VIDEO PHOTOS cast gather for Blu Ray release of The Big Lebowski

The Dude abides so when it was time for the special edition Blu Ray release of the cult classic Coen Brothers film The Big Lebowski actor Jeff Bridges showed up and so did many other stars from the 1998 masterpiece.

The Big Lebowski should be on any list for the most quotable films of all time and it’s one of those works that ages wonderfully. The phenomenon that is the legend of the film’s protagonist and man of his time The Dude descended upon New York City and the Hammerstein Ballroom last night and the scene was a wild and energized one as fans attended an open discussion on the film that included Bridges, John Turturro (The Jesus), Julianne Moore (Maude Lebowski), John Goodman (Walter Sobchak), and Steve Buschemi (Theodore Donald “Donny” Kerabatsos). Only Bridges, Moore and Goodman made the red carpet (that really tied the room together) thus the sad lack of images for Turturro and Buschemi.

You can click up a copy by clicking on the below cover image of the special release via Amazon!

The first person to roll out on stage was actually music producer T-Bone Burnett who was the film’s music archivist and that was fine and dandy but when The Jesus in the form of Turturro strolled out the audience exploded with applause that took the actor off guard. But this paled in comparison to when Walter and the Dude hit the stage, folks must have thought Springsteen was doing an unannounced gig from the thunderous chants of Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!

Buschemi broke the ice for the night by recalling that at first read he wasn’t too excited about portraying the often mistreated Donny but as the filming progressed he realized that Donny and Walter’s relationship was akin to that of Gilligan and Skipper.

Turturro recalled the Coen Brothers assuring him that he could do a lot with what appeared to be a minor role as The Jesus. They were right about that as the slow motion image of the intense pedophile mad bowler cleaning his bowling ball is one of my favorite scenes in cinema history. Yeah, that’s right – I’m a Lebowski fan boy! Here’s a video clip from the red carpet madness including some words from The Dude himself:

Bridges was complimentary of Joel and Ethan Coen’s vibe on the film and he included his time on the recent Coen remake of True Grit in that discussion. He revealed that they had a real hands-off approach that allowed the relationship between rollers Walter, The Dude and Donny to really come across on screen.

The evening got fun when the actors were encouraged to get in character form and consider what they might be doing now. Goodman stated that Walter tried to join The French Foreign Legion but was required to work on Shabbos (Walter doesn’t f’n roll on Shabbos man) so he quit and is now raising pigeons.

Moore stated that Maude would of course be raising her child who was probably at boarding school. Turturro got a great laugh when he claimed that The Jesus becomes a reformed pedophile and now drives a school bus. As for The Dude? Bridges thinks he’s a masseuse now and that he really digs it.

On one post note I can guarantee you that no one played The Eagles during the appearance. Here’s the opening narration from Sam Elliot as cowboy dud sportin’ The Stranger from The Big Lebowski just in case you hadn’t already popped in the DVD and grabbed yourself a white russian:

Way out west there was this fella… fella I wanna tell ya about. Fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least that was the handle his loving parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. Mr. Lebowski, he called himself “The Dude”. Now, “Dude” – that’s a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then there was a lot about the Dude that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that’s why I found the place so darned interestin’. They call Los Angeles the “City Of Angels.” I didn’t find it to be that, exactly. But I’ll allow there are some nice folks there. ‘Course I can’t say I’ve seen London, and I ain’t never been to France. And I ain’t never seen no queen in her damned undies, so the feller says. But I’ll tell you what – after seeing Los Angeles, and this here story I’m about to unfold, well, I guess I seen somethin’ every bit as stupefyin’ as you’d see in any of them other places. And in English, too. So I can die with a smile on my face, without feelin’ like the good Lord gypped me. Now this here story I’m about to unfold took place back in the early ’90s – just about the time of our conflict with Sad’m and the I-raqis. I only mention it because sometimes there’s a man… I won’t say a hero, ’cause, what’s a hero? But sometimes, there’s a man. And I’m talkin’ about the Dude here. Sometimes, there’s a man, well, he’s the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that’s the Dude, in Los Angeles. And even if he’s a lazy man – and the Dude was most certainly that. Quite possibly the laziest in Los Angeles County, which would place him high in the runnin’ for laziest worldwide. But sometimes there’s a man, sometimes, there’s a man. Aw. I lost my train of thought here. But… aw, hell. I’ve done introduced him enough.

All Photos: WENN