Bottle Rocket Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Bottle Rocket Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 17, 2017

Wes Anderson's "Bottle Rocket" (1996) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Australian label Umbrella Entertainment. There are no bonus features on the release. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

For a complete film analysis of Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket, please see Ben Williams' review of the North American Blu-ray release from Criterion.

Bottle Rocket Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment.

The release appears to have been sourced from the same Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures master that Criterion accessed when they prepared their release of the film in 2008. I have to speculate that some additional work was done on the Criterion release because the color grading and gamma levels are slightly different, but the basic characteristics of the two releases appear identical. I like the presentation, but my assessment of it is slightly different. For example, it is clear that density could be better. Fluidity also isn't optimal, and the the larger your screen is, the easier it will be for you to notice that fine object detail always could be more convincing. There is a whiff of sharpening that sneaks in as well, though even very sensitive viewers will almost certainly ignored it. There are no traces of problematic degraining adjustments, but a new master will unquestionably introduce noticeable improvements. Overall image stability is excellent. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Bottle Rocket Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional yellow English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. (You need to use your remote control to turn them on).

There are no technical issues to report. I also think that the track is mixed very well and in terms of depth and clarity it delivers the type of quality that one should rightfully expect. During a few segments the dialog could be a bit uneven, but this is how it was recorded.

Bottle Rocket Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray release.

Bottle Rocket Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket was part of Criterion's first wave of Blu-ray releases back in 2008. Australian label Umbrella Entertainment's Blu-ray release if sourced from the same master that Criterion worked, but does not have any bonus features. Nevertheless, I think that it is a very good alternative for folks outside of North America that wish to own a copy of this film in their collections. RECOMMENDED.