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Jean-Marc Barr, Jean Reno, Rosanna Arquette, Griffin Dunne, Paul Shenar ... see more see more... , Sergio Castellitto , Jean Bouise , Marc Duret , Andreas Voutsinas , Valentina Vargas , Kimberly Beck , Alessandra Vazzoler , Bruce Guerre-Berthelot , Gregory Forstner , Claude Besson , Geoffrey Carey , Pierre-Alain DeGarrigues , Franco Diogene , Patrick Fontana , Paul Herman , Jacques Levy , Constantin Alexandrov , Claude Robin , Rosario Campese , Tredessa Dalton , Eric Do , Andre Germe , Marika Gevaudan , Nicolas Maltos , Marc Planceon , Jan Rouiller , Peter Semler , Ronald Teuhi

Two men answer the call of the ocean in this romantic fantasy-adventure. Jacques (Jean-Marc Barr) and Enzo (Jean Reno) are a pair of friends who have been close since childhood, and who share a passio... read more read more...n for the dangerous sport of free diving. Professional diver Jacques opted to follow in the footsteps of his father, who died at sea when Jacques was a boy; to the bewilderment of scientists, Jacques harbors a remarkable ability to adjust his heart rate and breathing pattern in the water, so that his vital signs more closely resemble that of dolphins than men (he even considers a school of dolphins as his extended family). As Enzo persuades a reluctant Jacques to compete against him in a free diving contest -- determining who can dive deeper and longer without scuba gear -- Jacques meets Johanna (Rosanna Arquette), a beautiful insurance investigator from America, and he finds that he must choose between his love for her and his love of the sea. Le Grand Bleu ran 132 minutes in its original French version, but it was trimmed to 118 for American release, with the original score by Eric Serra replaced by music from Bill Conti. While the film did middling business in the U.S., it was a huge success in Europe, and director Luc Besson released an expanded 168-minute version in 1998. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

91% liked it

35,475 ratings

Critics

67% liked it

12 critics

R, 2 hr. 2 min.

Directed by: Luc Besson

Release Date: June 1, 1988

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DVD Release Date: August 15, 2000

Stats: 2,380 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (2,380)

  • arashxak
    January 17, 2008
    arashxak
    Obsession...
  • garyX
    July 14, 2007
    garyX
    Ridiculously overlong but strangely hypnotic sea-bourne drama packed with sumptuous photography.
  • crossbladezero
    May 25, 2012
    crossbladezero
    Wow, even some of Luc Besson's French films are English-speaking, so I guess that should tell you just how much he wishes he was American. Actually, maybe it's not all that fair to say because even Mel Gibson was turning out American films in not just foreign languages, but ancie... read morent languages that close-to no one uses anymore, and anyone who does is probably a little bit weird. These multilingual foreign films have been around forever; Sergio Leone was making non-Italian Italian films all the time, only you never noticed, because they kept dubbing over everyone. I mean, come on, did you seriously think that they got Clint Eastwood to speak Italian? They probably tried, only it just sounded too ridiculous, and he kept tacking on "punk" at the end of everything. Well, anyways, bad jokes aside, the point is that Mr. Besson doesn't appear to be all that capable of holding on to his own culture, so of course he's not all that capable of holding an audience's attention, or at least when he's not having Jason Statham, Vincent Cassel or Liam Neeson jump around and beat people up. No, this film isn't all that disengaging, but if you're expecting this almost three hour film about a bunch of people swimming around with dolphins to be riveting then, well, clearly you're a fan of fishing, whereas I for one have to say that a bunch of people hanging out in whater, while making for a pretty decent movie, doesn't make for a terribly consistently engrossing non-epic.

