Damn that set looks sexy.

I'm betting, based on past Universal SEs, the artwork you are trying to avoid will be in the box set. Something tells me they are going to put the single DVD in the box.

Ummm yes I know that, but atleast the outer box covers that inner one. ;)

I viewed the artwork earlier for the gift set at davisdvd.com. I think this looks solid and is a perfect compliment to the film itself (had to use bowling hardwood at some point Universal). I would assume that the disc and cover may be different for the gift set, but maybe not. They got my money for that gift set, though.

Fans of the film, like me, may want to hold onto the previous release.

That and this gift set would surely tie the room together, man.

does anyone have pictures of the extras with the achiever's edition yet?

DVDBeaver has a screenshot comparison up between the old and new versions.

But that's just like, their opinion, man.

Eagles version:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDRev...iew%201808.jpg

Creedence version:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDRev...20PDVD_001.jpg

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

No artefacts. :thumbsup:

Is it just me, or does the new transfer on this screenshot look like it has less detail in some ways, and an overall smoother appearance? Seems like you can see more detail in his poc marks and there is more contrast in the older transfer compared to the new one.

That's essentially what the reviewer at DVDBeaver stated.

Yea ... but the no artifacts does it the most for me.

The new transfer looks much more filmlike and natural to me....based on the photos.

I agree some areas don't look quite as "sharp," but overall, the new one looks better.

Looking forward to it.

It is definitely weak in the extras, unless you go all out for the box set. The big selling point should be the transfer:

Original bitrate: 4.15 mb/s
Collector's Edition: 7.10 mb/s

Not to mention the original release was the wrong aspect ratio.

Best movie ever, cool gift box at Criterion price? Sold.

I've noticed this to be a trend with several rereleasses lately. Witness is another title that comes to mind. It has occurred to me also that studios may me doing this on purpose so that the HD versions, when they come out, will look more striking in comparison.

Still trying to decide if i should go for the plain jane or the Achiever's set. who's getting the deluxe version?

Same here. I don't know if it worth the extra 20 bucks.

Well , I will have to see what it all looks like in person at work tomorrow before I deside on which one.

not extra 20...extra 30. Msrp for the achievers set is 50...the regular dvd is 19.99. I held the box in hand today, and it looks very cool, pretty tall. It is indeed just the regular dvd packed inside, same cover art. there is a pic on the back. I want the box, but its an expensive month thus far, with no end in sight....i may hold out for a price drop on this one. I am hoping this gets a quick drop like schindler's list, but who knows...

Sorry I was basing it on Amazon price. They have the box for 34.99.

No particularly good place to post this so:

Q&A: Jeff Dowd Is the Real 'Lebowski'

NEW YORK - Call him the Dude. That or his Dudeness, Duder or el Duderino — if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

Addressing Jeff Dowd — the real life inspiration for Jeff Bridges' character in "The Big Lebowski" — is not a formal affair. But as the cult of the Coen brothers' 1998 mistaken identity comedy has grown, so has Dowd's fame.

The 55-year-old film producer first met Joel and Ethan Coen when he helped promote their 1984 debut, "Blood Simple." The Coens decided the large, boisterous Dowd, who referred to himself as "the Dude," would yield endless possibilities if inserted into a genre film — a Los Angeles film noir.

"It was sort of imaging him in the context of a (Raymond) Chandler kind of story that got us started on the script," Joel Coen says on the new collector's edition DVD of "The Big Lebowski."

Eight years later, the fan base for the movie continues to grow. A new collector's edition DVD comes out Tuesday, and New York will host the "Lebowski Fest" Oct. 21-22 — the fourth year fans will dress up as characters from the film, bowl a few games and sip the Dude's signature white Russians.

Imdb.com notes that the Dude, "the laziest in all of Los Angeles County," says "man" 144 times in the movie. Unfortunately, Dowd didn't drop one "man" talking to the AP, but he did discuss his peculiar "somewhat icon status."

AP: How similar are you to the Dude we know from the movie?

