Customer Reviews

The Achievers

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is better than Trekkies or King of Kong. There is a lot more to it. This is a fun trip with the fans who attend Lebowskifest as well as great interviews with some of the people who inspired characters in the film. Most of them have funny stories to tell. Also, there are parts about some of the lesser-known actors that are funny and interesting. There is a lot going on in this film, and most people will find something to like about it. If you liked The Big Lebowski, this should be a part of your collection.

Some know me as Chalupa, the guy from the Lebowski Podcast. It's fair to say I often delve deep into the world of Lebowski and the Coen Brothers. To be honest, I was a little worried about this documentary when I first heard about it. Many have started down the path of documenting the Lebowski Fest, but none have actually followed through...with the exception of Eddie Chung.

Eddie is a great filmmaker who didn't let his love for The Big Lebowski taint the process of making his documentary. This is in no way a Michael Moore film. It's something that can even be enjoyable for one who isn't already a fanboy or superfan. If you saw the long trailer included with the 10th Anniversary DVD of The Big Lebowski and were turned off by the voice-over please give the final version a chance. None of that is included in the actual film.

I really enjoyed the film, would like to recommend it to anyone wondering what a Lebowski Fest is like, and am wondering what Eddie will come up with next.

we all need to relax a little (except the dude!) and these achievers put the fun back into being a loser, at least during the lebowski fests!!

LIVE on Earth (for a limited time only)
- About absurd creacion and the Lebowski cult

From a European" perspective, the achiever story is an outstanding document of the unyieling will of the american spirit to penetrate further into the unknown. Chung himself is the American Adam, the frontier's man. His investigating spirit and his endurence pull him through five years of the Lebowski feasts with the camera in his hands.

Chung is a full-fledged member of the inner Lebowski fan circle. He is cut from the same cloth as the dude himself. That's why he gets that amazing footage, for example, of Peter Exline or Jeff Bridges.

Like Nietzsche's Zarathustra, The Achievers'" story is a tale for everybody and nobody". It's for everybody who wants to be part of that crazy game called life", but for nobody who wants to escape from a world of nihilism and absurdity.

In this context, it is remarkable that the documentary gives considerable space to ordinary people like Bunny. The Bunny part may appear a bit lengthy at first sight. However, it can be seen as an extraordinary exploration of the inner void of man. Chung is NOT avoiding the void of existencial despair, but rather accompanies Bunny in her absurd quest for glamour and fame.

Bunny's mania to achive the Lebowski feast trophy is a hollow exercise, a complete farce in the best existentialist's sense of Samuel Beckett. Bunny wants that price so dearly, puts all her eggs in one basket and goes away empty-handed in the end. Nevertheless, the ingenuous smile that is flashing up in the moment of her deepest defeat compensates us for going with her through her inner desert. Bunny is the true existencial hero of the documentary.

The whole comunity of the achivers on Lebowski feast is based on finding meaning in the absurd. The achievers are frontiersmen, men with an unyielding hunger to extends the borders of meaningfullness. The achievers' absurd achivement is the creation of comunity and comradship based on nothing else but the figure of an useless dawdler that goes bowling and likes to smoke pot in his home bath tub.

The dude is not interested in protagonism, in achiving any status or lasting goal in life. We do not even find out his civil name. The dude has not chosen to be in the movie. He has been thrown into it - by accident. And so do we, and all the people on Lebowski feast that Chung puts into focus.

Olaf Kirch, Barcelona/Spain

As a Lebowski Fan and a sociologist, and someone who teaches (TAs) a class on ethnographic film (similar to documentaries). Its great to see a film that makes me feel like I know what the fest is like and who the main players are and shows the world what this is. Good balance of interviews and action, as well as anticipation. Great flick!

Director Eddie Chung was really able to capture the essence of the lebowski fest and the bonds that tie the achievers together. After waiting so many years for this film to come out my expectations were pretty low but I was pleasantly surprised that Chung's dedication paid off. I laughed, I cried, I spit out my white russian. I highly recommend this documentary to those who love the big lebowski and even to those who haven't seen it. Finally someone is able to explain this phenomenon in a funny and touching way

Just like other cult classics llike rocky horror and clue where hoards of people gather together yearly for a movie is a very interesting phenomenon. And this was a very interesting insight on this phenomenom that happened to the Big Lewboski.

A great documentary. I could watch it over and over - just to see all the great Lebowski-inspired costumes! The perfect gift for any Achiever.

I found this documentary very funny despite never having watched The Big Lebowski. The people in the film are very bizarre yet very likeable. I thoroughly enjoyed entering into this strange world. You don't have to be a fan of The Big Lebowski to enjoy this documentary. Laugh out loud funny!

One of the best documentaries I have ever seen....great story, great editing.....an all out riot and a MUST HAVE for any Lebowski fan!