Wes Anderson

Bottle Rocket

Bottle Rocket

Wes Anderson first illustrated his lovingly detailed, slightly surreal cinematic vision (with cowriter Owen Wilson) in this visually witty and warm portrait of three young misfits. Best friends Anthony (Luke Wilson), Dignan (Owen Wilson), and Bob (Robert Musgrave) stage a wildly complex, mildly successful robbery of a small bookstore, then go “on the lam.” During their adventures, Anthony falls in love with a South American housekeeper, Inez (Lumi Cavazos), and they befriend local thief extraordinaire Mr. Henry (James Caan). Bottle Rocket is a charming, hilarious, affectionate look at the folly of dreamers, shot against radiant southwestern backdrops, and the film that put Anderson and the Wilson brothers on the map.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1996
  • 91 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.85:1
  • English
  • Spine #450

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson and director of photography Robert Yeoman, with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack
  • Audio commentary featuring Anderson and co-writer/actor Owen Wilson
  • The Making of "Bottle Rocket": an original documentary by filmmaker Barry Braverman featuring Anderson, producer James L. Brooks, actors James Caan and Luke and Owen Wilson, and others
  • The original thirteen-minute black-and-white Bottle Rocket short film from 1992
  • Eleven deleted scenes
  • Anamorphic test, storyboards, location photos
  • Behind-the-scenes photographs by Laura Wilson
  • The Shafrazi Lectures, No. 1: Bottle Rocket
  • Murita Cycles, a 1978 short film by Braverman
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by Brooks and an appreciation by Martin Scorsese

New cover by Ian Dingman

Purchase Options

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson and director of photography Robert Yeoman, with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack
  • Audio commentary featuring Anderson and co-writer/actor Owen Wilson
  • The Making of "Bottle Rocket": an original documentary by filmmaker Barry Braverman featuring Anderson, producer James L. Brooks, actors James Caan and Luke and Owen Wilson, and others
  • The original thirteen-minute black-and-white Bottle Rocket short film from 1992
  • Eleven deleted scenes
  • Anamorphic test, storyboards, location photos
  • Behind-the-scenes photographs by Laura Wilson
  • The Shafrazi Lectures, No. 1: Bottle Rocket
  • Murita Cycles, a 1978 short film by Braverman
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by Brooks and an appreciation by Martin Scorsese

New cover by Ian Dingman

Bottle Rocket
Cast
Owen Wilson
Dignan
Luke Wilson
Anthony Adams
Robert Musgrave
Bob Mapplethorpe
Andrew Wilson
Future Man
Lumi Cavazos
Inez
James Caan
Mr. Henry
Credits
Director
Wes Anderson
Screenplay
Owen Wilson
Screenplay
Wes Anderson
Producer
Polly Platt
Producer
Cynthia Hargrave
Executive producers
James L. Brooks
Executive producers
Richard Sakai
Executive producers
Barbara Boyle
Executive producers
Michael Taylor
Director of photography
Robert Yeoman
Production design
David Wasco
Editing
David Moritz
Co-producers
Ray Zimmerman
Co-producers
L.M. Kit Carson
Costume design
Karen Patch
Music
Mark Mothersbaugh

Current

Bottle Rocket
Bottle Rocket

Wes Anderson made a film without a trace of cynicism, one that obviously grew out of his affection for his char­acters in particular and for people in general.

By Martin Scorsese

Bottle Rocket
Bottle Rocket

The possession of a real voice is always a marvel, an almost religious thing.

By James L. Brooks

K. K. Barrett’s Top 10
K. K. Barrett’s Top 10

“These are ten films that tickle me in the right places,” says Academy Award–nominated production designer K. K. Barrett.

Kazu Kibuishi’s Top 10
Kazu Kibuishi’s Top 10

Artist Kazu Kibuishi is the author and illustrator of the graphic novel series Amulet, as well as the creator and editor of the anthology Flight and the Web comic Copper.

Bill Hader’s Top 10
Bill Hader’s Top 10

In compiling his top ten Criterion editions, Hader says, “I couldn’t pick ten . . . sorry. So I programmed Criterion double features, which is what I tend to do on Sunday nights anyway.”

’Toon Time: A Q&A with Wes Anderson
’Toon Time: A Q&A with Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson’s surprising latest endeavor, the stop-motion Roald Dahl adaptation Fantastic Mr. Fox, is out in theaters now and garnering terrific reviews. We thought we’d catch up with our friend and ask him some questions about this charmin…

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Wes Anderson

Director, Writer

Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson

Houston native Wes Anderson’s idiosyncratic directorial style—marked by eccentric, colorful compositions and a fastidious attention to detail—seemed completely anomalous in the U.S. independent film landscape at the outset of his career. But it’s become such an influence on other homegrown auteurs that it’s beginning to look as archetypally American as apple pie. Anderson debuted with Bottle Rocket, a thirteen-minute video shown at Sundance. On the strength of that short, producers James L. Brooks and Polly Platt brought Anderson and his cowriter and star Owen Wilson to Hollywood, where the pair embarked on the project of turning it into a feature. The result, a crisply shot comedy about dead-end criminals in Texas, announced Anderson as a major talent; his next film, Rushmore, a wildly acclaimed, widescreen coming-of-age tale that introduced actor Jason Schwartzman and gave Bill Murray a critical comeback, cemented that reputation. These films, like the ones he’s made in the years since—from the Oscar-nominated The Royal Tenenbaums to The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou to The Darjeeling Limited and the animated Fantastic Mr. Fox—are vivid, wry studies of families and other groups, infused with liberal doses of both hilarity and melancholy.


Read Anderson’s Top 10.