Dowd: A lot of the body language is 110 percent spot on. That's very, very similar. Some of the dress is pretty close. This is what Joel and Ethan imaged I would have been like in the `70s. There was a period of time after when we were very active politically in the late `60s — there was no "movement" anymore. A fair amount of people hung out for a couple years. We were hanging pretty heavy, and indeed for a while we drank white Russians somewhere between tequila sunrises and Harvey Wallbangers, or whatever the drink of season was.

AP: Did the Coens tell you they were working on "The Big Lebowski" with you in mind?

Dowd: I actually heard it through a guy named Ben Barenholt who produced a couple of their movies. "The boys are doin' a movie about 'ya, Dude." They told me shortly after that.

AP: Did you work with Jeff Bridges beforehand?

Dowd: Just a day, but he got it. I'm pretty easy to mimic. (Robert) Redford does a good impression of me too. I'm kind of bigger than life and the way I use my hands and mumble and lay back with my belly sticking out. In the script, it says, "The Dude, in rumpled clothes. Casualness runs deep."

AP: Do you bowl?

Dowd: Not that much. I know where Joel and Ethan got the bowling idea. It was during "Blood Simple," when I was helping them with the marketing and distribution. I had an idea to throw a party at a bowling alley in Santa Monica and it was like a thousand people. That's where that came from.

AP: Sam Elliot narrates at the start of the movie that the Dude is "the man for his time and place." Is that true of you as well?

Dowd: I've been fortunate enough to be in the right place and the right time for the better part of half a century — being around a lot of interesting people and a lot of interesting events. ... I'm there at 17 years old traveling around Europe with the Living Theater and, by chance, the Rolling Stones. I was around Ralph Nader when he started up his PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) organization. I got involved with Redford ... there's a whole story about the first year of Sundance and how it was started. I was involved in the last demonstration against Richard Nixon at the Spokane World Fair. (Dowd was a member of the Seattle Seven, an anti-Vietnam protest group alluded to in "Lebowski.")

AP: I hear you're writing an autobiography?

Dowd: I'm almost done. It's called "The Dude Abides." It's about how friends can get together and do things positively and hopefully using this somewhat icon status I have now, bequeathed to me by Joel and Ethan ... it'll help empower the younger generation.

AP: What's it like, this "icon status"?

Dowd: The persona of that character automatically is an icebreaker. People are like, "Wow! The Dude!" And they want to give you a big handshake or a hug. It's a very friendly feeling for them and obviously for me. It's different than what happens with people being in awe with a star — it's like a friendly thing. People seem to be instantly at ease. From my point of view, that's great, because that's how the world should be anyway.

AP: Do you indeed have a rug that really ties the room together?

Dowd: Absolutely.

I'll be getting a screener of the Achiever's Edition to review within the next few days, but by the time the packaging arrives it'll be past street date. It's a shame there's little to no effort in the extras department---in all honesty, I'd image most people will spring for the boxed set just so they feel like they're getting <i>something</i> new and different (aside from the transfer, of course!).

Given that they waited on this title for so long before revisiting it, it does seem odd that there's basically a new introduction and a new transfer...and that's it.

But then, outside of maybe deleted scenes, what else would there really be? Fluffy featurettes? I'd rather having nothing than useless filler, personally.

Well, I went through are new releases the other night really quickly (to show co-worker not to trust website specs... (batman begins)) and did not find the achievers edition around there. Will have to get my hands on it tomorrow and check it out.

I couldn't help but notice that DVDPlanet shows the Achiever's Gift Set as "Dicontinued"; I got a shipping confirmation from Amazon that mine is on its way, so the Gift Set does exist, but DVDPlanet's listing (http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click...rd&bfpid=60284) may be notice that another 11th hour cancellation of a title release (a la the Deluxe Limited Edition--oh and how!--of THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) is at play here. If you find the Gift Set for sale and you want it, I suggest playing it safe--don't wait!

I know I'm in the extreme minority in this forum, but a new and improved transfer is good enough for me.