Blu-ray

Set in the fictional European country of Zubrowska, Wes Anderson's latest quirky comedy relates the tale of how a lobby boy called Zero would one day end up as the multimillionaire owner of the lavish hotel of the title.

As fans will have come to expect from Anderson, the story itself is a bizarre one, full of eccentric characters and unlikely events – all played out amidst the most meticulously constructed mise-en-scène imaginable. However, amongst the whimsy and slapstick there are signs of Anderson stretching himself thematically and tackling more tragic material than usual. It'll be fascinating to see where he goes from here.

Picture: Kicking off with a message asking you to 'set your monitor to 16 x 9' this Blu-ray presentation of The Grand Budapest Hotel is framed at three different aspect ratios (1.85:1, 2.35:1 and 1.33:1), depending on the time period being depicted. Thankfully, all three look magnificent as Anderson once again indulges his passion for lush production design full of rich colours and ornate detailing.

The only slight issue of any note is that the purple tinting applied to many of the 1.33:1 sequences also has an adverse affect on blacks levels. This stems from the grading of the film rather than the encode, but might still annoy some of you.
Picture rating: 5/5

Audio: It's never the most bombastic DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix, but The Grand Budapest Hotel's sound design still impresses. The hotel itself positively bustles with clearly delineated activity in all speakers, dialogue is immaculately rendered and Alexandre Desplat's score is given a chance to shine. It's just a shame that the mix is lacking that extra bit of 'oomph' when it comes to delivering more energetic scenes, such as a ski chase and shootout.
Audio rating: 4/5

Extras: Once again it appears that any fans hoping for a feature-packed Blu-ray edition of a Wes Anderson film will have to wait for the inevitable Region A-locked Criterion Collection edition.

As it stands, this rather more modest collection of bonus bits comprises a four-minute location tour with Bill Murray; a trio of three-minute Vignettes (an in-character slide-show presentation, a spoof investigation into 'The Society of Crossed Keys' and a guide to making one of the pastries featured in the film); a four-part Making of… (that runs around 18 minutes); two featurettes about the cast and director; a gallery of 40 photos; and the trailer.
Extras rating: 2.5/5

We say: Extras may be a little thin on the ground, but this is still a charming hi-def package for Anderson's latest

The Grand Budapest Hotel, 20th Century Fox, All-region BD, £25 Approx
HCC VERDICT: 4/5