''The Big Blue'' (released in some countries under the French title ''Le Grand Bleu'') is a 1988 film in the French '' Cinéma du look'' visual style, made by French director

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films '' Subway'' (1985), ''The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...

. It is a heavily fictionalized and dramatized story of the friendship and sporting rivalry between two leading contemporary champion free divers in the 20th century:

Jacques Mayol Jacques Mayol (1 April 1927 – 22 December 2001) was a French diver and the holder of many world records in free diving. The 1988 film ''The Big Blue'', directed by Luc Besson, was inspired by his life story and that of his friend, Enzo Maiorca. ...

(played by

Jean-Marc Barr Jean-Marc Barr (born September 27, 1960) is a French-American film actor and director. He is best known for working on several films from Danish film director and frequent collaborator Lars von Trier since ''Europa'' (1991). Early life and edu ...

) and

Enzo Maiorca Enzo Maiorca (21 June 1931 – 13 November 2016) was an Italian free diver who held several world freediving records. Born Vincenzo Maiorca on 21 June 1931 in Syracuse, Sicily, he died on 13 November 2016 in the same city. Biography Maiorca was ...

(renamed "Enzo Molinari" and played by

Jean Reno Jean Reno () (born 30 July 1948), is a French actor. He has worked in American, French, English, Japanese, Spanish and Italian movie productions; Reno appeared in films such as ''Crimson Rivers'', ''Godzilla'', ''The Da Vinci Code'', '' Mission: ...

), and Mayol's fictionalized relationship with his girlfriend Johana Baker (played by

Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Lisa Arquette (; born August 10, 1959) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film ''The Executioner's Song ( ...

). The film became one of France's most commercially successful films (although an adaptation for US release was a commercial failure in that country). French President

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

referred to the film in describing Mayol, after his death in 2001, as an enduring symbol for the "Big Blue" generation. The story was heavily adapted for cinema. In real life, Mayol lived from 1927 to 2001 and Maiorca retired from diving to politics in the 1980s. Both set no-limits category deep diving records below 100 metres, and Mayol was indeed involved in

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

into human aquatic potential, but neither reached 400 feet (122 metres) as portrayed in the film, and they were not direct competitors. Mayol himself was a screenwriter for the film, and Mayol's search for love, family, "wholeness" and the meaning of life and death, and the conflict and tension between his yearning for the deep and his relationship with his girlfriend are also major elements of the latter part of the film.

Plot

Two children, Jacques Mayol and Enzo Molinari, have grown up on the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

island of

Amorgos Amorgos ( el, Αμοργός, ; ) is the easternmost island of the Cyclades island group and the nearest island to the neighboring Dodecanese island group in Greece. Along with 16 neighboring islets, the largest of which (by land area) is Niko ...

in the 1960s. Enzo challenges Jacques to collect a coin on the sea floor but Jacques refuses. Later, Jacques' father — who harvests

shellfish Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater envir ...

from the seabed using a pump-supplied air hose and helmet — goes diving. His breathing apparatus and rope gets caught and punctured by rocks on the reef and weighed down by water, he drowns. Jacques and Enzo can do nothing but watch in horror as he is killed. By the 1980s, both are well known

freediver Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear. Besides the limits of breath- ...

s, swimmers who can remain underwater for great times and at great depths. Enzo is in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

now, where he rescues a trapped diver from a shipwreck. He is a world champion freediver with a brash and strong personality, and now wishes to find Jacques and persuade him to return to no limits freediving in order to prove he is still the better of the two, in a friendly

sports rivalry A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. The intensity of the rivalry can range anywhere from a light hearted banter to serious violen ...

. Jacques himself works extensively with

as a human research subject, and with dolphins, and is temporarily participating in research into

human physiology The human body is the structure of a human being. It is composed of many different types of cells that together create tissues and subsequently organ systems. They ensure homeostasis and the viability of the human body. It comprises a head ...

in the iced-over lakes of the

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

vian

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

, where his remarkable and dolphin-like bodily responses to cold water immersion are being recorded. Insurance broker Johana Baker visits the station for work purposes and is introduced to Jacques. She secretly falls in love with him. When she hears that Jacques will be at the World Diving Championships in

Taormina Taormina ( , , also , ; scn, Taurmina) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on ...

