Big Fish [DVD] [2004]

After a string of mediocre movies, director Tim Burton regains his footing as he shifts from macabre fairy tales to southern tall tales. Big Fish twines in and out of the oversized stories of Edward Bloom, played as a young man by Ewan McGregor and as a dying father by Albert Finney. Edward's son Will (Billy Crudup) sits by his father's bedside but has little patience with the old man's fables, because he feels these stories have kept him from knowing who his father really is. Burton dives into Bloom's imagination with zest, sending the determined young man into haunted woods, an idealised southern town, a travelling circus and much more. The result is sweet but--thanks to the director's dark and clever sensibility--never saccharine. The film also features Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman, Helena Bonham Carter, Danny DeVito and Steve Buscemi. --Bret Fetzer

Edward Bloom has always been a teller of tall-tales about his oversized life as a young man, when his wanderlust led him on an unlikely journey from a small-town in Alabama, around the world, and back again. His mythic exploits dart from the delightful to the delirious as he weaves epic tales about giants, blizzards, a witch and conjoined-twin lounge singers. With his larger-than-life stories, Bloom charms almost everyone he encounters except for his estranged son Will. When his mother, Sandra, tries to reunite them, Will must learn how to separate fact from fiction as he comes to terms with his father’s great feats and great failings.

• Audio Commentary by Tim Burton
  
• Edward Bloom at Large featurette
  
• Amos at the Circus featurette
  
• Fathers and Sons featurette
  
• The Filmmakers' Path featurette
  
• A Fairytale World featurette
  
• Creature Features featurette
  
• The Author's Journey featurette
  
• The Finer Points - Tim Burton Trivia Quiz

DVD Technical Information:

• Running Time: 120 minutes
  
• Language: English, Hungarian, Italian
  
• Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Danish, English, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Slovenian, Swedish
  
• Audio: DTS 5.1 Surround
  
• Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic - 1.85:1
  
• Disc Type: DVD9
  
• Region Code: 2

In Tim Burton's family film Big Fish, a wonderful 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 colours 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 travelling 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.

Actors: Array
Director: Tim Burton
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures