The Phoenician Scheme - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Phoenician Scheme

Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Help yourself to a hand grenade

Ahhh, yes, Wes Anderson. Anderson is one of the three Andersons that I devoutly follow for various reasons (Paul Thomas Anderson and Paul W.S. Anderson being the other two), and garner completely different viewing experiences each time I watch them. Wes is by far the most amusing, with a bevy of classic films that reach different audiences differently, and is one of those directors that I either love his film, or end up bored out of my skull. While the amount of “bored out of my skull” films is greatly overshadowed by the rest of his works, I will fully admit that not everyone is going to enjoy his films the same way that I do. He’s a bit of an acquired taste, but one a taste that is decidedly sweet if you’re a fan of his works. I was never a wild fan of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, or Asteroid City, films like The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, and The Grand Budapest Hotel will stand forever as some of the most viewed discs in my entire collection. He has this unique, whimsical feel to his films and the distinct use of vaudevillian vignettes that has me grinning from ear to ear, and I was ECSTATIC to finally see a film of his with Benicio Del Toro as the lead.

The Phoenician Scheme is decidedly Wes Anderson to the core, with a whimsical vibe and a loosely cohesive story that just dances around the room entertaining. The film follows Antole “Zsa-zsa” Korda (Benicio Del Toro), a rich Bohemian tycoon who has had more attempted assassinations than a Middle Eastern warlord and has the conscience of a hardened serial killer. Korda is on a mission to gain backing for a gigantic economic undertaking from his various allies, relatives, and miscreants in an attempt to fill in the “gap” and reduce his own liability in the project. But, while this is the general narrative of the based story, it has very little to do with the actual heart of the tale. Which turns out to be a whimsical globe-trotting journey of self-discovery, encapsulating a variety of vignettes, each in turn making the audience chuckle for completely different reasons.

Fans of Anderson will fall quickly in line with his penchant for whimsy, using the entire cast of the film as proverbial straight men in a comedy lineup, and simultaneously eliminating the slapstick roles, leaving every single person in the cast playing their roles with a sardonic dead pan style of humor that is held up by the lightning fast absurdist dialog. The story itself is sort of perfunctory, as the real focus of the film is, in fact, the vignettes themselves. Each one is unique, varied, and designed to focus on Wes Anderson’s trademark wit and rapid-fire fire back and forth conversations told in a deadpan manner. Yes, the story does progress the narrative a bit, but by the time the final act is completed, you’re left wondering if the film has progressed at all. In a way, the entire experience is meant to be exactly that...experienced. Instead of a 3 act story that the actors flesh out and complete on screen, the narrative acts in a reverse manner. Allowing the actors and characters themselves to be complemented by the progression of the story itself. In a weird way, a reversal from typical cinematic storytelling.

Del Toro and Michael Cera are simply the tip of the iceberg in terms of the veritable litany of cameo actors making up this massive ensemble cast. Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Max, Bryan Cranston, Tom Hanks, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, and countless others dot each and every self-contained scene, as well as Bill Murray alumni Bill Murray playing God himself. If you’re not careful, the audience gets swept away in the absolute deluge of charming and vile characters dancing throughout the film, and frankly, these cameos are probably the best part of it. Sadly, the film’s seeming lack of direction in the final act is its Achilles' heel, reducing the climactic ending and honestly, making me forget about a lot of what came before.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for violent content, bloody images, some sexual material, nude images, and smoking throughout.




4K Video: Video:

Shot entirely on 35mm film and then transferred to a native 4K digital intermediate in 1.47:1 (one of the stranger aspect ratios I’ve seen, as I almost mistook it for 4x3), The Phoenician Scheme is an absolutely mesmerizing experience in 4K UHD. If you’re even the smallest fan of Wes Anderson, you’re already familiar with his use of chaotic color grading and heavy use of physical props for his backdrops. Fake mustaches, beards, purple powder, and even very obvious stage makeup are all rendered in picture-perfect clarity in 2160p. And dare I say it?, looks marvelous BECAUSE of how obvious it is to see the prosthetics and textured background objects. It’s almost like watching a live-action Warner Bro’s cartoon from the 1950s come to life in 2025. Pastels and pale visages dot the landscape’s color spectrum, and fine details abound everywhere. I almost gave this a 5/5 rating, but there were a few shots in the scenes with Marseilles Bob that looked a tad soft; otherwise, this is a spectacular-looking 4K disc.





Audio:

The Dolby Atmos track is recorded a bit on the hot side, actually forcing me to drop the volume 3 DB’s more than my normal reference listening volume to compensate. That being said, this is one of the more subtly active Atmos mixes that I’ve heard in quite some time. Sure, during the opening and mid-film plane crashes, things get super active, but overall, the Atmos track thrives on subtle usage of ambient sounds more than anything. The overheads and surrounds get a ton of ambient energy flowing through them, ranging from the aforementioned crashes, as well as chirping birds in the forest, the orchestral score as Benedict Cumberbatch’s character blows himself sky high. Or simple little sounds such as the chattering and hubbub in Korda’s restaurant near the end of the film. It’s a delightfully whimsical track to fit with Anderson’s whimsical sense of humor, so it fits like a hand in a Bohemian glove.






Extras:

• Behind THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME
-- The Cast
-- The Airplane
-- Marseille Bob's
-- Zsa-zsa's World

Final Score: ​

I didn’t dislike The Phoenician Scheme in the slightest, but I did find it to be one of the weaker “enjoyable ones” from the famed director. It’s quick-tongued, charming, and Benecio Del Toro does an amazing job, but that final act was a little underwhelming. It wasn’t as complicated as The Royal Tenenbaums, nor was it AS charming as The Grand Budapest Hotel, but I still enjoyed the outing nonetheless. As always, Wes Anderson films are not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re a fan of his movies, then this is most certainly at least worth checking out. The 4K UHD from Universal Studios is frankly fantastic on the video front, and sports a solid Dolby Atmos track as well. Extras lean towards the middle of the road scenario, but all in all, this is a very pleasing package.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Michael Cera, Mia Threapleton, Willem DaFoe, F. Murray Abraham, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bryan Cranston, Tom Hanks
Directed by: Wes Anderson
Written by: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Aspect Ratio: 1.47:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA Mono
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Universal Studios
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 101 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: July 29th, 2025

Recommendation: Rather Enjoyable

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[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Will look for it on streaming services.