The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

"The deeper you go, the weirder life gets."

2004 1h 59m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🍅

73%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.2

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 3,292🍅73%Rotten Tomatoes●62Metacritic★7.2IMDB · 220,871

AdventureComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Renowned oceanographer Steve Zissou has sworn vengeance upon the rare shark that devoured a member of his crew. In addition to his regular team, he is joined on his boat by Ned, a man who believes Zissou to be his father, and Jane, a journalist pregnant by a married man. They travel the sea, all too often running into pirates and, perhaps more traumatically, various figures from Zissou's past, including his estranged wife, Eleanor.

“The deeper you go, the weirder life gets.”

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Cast

Bill Murray
Steve Zissou
Owen Wilson
Ned Plimpton
Cate Blanchett
Jane Winslett-Richardson
Anjelica Huston
Eleanor Zissou
Willem Dafoe
Klaus Daimler
Jeff Goldblum
Alistair Hennessey
Michael Gambon
Oseary Drakoulias
Noah Taylor
Vladimir Wolodarsky

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Wes Anderson
Writers: Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach
Languages: English, Icelandic, Portuguese, French, Tagalog, German, Italian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 70% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 22 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 7 languages: English, Icelandic, Portuguese, French, Tagalog, German, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

229+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Wes Anderson, shot by Robert D. Yeoman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mark Mothersbaugh. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor David Moritz shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Wes Anderson directs. Robert D. Yeoman behind the camera. Mark Mothersbaugh scores. David Moritz cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Icelandic, Portuguese, French, Tagalog, German, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Earned back only 70% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 22 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 7 languages: English, Icelandic, Portuguese, French, Tagalog, German, Italian.
5229+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Wes Anderson, shot by Robert D. Yeoman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Mark Mothersbaugh. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor David Moritz shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Bill Murray and Owen Wilson and Cate Blanchett carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "The deeper you go, the weirder life gets.".
11IMDB entry: tt0362270 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 16 themes, including "parent child relationship", "red cap", "dysfunctional family", "rivalry".
13Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert D. Yeoman
Original score: Mark Mothersbaugh
Editing: David Moritz
Production design: Mark Friedberg
Costume design: Milena Canonero
Makeup / hair: Katia Sisto
VFX supervisor: Jeremy Dawson
Sound: Kevin E. Carpenter
Stunt coordinator: Franco Maria Salamon
Runtime: 119 min · 1h 59m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $50,000,000
Box office: $34,808,403
Return: 70% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes: 73% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 62/100
IMDB rating: 7.2/10 · 220,871 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

3 wins & 10 nominations total

Also by

Wes Anderson

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-05-25
★ 6/10
So a giant shark gobbles up his lifelong partner and Jacques Cousteau’s stunt double “Steve Zissou” (Bill Murray) promptly embarks his crew aboard his converted WWII mine hunter and sets off in search of this leviathan of the seas. Of course, “Zissou” has spent so much of his life pursuing his quest for aquatic greatness that his domestic life is a bit of a mess, and that only gets more complicate when “Ned” (Owen Wilson) shows up claiming to be his long lost son. Who knew what, when and why is quickly swept under the rubber mats as he, too, joins in the search for the menacing beast along with journalist “Jane” (Cate Blanchett) for whom they both take a bit of a shine! Meantime, “Zissou” hasn’t got too much cash, but luckily his wealthy nemesis “Hennessey” (Jeff Goldblum) has a few well stocked facilities he can pilfer from and so armed with some “borrowed” tech they set off into an un-policed zone where dangers lurk both above and below the water line. I suppose fans of Murray might get more from this, or even the dry as a bone Wilson - but for me this was all just a bit too contrived; it’s not remotely funny and if you ever saw “Le monde du silence” (1956) then you’ll have most of the basic premise laid out for you. There ought to have been some fine underwater photography but nope, not really - just a mix of dysfunctional family life and a distinct lack of aquatic life tapered to the comedic talents of a cast that offers loads of cameos but not too much else. Watchable enough, but no great shakes - sorry.

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