, Sicily, she fabricates an insurance problem that requires her presence there, in order to meet him again. She and Jacques fall in love. However none of them realize the extent of Jacques' allurement with the depths. Jacques beats Enzo by 1 meter, and Enzo offers him a crystal dolphin as a gift, and a tape measure to show the small difference between Jacques' and Enzo's records. Johana goes back home to New York but is fired after her deception is discovered; she leaves New York and begins to live with Jacques. She hears the story that if one truly loves the deep sea, then a

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

will appear at the depths of the sea, and will lead a diver to an enchanted place. At the next World Diving Championships, Enzo beats Jacques' record. The depths at which the divers are competing enter new territory and the dive doctor suggests they should cease competing, but the divers decide to continue. Jacques is asked to look at a local

dolphinarium A dolphinarium is an aquarium for dolphins. The dolphins are usually kept in a pool, though occasionally they may be kept in pens in the open sea, either for research or public performances. Some dolphinariums consist of one pool where dolphins pe ...

where a new dolphin has been placed, and where the dolphins are no longer performing; surmising that the new dolphin is homesick, the three of them break in at night to liberate the dolphin and transport her to the sea again. Back at the competition, other divers attempt to break Enzo's new record but all fail. Jacques then attempts his next dive and reaches 400 ft (122 m) breaking Enzo's world record. Angered by this, Enzo prepares to break Jacques' new world record. The doctor supervising the dive warns that the competitors must not go deeper - based upon Jacques' bodily reactions, at around 400 ft, conditions, and in particular the pressure, will become lethal and divers will be killed if they persist in attempting such depths. Enzo dismisses the advice and attempts the dive anyway, but is unable to make his way back to the surface. Jacques dives down to rescue him. Enzo, dying, tells Jacques that he was right and that it is better down there, and begs Jacques to help him back down to the depths, where he belongs. Jacques is grief-stricken and refuses, but after Enzo dies in his arms, finally honors his dying wish and takes Enzo's body back down to 400 ft, leaving him to drift to the ocean floor. Jacques - himself suffering from

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

after the dive - is rescued and brought back to the surface by supervising

scuba divers This is a list of underwater divers whose exploits have made them notable. Underwater divers are people who take part in underwater diving activities – Underwater diving is practiced as part of an occupation, or for recreation, where t ...

and requires his heart to be restarted with a

defibrillator Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current (often called a ''coun ...

before being placed in medical quarters to recover. Jacques appears to be recovering from the diving accident, but later experiences a strange hallucinatory dream in which the ceiling collapses and the room fills with water, and he finds himself in the ocean depths surrounded by dolphins. Johana, who has just discovered she is pregnant, returns to check up on Jacques in the middle of the night, but finds him lying awake yet unresponsive in his bed with bloody ears and a bloody nose. Johana attempts to help him, but Jacques begins to get up and walk to the empty diving boat and gets suited up for one final dive. Desperately, Johana begs Jacques not to go, saying she is alive but whatever has happened at the depths is not, but he says he has to. She tells Jacques that she is pregnant, and sorrowfully begs him to stay, but finally understands he feels he must go. The two embrace and Johana breaks down crying. Jacques then places the release cord for the dive

ballast Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship, ...

in her hand, and - still sobbing - she pulls it, sending him down to the depths he loves. Jacques descends and floats for a brief moment staring into the darkness. A dolphin then appears and Jacques lets go of his harness and swims away with it into the darkness.

Original and alternate (US) endings

The original ending was intentionally ambiguous, though considering the depth Jacques has swum to, it would seem he is unlikely to regain the surface alive, and he dies. In the American adaptation, the ending is extended with an additional scene: after swimming away with the dolphin, Jacques is returned to the surface.

Cast

as Johana Baker *

as Jacques Mayol **Bruce Guerre-Berthelot as Young Jacques Mayol *

as Enzo Molinari **Gregory Forstner as Young Enzo Molinari *

Paul Shenar Albert Paul Shenar (February 12, 1936 − October 11, 1989) was an American actor and theater director, known for portraying the Bolivian drug lord Alejandro Sosa, in '' Scarface'' (1983). A veteran Broadway and Shakespearean actor, he was one ...

as Dr. Laurence *

Sergio Castellitto Sergio Castellitto (born 18 August 1953) is an Italian actor, film director, and screenwriter. Biography Sergio Castellitto was born in Rome in 1953, to parents from Molise and Abruzzo, Southern Italy. After graduating from the Silvio D'Amico Na ...

