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 The Big Blue (DVD) Movie DVD
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The Big Blue (DVD)

 

Description: Genre: Action & Adventure / Theatrical Release: 1988 / Director: Luc Besson / Actors: Rosanna Arquette, David Brisbin ... more
The Big Blue (DVD) ... ... / DVD released 30 June, 2003 at 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Features of the DVD: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen / 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

Newest Review: ... (Joanna), death and drama. In fact all the ingredients of a great movie are here, but it doesn't come cross convincingly in ... more

 ... the plot. It is the story of a man whose passion for the sea and diving is combined with his job. Jacques lives, eats and sleeps diving. Out there in the 'Big Blue', the sea, the camera work is amazing. We are treated to an almost magical view of this dangerous environment and shown how the human body and the human spirit must adapt. This is clearly the only place where Jacques Mayhol feels really at home. He studies dolphins and is so in tune with them that he seems to be part dolphin himself. The cast includ...more

janharper
Premium Review The Big Blue (DVD): Useless plot, but the filming is brilliant. (361 words)
by janharper - written on 06/03/08 (Very useful, 62 readings)
Rating:

This movie is amazing, simply because of the stunning visuals. As such it well worth watching even though it was released way back in 1988. The plot is puzzling at times and often doesn't seem to hang together. Basically, it's about Jacques Mayhol who loves the sea and most of all loves to dive. It is an obsession with him. His childhood enemy, Enzo dives too, but he does it for the money. There is romantic friction with Rosanna Arquette (Joanna), death and drama. In fact all the ingredients of a great movie are here, but it doesn't come cross convincingly in the plot. It is the story of a man whose passion for the sea and diving is combined with ...

mary_eloise
Premium Review Definitely not A Big Bore (376 words)
by mary_eloise - written on 28/02/08 (Useful, 22 readings)
Rating:

Plot: The plot is ridiculous, although based on a true story, but it's made so beautifully and with such grace that you can't help being drawn into Jacques' World. The director Luc Besson grew up around diving as his parents were both instructors, but couldn't pursue the career himself due to an accident at the age of 17, thus he decided to make a film on Jacques Mayol, someone whom he deeply admired. Jacques (the tasty eyecandy also known as Jean-marc Barr) has a great love for dolphins and the way in which they live their lives, and he is similar to one himself for he can control his body temperature and so forth in order to dive to ...

savanna
Crowned Review The Big Blue (DVD): Dive into the Big Blue (835 words)
by savanna - written on 22/10/00 (Very useful, 324 readings)
Rating:

Director Luc Besson's The Big Blue,(Le Grand Bleu) has been my all time favourite film, since I saw it in Brittany in the late 80's. I didn't quite know what to expect on that beautiful summer's evening in August when we queued for the late showing at the little cinema in La Baule, a small resort on the Cote Sauvage in Southern Brittany. But from the moment the film began I was spellbound and began to understand why the cinema was packed and why the film was fast becoming a cult film in France. The story is loosely based on the life of real life free diver Jacques Mayol, played by the incredibly attractive Jean Marc Barr, and is woven ...

 
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The Big Blue (DVD)