Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Moonrise Kingdom Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 20, 2015

Nominated for Oscar Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay, Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" (2012) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new audio commentary with director Wes Anderson, co-writer Roman Coppola, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Jake Ryan, and Peter Becker; raw footage from the shooting of the film; selected-scene stroyboard animatics; new featurette; and more. The release also arrives with a 20-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien, plus a map of New Penzance Island and other ephemera. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The fugitive

The premise of Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom is somewhat similar to that of Sean Penn’s Into the Wild. In it a rebel decides to abandon the world he has known his entire life and find a better place where he can be happy. Anderson’s film, however, is set in the 1960s, while Penn’s film takes place in recent years. More importantly, in Anderson’s film the rebel is a 13-year-old kid that is stuck on the fictional island of New Penzance somewhere in Northeastern America, while in Penn’s film the rebel is a young man who enters the Alaskan wilderness.

The frustration Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) initially experiences in Moonrise Kingdom is quickly replaced with a desire to love and be loved. The change comes after he encounters Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward), the neglected daughter of two dysfunctional lawyers (played by Bill Murray and Frances McDormand), who finds his directness quite charming. After they exchange a number of notes, Sam runs away from the Khaki Scout camp where he has been treated as an object to meet Suzy and live life with her the way it is supposed to be lived.

Meanwhile, a lot of different people begin looking for Sam and his girlfriend. A dangerous storm also approaches New Penzance.

Rather predictably for an Anderson film, the narrative is structured as a long succession of contrasting events. Here the majority of these contrasting events are seen primarily through the eyes of Sam and Suzy and they mostly ridicule the thought process and actions of the adults around them.

There are select episodes that are both witty and funny, but they never engage one in a way that would ultimately make one care about the main characters. Indeed, because the desire to amuse over a short period of time is so obvious and so overwhelming, it actually feels like one is viewing a collection of colorful clips with well timed climaxes rather than a feature film that wants to tell a moving story. (The footage with Harvey Keitel, for instance, feels completely generic and disposable).

There is also a general awareness amongst the actors that they are in an abstract reality where conventional logic is some sort of a major disadvantage for those who employ it. As a result, many of the awkward moments do not occur naturally and look disappointingly overpolished.

There is a lot to admire when it comes to the film’s visual style and appearance. The framing choices are excellent and the panoramic vistas from Rhode Island are so strikingly poetic that one has to wonder why more filmmakers are not visiting the area. The film’s color scheme is also very impressive. The lush yellow colors have appeared in a number of Anderson’s previous films, but here they are very effectively used to create a dreamy atmosphere that reminds of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's equally beautiful film A Very Long Engagement.

The diverse soundtrack mixes French pop and original music from Alexandre Desplat (Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet, Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty) and Benjamin Britten.

Moonrise Kingdom Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"Supervised by director Wes Anderson, this new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution from the original camera negative. The original 5.1 surround soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the original digital audio master filers using Pro Tools HD.

Transfer supervisor: Wes Anderson.
Colorist: Tim Stipan/Technicolor, New York."

The film looks strikingly lush and fluid. A lot of post-production work was done on it, but the level of detail and clarity is consistently pleasing. Some minor contrast fluctuations are present, but they are part of the original cinematography. The unique color scheme is beautifully reproduced. Obviously, the rich yellows and browns give the film a very specific warm appearance, but there is good range of different colors. Overall image stability is outstanding. Finally, there are no serious transfer-specific anomalies to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Moonrise Kingdom 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 English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track serves the film very well. Depth and clarity are outstanding and there is a wide range of nuanced dynamics. There is good surround movement as well, though viewers should not expect an active sound design that matches the ones big-budget action films have. The dialog is always crisp, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. Lastly, there are no pops, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in our review.

Moonrise Kingdom Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Moonrise Kingdom. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• The Making of "Moonrise Kingdom" - this featurette is broken into four segments that chronicle different phases of the production history of Moonrise Kingdom.
  
  1. Exploring the Set - Martin Scali, who was Wes Anderson's assistant on Fantastic Mr. Fox, shot this segment in Newport, Rhode Island, during the filming of Moonrise Kingdom. In French and English, with optional English subtitles where necessary. (18 min, 1080p).
  
  2. Storyboard Animatics and Narrator Tests - in English, not subtitled. (9 min, 1080p).
  
  a) Opening Sequence
  B) Church Flashback
  c) The Island of New Penzance
  d) The Island of St. Jack Wood
  
  3. Auditions - screen tests with some of the child actors. In English, not subtitled. (5 min, 1080p).
  
  4. Miniatures - a look at the special effects that are used during the flooding sequence. (2 min, 1080p).

• Welcome to New Penzance - raw footage from various locations on the fictional island where key sequences from the film were shot. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080p).

• Set Tour with Bill Murray - Bill Murray introduces Wes Anderson's film and cast members on the sets in Newport, Rhode Island. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Benjamin Britten's "Noye's Fludde" - music extracts with archival photographs. 1958 photographs by Mark Kauffman courtesy of the LIFE Picture Collection/Getty. (2 min, 1080p).

• Eleven iPhone Videos by Edward Norton - presented here is a gallery of home movies which Edward Norton made during the filming of Moonrise Kingdom. Also included with the movies is a brand new introduction by the American actor, which was filmed exclusively for Criterion's Blu-ray release. In English, not subtitled. (21 min, 1080i).

• Animated Books - the narrator in Moonrise Kingdom, played by Bob Balaban, introduces shorts segments in which Suzy reads paragraphs from her six favorite books. In English, not subtitled. (5 min, 1080p).

• Cousin Ben - additional footage with Jason Schwartzman's character, Cousin Ben. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - in this brand new audio commentary, director Wes Anderson, co-writer Roman Coppola, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Jake Ryan, and Peter Becker (Criterion) discuss how Moonrise Kingdom was shot in Rhode Island, the unique qualities of the different characters in the film, the intimate nature of the shooting process (as well as the decision to shoot on 16mm), the framing choices, how the title of the film was chosen, the evolution of the relationships between the adults (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand), etc. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Criterion in 2015.

• Booklet - 20-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien, plus a map of New Penzance Island and other ephemera.

Moonrise Kingdom Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The world in which Sam and Suzy fall in love is strikingly beautiful but unbearably abstract. It is also full of awkward contrasts that can quickly tire the mind. I wasn't drawn into it and did not find it to be as amusing as a lot of other people apparently did. If Moonrise Kingdom is one of your favorite films from the last couple of years, then you will be very pleased with Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release because it comes with plenty of very informative supplemental features about its production history and reception. RECOMMENDED.