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The Big Blue [DVD] [1988]
 
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The Big Blue [DVD] [1988]

DVD ~ Rosanna Arquette
4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (49 customer reviews)

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The Big Blue [DVD] [1988]
86% buy the item featured on this page:
The Big Blue [DVD] [1988] 4.2 out of 5 stars (49)
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Product details

  • Actors: Rosanna Arquette, David Brisbin, Marc Duret, Andreas Voutsinas, Jean-Marc Barr
  • Directors: Luc Besson
  • Format: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
  • Language English
  • Subtitles: French, Dutch
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: 30 Jun 2003
  • Run Time: 163 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00004TBSX
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 6,343 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    Popular in this category:

    #3 in  DVD > Action & Adventure > Romantic

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
A hit in Europe but a flop in the US--where it was trimmed, rescored, and given a new ending--Luc Besson's The Big Blue has endured as a minor cult classic for its gorgeous photography (both on land and underwater) and dreamy ambiance. Jean-Marc Barr is a sweet and sensitive but passive presence as Jacques, a diver with a unique connection to the sea. He has the astounding ability to slow his heartbeat and his circulation on deep dives, "a phenomenon that's only been observed in whales and dolphins until now," remarks one scientist. Kooky New York insurance adjuster Joanna (Rosanna Arquette at her most delightfully flustered and endearingly sexy best) melts after falling into his innocent baby blues, and she follows him to Italy, where he's continuing a lifelong competition with boyhood rival Enzo (Jean Reno in a performance both comic and touching).

Besson's first English-language production looks more European than Hollywood, and it suffers from a tin ear for the language. At times it feels more like an IMAX undersea documentary than a drama about free divers, but the lush and lovely images create a fairy tale dimension to Jacques's story, a veritable Little Merman. More dolphin than man, he's so torn between earthly love and aquatic paradise that even his dreams call him to the sea (in a sequence more eloquent than any speech).

Besson has expanded the film by 50 minutes for his director's cut, which adds little story but slows the contemplative pace until it practically floats in time, and has restored Eric Serra's synthesizer-heavy score, a slice of 1980s pop that at times borders on disco kitsch. Most importantly, he has restored his original ending, which echoes the fairy tale he tells Joanna earlier in the film and leaves the story floating in the inky blackness of ambiguity. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com

Special Features
2.35 Wide Screen
16:9 Wide Screen
DVD 9
French
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital Surround English French
Dolby Digital Surround
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Original Theatrical Trailer
French\Dutch


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Customer Reviews

49 Reviews
5 star:
 (30)
4 star:
 (10)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
 (5)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (49 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Dreamy, 12 Jul 2006
If you want 2 1/2 hours or so of pure escapism then this is the film for you. Besson's epic film will take you to beautiful lands (Peru, Greece, Sicily) and also to the bottom of the sea. Brilliant performances from the cruelly underatted Jean Marc Barr, Rosana Arquette who starts out as the ditzy blond but becomes much more emotional and Jean Reno who stills every scene he's in and also provides much of the humour.

The film won several awards for the underwater photography which is absolutely breathtaking and also for Eric Serra's dreamy music which gives the movie a whole new feel and puts your right in the action.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful filmwork and a moving story, 23 Aug 2004
I've just finished watching this film for the first time. I loved it! As a diver and sailor, I really enjoyed Besson's portrayal of a man caught between the two worlds of land and sea, and the filmwork is superb. The original ending seems infinitely superior to the tacky US 'happy' version.

The story becomes even more tragic when you know that the real life Jacques Mayol committed suicide recently, at the age of 74, after suffering from depression. He was a great diver, and a real inspiration to many who free dive today. If you haven't seen the film, and have a passion for the water, watch it as soon as you can!

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24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful film, truly AWFUL DVD conversion, 13 Jun 2000
By A Customer
Luc Besson's hauntingly beautiful film deserved to be better served than this. Typically of a certain kind of region 2 disc, there is no extra material except the (embarassingly bad) movie trailer. The menu system looks clumsy and amateurish - although in its favour, a far greater than usual number of chapter divisions are provided. Worst of all, the soundtrack gives a strangely flat sound-stage, and in certain scenes the lip-synching is so far out of phase that it becomes comic. The print is blurry and muddy in places: the Big Blue is more a Big Grey. What a wasted opportunity.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars sublime
watch if you want to relax into one of the most mesmorising , feel good films of modern times . watched it expecting little & found myself engrossed in story . brilliant
Published 11 days ago by P. A. Lipscombe

5.0 out of 5 stars the best movie ever made
Ther's only one word to describe this movie: BEAUTIFUL. this is without a doubt my favourite movie ever and every one of my friends that has seen this movie falls in love with it... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mr. Peter Raposo

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Blue us version vs european version
I first watched this movie in 1992 in America and loved it. The calmness of Jacques was so ethereal and gave Jean Reno a chance to shine so comically. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Andrew chinn

5.0 out of 5 stars a magical film for us waterbabies
This is a beautiful film in all ways, music, locations, scenery, a good story which i can relate to, somebody mentioned a good film for escapism, that comment captures it... Read more
Published 20 months ago by M. Reynolds

5.0 out of 5 stars Blue Genius
This is a well kept secret, and like a great deal of films made without mainstream American actors it suffered at the box office. Read more
Published on 18 May 2007 by Jay

5.0 out of 5 stars as beautiful as a film can get
i decided to write something about big blue as it is one of my top 20 films of all time and i cant understand people who give it one star.. Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2007 by P. Ponias

1.0 out of 5 stars The most utterly awful film in the world !!
Save yourselves by not watching this pointless dreary dragging film that has no plot or point to it whatsoever, I love "Leon" but even he didn't rescue this film and was awful in... Read more
Published on 7 Aug 2006 by T. Mcbain

4.0 out of 5 stars Never mind the plot.... feel the cinematography ... mmmmmm
This film may not have the best plot, BUT watching this movie is the visual equivalent of having a great massage administered by the best looking person of your choice with warm... Read more
Published on 23 Mar 2006 by mooseifer

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sea our great regressive mother
Luc Besson is the most surprising person in the cinema industry. He is able to transform any banal, ordinary, simple, even superficial story into the deepest mirror of human fate... Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2005 by Jacques COULARDEAU

1.0 out of 5 stars only for boys
Like most of Bessons films this simply doesn't sustain adult viewing. It's a turgid tale of adolescent angst played out by (un)grown men. Read more
Published on 11 Sep 2004 by gsa1411

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