as Novelli *

Jean Bouise Jean Bouise (3 June 1929 – 6 July 1989) was a French actor. He was born in Le Havre. In the 1950s he helped to found Théâtre de la Cité, and was a player in the company. He entered films in the 1960s, and played a supporting roles in ...

as Uncle Louis *

Marc Duret Marc Duret (born 28 September 1957 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France) is a French actor. Having previously played Cardinal Guillaume Briçonnet in the television series ''Borgia'' from 2011 to 2014, Duret appeared as Joseph Duverney in the St ...

as Roberto *

Griffin Dunne Thomas Griffin Dunne (; born June 8, 1955) is an American actor, film producer, and film director. Dunne studied acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. He is known for portraying Jack Goodman in '' An Amer ...

as Duffy *

Andreas Voutsinas Andreas Voutsinas ( el, Ανδρέας Βουτσινάς; 22 August 1930 – 8 June 2010) was a Sudanese-Greek actor and theater director. In the English-speaking world, he was best known for his roles in three Mel Brooks films, '' The Producer ...

as Priest * Valentina Vargas as Bonita * Kimberley Beck as Sally * Patrick Fontana as Alfredo * Alessandra Vazzoler as La Mamma, Enzo's Mother * Geoffroy Carey as Supervisor * Claude Besson as Jacques' Father *

as Blond Diver (uncredited) *

Paul Herman Paul Herman (March 29, 1946 – March 29, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for playing Randy in David O. Russell's dramedy ''Silver Linings Playbook'' (2012) and Whispers DiTullio in Martin Scorsese's crime epic ''The Irishman' ...

as Taxi Driver In U.S.A

Comparison with real life

The film was heavily fictionalized. In real life, the two were indeed champions and contemporaries. However, they did not directly compete, neither reached 400 feet, and neither died while diving. Mayol was indeed involved in scientific research into human aquatic potential, and was fascinated by dolphins, and was recorded as having a heartbeat that slowed from 60 to 27 beats per minute when diving. He held numerous

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

s, including dives to below 100 meters. After a bout of depression, he took his own life in 2001, long after the film's release. Maiorca (renamed as "Enzo Molinari" in the film) also set numerous depth records from 1960 to 1988, despite involuntarily retiring from the sport for over a decade between 1974 and 1986 after an outburst on TV cost him a competition ban. He entered politics in the 1990s, and became a member of the

Italian Senate The Senate of the Republic ( it, Senato della Repubblica), or simply the Senate ( it, Senato), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Chamber of Deputies). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral sy ...

for a time. For many years, he resisted public showing of the film in Italy, as he considered it to caricature him poorly; after Mayol's death in 2001, he relented and accepted the showing of the film.

Production

Besson was initially unsure of whom to cast in the main role of Mayol. He initially offered the role to

Christopher Lambert Christophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert (; ; born March 29, 1957) is a French-American actor, producer, and novelist. He started his career playing supporting parts in several French films, and became internationally famous for portraying Ta ...

and

Mickey Rourke Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. (; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films. During the star of the 1980s, Rourke played supporting roles i ...

and even considered himself for the role until someone suggested Jean-Marc Barr. Besson has a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

as one of the divers in the film. ''The Big Blue'' was the most financially successful French film of the 1980s, selling 9,193,873 tickets in France alone, and played in French theaters for a year. With its extensive underwater scenes and languid score (as with nearly all of Besson's films, the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

was composed by

Éric Serra Éric Serra (; born 9 September 1959) is a French composer. He is a frequent collaborator of film director Luc Besson. Early life Serra was born in Saint-Mandé. His father Claude was a famous French songwriter in the 1950s and '60s, and so ...

), the film has been both praised as beautiful and serene, and in equal measure criticized as being too drawn out, overly reflective and introspective. While popular in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, the film was a commercial failure in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The American version was recut to include a simplified "happy" ending, and Serra's score was replaced with a soundtrack composed by

Bill Conti William Conti (born April 13, 1942) is an American composer and conductor, best known for his film scores, including ''Rocky'' (and four of its sequels), ''The Karate Kid'' (and all of its sequels), '' For Your Eyes Only'', ''Dynasty'' (and its ...

. This version was only available on VHS and Laserdisc in the United States (both with 4x3 pan and scan transfers) and is currently

out of print __NOTOC__ An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book ...

