works so well because of its intimate, personal feel which is what makes Anderson's film so good and that is something that is missing from Life Aquatic -- it is too ambitious for its own good and I felt that he exceeded his reach on that one.

BR also sets up many of Anderson's pre-occupations/motifs... his obsession with water, kids who are older and wiser beyond their years, the older mentor who has his own flaws, the idealistic dreamer with all kinds of grandiose schemes that never quite pan out, etc. The film also develops an excellent relationship between Anthony and Dignan with some really great interplay between Luke and Owen Wilson -- esp. early on in the film. I also like the arc of the film... it starts off as the goofy comedy but gets progressively more serious for lack of a better term and I always felt that the film ends on a kind of melancholic note that Anderson does so well. And, lastly, the film has some of the most classic one-liners/scenes of any Anderson film (except maybe Rushmore).

Dignan: [points to Bob] He's out.
[points to Anthony]
Dignan: And you're out, too. And I dont think I'm in, either. No gang!

Oh yeah, here is a great site where you can download the Bottle Rocket short, the media kit and the Heat Vision and Jack failed pilot.

Fletch F. Fletch wrote:Oh yeah, here is a great site where you can download the Bottle Rocket short, the media kit and the Heat Vision and Jack failed pilot.

Cool, thanks for the link! I've been wanting to see the Heat Vision and Jack pilot for some time now!

Antoine Doinel wrote:I like Bottle Rocket well enough but I feel it is by far Anderson's weakest project. It certainly lacks the character arcs and emotional depth of his other films. I would only want to see a special edition DVD if there was commentary from Owen Wilson who does such a hilarious and great job on the Rushmore DVD.

For me it goes: The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, The Life Aquatic, Bottle Rocket ...

I agree with everything you say in this post. I love Rushmore, and find the way that Jason Schwartzman's character straddles the boundary between hero and anti-hero absolutely irresistable. But it is The Royal Tenenbaums that I return to time and time again. Anderson has such a talent for creating characters that pull you in with their depth of character flaw into a unique world that they inhabit and color that I find myself wanting to be a Tenenbaum as well. Their failings are so much more appealing than the 'success' touted by conventional heroes.

Though The Life Aquatic is somewhat of a distant third for me it still increasingly rewards subsequent viewings. I thought it was an utter disaster first time I saw it, and was loath to engage in a second viewing. But I'm glad I did. I felt it coming together more, again sketching that Anderson world where human frailty overrides action.

I've only seen Bottle Rocket once. It's a wonderful little film, carries some of those same characteristics that make the other films so great, but doesn't grab me in the same way. But that was years ago; need to pick up a copy. I, too, recall all the talk about an impending CC edition. How could they really improve on the existing edition?

Antoine Doinel wrote:The scene in the sub when Steve Zissou says, "I wonder if he remembers me?" and "[11 and 1/2 was] my favorite age" gets the waterworks going in me each time and neatly sums up his journey.

When I was on vacation in Florida this past Christmas, my grandma turned on the TV and Life Aquatic was on, it was maybe 40 second before that first line you mentioned happens. I started crying uncontrollably as the scene played out. My Grandfather had passed away weeks before, and It just smacked me right in the face. For that very reason, I will never forget this film.

Sidenote: I don't think I ever posted it here, but I had this idea for some dialogue additions to the helicopter scene which would make the film have just that one final "epiphany" moment and make it all fit nicely. I wanted it to be when Wilson and Murray were sitting in the helicopter, right before takeoff, the emotional impact of these lines would be ironic, since they have to yell them at each other over the sound of the helicopter. Murray turns to Wilson and says "I'm not your father!" and Wilson just screams back "I know, I just liked the idea that you could've been." cue sublime close-up on murrays face as he comes to some realization. Thoughts?

PS. Fletch, that site is a BR criterion dvd in itself, thanks for the link!

There's never a moment in the Life Aquatic when the visual overload of set design, costuming, and other affectations on the screen don't try to overwhelm any attempt at a narrative. And this is not in itself a bad thing. Had Anderson embraced his obvious desire to create a film which would be a complete treat for the eyes and abandoned the half-cocked, astonishingly sophomoric and unconvincing storyline, the Life Aquatic might have succeeded as an interesting experiment. But the Life Aquatic keeps insisting that its story matters, when it is so far removed from anything resembling characterization (which, let me be clear, is not a bad thing in itself but it is a bad thing when the film is dependent on a story/characters, which is how the Life Aquatic is set-up. Had Anderson just made a two-hour music video, or an experimental/existentialist film, or just a non-narrative journey, this point wouldn't be a detriment to the film at all) that the nauseatingly coy flippancy becomes a bigger distraction than the visuals, and the film then fails on both levels.

But here I see I've resorted to calling it a film after all, so I guess I still lose this one. I will concede that in the film's favor, it had a fantastic trailer that gave the impression that the whole thing was going to work.

I replied here.

Well, finally Bottle Rocket is coming to the Criterion Collection. Next up, Good Burger .

Seriously, I have been awaiting for a better release than the lackluster Sony DVD. Bottle Rocket is a really good film, better than Life Aquatic. It shows the great potential than both Anderson and the Wilson brothers had at the time as writers, actors and director. How they have squandered that potential is another topic.

I just can't wait to read a blog post about how they managed to get the rights from Sony...

MTV also confirms Bottle Rocket from Criterion and quotes Wes Anderson about potential deleted scenes.

Holy cow! Leslie Mann (Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin) had scenes cut from Bottle Rocket. I didn't think I could be more excited for this release, but there you have it.

From the AV Club interview:

Bottle Rocket (1996) uncredited

LM: Because I was cut out. I'd just read for James Brooks on Beautiful Girls. He decided not to direct it, and then I didn't do it, but that's how I met James Brooks, and then he brought me in for Bottle Rocket. I worked with Luke and Owen [Wilson], and Wes [Anderson] directed it. I remember I had a Southern accent, and I was in a bikini. I would love to find that, just to see how good my body looked at the time, pre-kids, but I haven't been able to. [Laughs.] I guess I could ask somebody. But it was fun, because Polly Platt produced it, and James Brooks, and I got to meet Luke and Owen and Wes. It was fun. See? "It was fun."

Holy cow! Leslie Mann (Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin) had scenes cut from Bottle Rocket. I didn't think I could be more excited...

...and horny...

cana7cl wrote:

Holy cow! Leslie Mann (Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin) had scenes cut from Bottle Rocket. I didn't think I could be more excited...

...and horny...

Seconded, and thirded.

from aintitcool.com:

Question: I heard that BOTTLE ROCKET was coming out as a Criterion DVD.

WA: That's right. We just have to do a lot of work to prepare it, but that's in the works. I was supposed to do a bunch of stuff already that I didn't do yet, so I'm going to get on it though. But some of the stuff is at my mother's house in Texas, so I have to go to Texas and dig through all my boxes, because there's materials for the movies that I haven't looked at in a long, long time. And we want to try and include everything that might be good.

[Just before the Q&A, Wes and I talked in more detail about his plans for this release, which included a great deal of deleted scenes, some of which he way try to incorporate into the film, with the rest being standard deleted scenes extras. Of course the original BOTTLE ROCKET short would be on the set, but Wes added that he's also got outtakes from that as well that he wants to find.]