Life of Pi

Life of Pi     ASIN B00AB0Z88S     Medium Count 3     Medium Blu-ray     Release Date 3/11/2013     Group DVD     Link [+]     Aspect Ratio 1.85:1     DVD Region 1     Running Time 185 minutes     Studio 20th Century Fox     Theatrical Date 1/1/2012     Audience Rating PG     Cast Sharma, Suraj / Khan, Irrfan / Tabu / Depardieu, Gérard     Director Lee, Ang     Format AC-3 / Color / Dolby / DTS Surround Sound / Dubbed / Subtitled / 3D / Widescreen     Language English (DTS 5.1) / French (Dolby Digital 5.1) / Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)     Features Disc 1: Theatrical Feature Blu-ray 3D / Deleted Scenes in 3D / Tsimtsum Sinking Progression in 3D / The Wave Tank in 3D / Theatrical Trailer in 3D / Disc 2: Theatrical Feature Blu-ray / A Filmmakers Epic Journey / A Remarkable Vision / Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright / Art Gallery / Storyboards / Disc 3: DVD + Digital Copy + Ultraviolet     Date Imported 5/23/2013     List Price $14.99     Rating 5.05.05.05.05.0     Genre Drama / Fantasy     Copy Count 1     Tag Hollywood     IMDb Rating 0      There are only so many filmmakers fearless or foolhardy enough to tackle a challenging novel, like Yann Martel's Life of Pi, but adaptation specialist Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) was well positioned to take it on. As a structuring device, he uses an interview between a journalist (Rafe Spall) and Pi Patel (The Namesake's Irrfan Khan), a Montreal immigrant with an unusual back story. As he tells the writer, his parents oversaw a zoo in French-Indian Pondicherry, and he found himself drawn to the Bengal tiger, Richard Parker--the name resulted from a clerical error--but his father (Adil Hussain) warned him to stay away. On his own, Pi became entranced by Islam, Hinduism, and Catholicism, which comes in handy when his family relocates to Canada by freighter and a brutal storm--as believably horrific as anything in Titanic--leaves Pi (now played by Suraj Sharma) stranded in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and the tiger. Soon, it's just Richard and Pi struggling against the elements for 227 days, and since he doesn't want to end up as cat food, he spends most of his time in a makeshift raft attached to the boat. It's giving nothing away to say that he makes it out alive, but the point of the journey remains more enigmatic, since fate tests Pi's faith at every turn. Whether that makes this visually spectacular film a religious allegory or not, Richard (a marvel of CGI technology) remains the biggest mystery of all. --Kathleen C. Fennessy