. The director later released a longer

director's cut A director's cut is an edited version of a film (or video game, television episode, music video, or commercial) that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit in contrast to the theatrical release. "Cut" explicitly refers to the ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

, featuring the original ending and an extended version of the Serra score. Much of the film was shot on the Greek island of

, where Agia Anna and the monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa can be seen. The film was dedicated to his daughter Juliette Besson, who required surgery after becoming ill during filming.

Filming locations

*Maisons-Laffitte (France), piscine municipale (opening scene in swimming pool) *

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

, United States *Maganari,

Ios iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

Cyclades The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The nam ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

*Agia Anna,

*Kalotaritissa bay, Amorgos, Cyclades, Greece *

Marineland (Antibes) The Marineland of Antibes is a theme park founded in 1970 by Roland de La Poype in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), in the French Riviera. On 26 hectares it includes a marine zoological park with dolphinarium, a water park (''Aquasplash''), a childr ...

Antibes Antibes (, also , ; oc, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal, Antíbol) is a coastal city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department of southeastern France, on the French Riviera, Côte d'Azur between Cannes and Nice. The town of ...

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

, France *

St. Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

, U.S. Virgin Islands *

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, Italy. *Lac du Chardonnet,

Tignes Tignes () is a commune in the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France, known for the highest skiable area and the longest ski season in Europe. It is located in the Savoie region with good tr ...

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population of ...

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône an ...

, France (Lake diving under the ice in Peru) *

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Reception

The film was met with positive reviews in Europe, where it was described as "one of the most significant cult movies of the 1980s" by French Cinema historian Rémi Lanzoni,''French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present'', Rémi Fournier Lanzoni, p.342-344. who described it as "ooz ngwith a sensuous beauty unlike any other film at the time". The film was slightly edited for US release to have a new, positive ending and the original score was also replaced. The US release was met with above average reviews. The film aggregator,

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gave it 62%, based on 21 reviews, stating that: Though this

ilm Ilm or ILM may refer to: Acronyms * Identity Lifecycle Manager, a Microsoft Server Product * '' I Love Money,'' a TV show on VH1 * Independent Loading Mechanism, a mounting system for CPU sockets * Industrial Light & Magic, an American motion ...

features beautiful cinematography, it drags on, being way too overblown and melodramatic. Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', praised its cinematography, but warned viewers to "be prepared to want to come up for air only minutes into

he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

, referring to the film's pointless plot.

Awards

''The Big Blue'' was nominated for several

César Award Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * C ...

s and won

César Award for Best Music Written for a Film Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * Ces ...

(

) and Best Sound in 1989. The film also won France's National Academy of Cinema's Academy Award in 1989. The film was screened out of competition at the

1988 Cannes Film Festival The 41st Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 23 May 1988. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Pelle erobreren'' by Bille August. The festival opened with ''Le Grand Bleu'', directed by Luc Besson and closed with ''Willow'', directed by Ron Howard. ...

Home media

The film was released on DVD on 21 July 2009. A

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

version containing both the extended and theatrical versions was released on September 14, 2009 in the United Kingdom, but this contains French-dubbed versions of both cuts, rather than the original English language. This was later corrected and the second release contained a LPCM 2.0 English soundtrack and a DTS 2.0 French dub. The French Blu-ray release contains only the Director's Cut of the film but with a French DTS-MA 5.1 soundtrack and is supplemented with Besson's ''

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...

'' documentary on Blu-ray as well.

In popular culture

A poster for the film can be seen in the photo studio in the 1992 South Korean film '' The Moon Is... the Sun's Dream''. In the 2009 Japanese anime series ''

Eden of the East is a Japanese anime television series, which was broadcast on Fuji TV's noitaminA timeslot from April to June 2009. Created, directed and written by Kenji Kamiyama, it features character designs by Chica Umino and animation production ...

'', Akira plays the film in his villa's cinema for Saki, who was a big fan. The title of the episode, "On the Night of the Late Show", is a reference to this scene.

References

External links

* *
Le Grand Bleu press release pictures by the 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Blue, The Freediving 1988 films Italian drama films French drama films Films directed by Luc Besson Films scored by Éric Serra 1980s adventure films 1980s romance films English-language French films English-language Italian films Films scored by Bill Conti Films set in 1965 Films set in the 1980s Films set in Greece Films set in Sicily Films set in the Mediterranean Sea Films shot in Greece Films shot in Peru Films shot in Corsica Films shot in the United States Virgin Islands Films featuring underwater diving Films set in amusement parks Gaumont Film Company films Columbia Pictures films Weintraub Entertainment Group films Amorgos 1980s Italian films 1980s French films