Release Date: November 1, 2011
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: DVD – 2 hours 29 minutes, Blu-ray + Digital Copy – 3 hours 31 minutes

Take a journey back in time with the romantic tale based on Sara Gruen’s New York Times #1 Best-Seller novel of the same name, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, coming to Blu-ray and DVD on November 1st from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Starring Academy Award®-winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line), Robert Pattinson (Twilight series) and Oscar®-winner Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds), the film presents an epic tale of forbidden love in a magical place filled with adventure, wonder and great danger. Showcasing the decadence of a bohemian circus and the majesty of its animals against the backdrop and beauty of a bygone era, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS makes the ideal holiday gift idea for your favorite film buff, fashionista or book-lover!

Devastated by the sudden death of his parents at the height of The Depression, a young dreamer from the wrong side of the tracks, Jacob Jankowski (Pattinson), abandons his veterinary studies at Cornell University. With no other family, no house, and no money, Jacob stows away on a train carrying the circus performers of The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Hired as a veterinarian to care for the troupe’s animals, Jacob is temporarily filled with the promise of an exciting life that comes with a traveling circus troupe. However, as he builds a rapport and falls in love with the star of the show, Marlena (Witherspoon), they become prey to the circus’s owner, Marlena’s violent and abusive husband August (Waltz). As the circus begins to crumble from within and against all odds, Jacob and Marlena come together and fall in love through their compassion for a special elephant. With their love on the line, Jacob and Marlena come to a crossroads that will forever change their destiny.

Directed by critically-acclaimed filmmaker Francis Lawrence (Constantine), WATER FOR ELEPHANTS features fantastic supporting performances from Paul Schneider (Lars and the Real Girl), Jim Norton (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), Mark Povinelli (The Polar Express), Richard Brake (Batman Begins), and Academy Award®-nominee Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild).

As a reader, it was my goal to read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen before watching the film. But as the film made its way to Blu-ray & DVD, I couldn’t hold my excitement in anymore and here I am talking about it now. Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson and Christoph Walt may be the leads, and what brilliant leads they are, but every character played such an important role bringing this world alive and what a fascinating job they did. You can tell that everyone really did their homework getting into character and that’s very important for a piece like this. The same goes for the crew, the production design team, and so on. Magnificent work here.

After the success of the Twilight Saga on the big screen and after seeing Pattinson with Kristen Stewart so much, it might be hard for some viewers to connect with Pattinson and a different love interest… that is ten years older than him. But if you’ve followed his career outside of simply Twilight, you may just be worried about the chemistry between the two. Well, it’s distant. You be the judge on how well that fares for you given the whole love triangle situation.

So having not read the book, it is unclear what details are missing from the film but the screenplay writers did a marvelous job adapting the novel in terms of the pace. Everything flowed wonderfully and there was never a dull moment or odd transition. That is not to be confused with Robert Pattinson’s sleepy performance. He is dreamy and a good actor but by no means did he bring as much energy to this role as say to Remember Me. After viewing though, I did realize that the film could have had more heart. Maybe some of that was lost in translation. The story itself is of a forbidden romance, a dangerous leader, self respect, the treatment of animals, and so much more. It’s not all fun and games at the circus, that is for sure. If you think you are in deep before Rosie makes her appearance, you haven’t seen anything yet. So, there’s heart built in but it doesn’t get as deep as I imagined it to initially be. That said, Water for Elephants is still a beautiful movie that I would definitely recommend you add to your DVD or Blu-Ray collection.

If you do not have a Blu-ray player yet, I would make this my first Blu-ray purchase to enjoy when the Blu-ray player comes. The same goes for surround sound. The cinematography is so beautiful and special features so rich and in depth that I couldn’t imagine watching this film or the features any other way. There’s an abundance of special features, so if you loved the film, you’re in for a treat. It’s quite an incredible time and setting that was recreated here, to see it in Blu-ray, it brings everything to life so much more. Plus, there’s over an hour more of special features on the Blu-ray than the DVD, so there really is no competition here.

DVD Bonus Features:
o Robert Pattinson Spotlight
o Feature Performer Reese Witherspoon
o The Traveling Show: From Page to Screen
o Commentary – Conducted by Director, Francis Lawrence and Writer, Richard LaGravenese

Blu-ray Bonus Features:
DVD features plus…
o Working Without A Net – The Visual Effects of Water for Elephants
o The Star Attraction
o Raising the Tent (Approx. 16 minutes)
o Secrets of the Big Top
· Live Extras
o Exclusive: Stars of the Circus
o Blu-ray Highlight: The Traveling Show: From Page to Screen
o Live Lookup
o Digital Copy

Own Water for Elephants on Blu-ray and DVD today.