    The film is rarely, if ever all that dryly dull, yet pads itself out quite considerably with bloated moments of pure meditation and excess material. In all fairness, I have only presented myself with the gratuitously whopping 168 minute director's cut, which tosses on an extra 36 minutes to the original European theatrical cut, much of which I'm sure has to be yet more padding, yet it's still safe to presume that bloating and padding plagued the original cuts as well, for this is a story that, in concept, could fit a lengthy runtime, yet in structure, doesn't even feel written broadly enough to sustain the theatrical cut's runtime, let alone the nearly three hour long mammoth I just watched. The film goes tainted with a fair couple of long, repetitive and, at time, disengaging periods of sobering meditation over pure nothingness, and limited intrigue the rest of the time. This limited intrigue uncovers the melodrama of the story, while the moments of meditation and consistent tone of overambition, as well as the occasional piece of cheesy dialogue and a remarkably really bad original song at the credits, augment the cheesiness. The film is unexpectedly lacking in subtlety, even with its limited broadness in plot, anchored down by a melodramatic and occasionally cliched storyline, as well only so many notes to the characters, from Jean Reno's almost exaggeratedly over smooth and vain Enzo Molinari character, to Rosanna Arquette's generic, obnoxiously overbearing and generally uncompelling Johana Baker character, whose unlikability certainly isn't helped by Arquette's uninteresting, when not equally obnoxious and one-note performance, much less her looking just so startlingly homely that there's not only no pretty face to look at, yet an extra serious serious lapse in feeling for Baker's and Jean-Marc Barr's Jacques Mayol character's relationship, because the undeniably good-looking dude could do way better, and you cannot afford to have your audience feel that way in a romance film, nor can you be this meditative and lengthy in a film this unsubtle and histrionic. It's a very overlong, very melodramatic and ultimately rather underwhelming take on a pretty promising premise, thus leaving it rather dissatisfying on a deep emotional level. However, as far as entertainment, the film engages more often than it doesn't, keeping itself going with charm and, of course, handsome style.

    As far as storytelling style is concerned, the film is faulty as all get-out, yet as far as visual style, the film is something to behold. True, Carlo Varini's cinematography isn't all that consistent in its dazzling color-bounce, yet when it does really play with lighting and color, the result often earns an "awe" and sometimes takes your breath away. Still, more than that, expect nifty and smooth camera tricks that really show off the beauty and sweep of the wonderful locations, while giving the film a kind of slickness that snaps in fittingly and breathes further life into the undeniable charm of the film. The film is a sappy one, as well as much too long for its entertainment value to triumph all that phenomenally, yet there is a charm in its simplicity and ambitious, however simultaneously detrimental it may be, and it's that charm that engages more than anything, with quite the colorful cast of charismas giving it an extra boost. Again, Rosanna Arquette's acting kind of stinks in some parts, evidently being that bad scent that's making her face perk so freakishly, yet the rest of her fellow leads hold their own, particularly Jean Reno, who steals the spotlight just about every golden time it falls upon him, as he graces the screen with such an awesome presence of slick-smooth charisma and lovable jerkery married with nobility, resulting in a character that may be written with few layers, yet goes performed with enough electric confidence by Reno that the film is almost worth watching for his cool self alone. Still, although Reno steals the show, it remains rightfully Jean-Marc Barr's, and while his Jacques Mayol character also unfortunately feels rather underwritten, he still presents enough calm charm and engaging relatability in his charisma to win you ever, yet when the all too occasional opportunity for him to stretch presents itself, he delivers on emotional range and an unexpected touch of subtlety that may not be used to the fullest, yet helps in earning your investment. On a deep substance level, a surprisingly deeply impacting final act that I wish I could have gone more into notwithstanding, the film is simply and sadly just not all that up to par, yet it still rises to the occasion as a generally entertaining charmer of the film that may not deliver on enough consistency in that entertainment to raise the film past a workmanlike level of quality, yet ultimately makes it worth the sit, regardless of how long of a sit it is.

    Ascending back to the surface after watching this film (Wow, speaking of overlong, that stretch of a metaphor took a while to get through), you leave behind an experience that more than outstayed its welcome, going padded out by excess material and moments of gratuitous meditation made ineffective by a considerable lack of subtlety and diversity within the occasionally conventional and consistently melodramatic, rather cheesy storyline, yet you still swim to the shores satisfied by the film's handsome style and general entertainment value, kept alive by incontrovertible consistent charm which, in it of itself, goes supplemented by a fair couple of charming performances, with the show-stealing Jean Reno and show-leading Jean Marc Barr delivering particularly winning performances that help in making "Le Grand Bleu", or "The Big Blue" - if you're not going to be like Luc Besson and pretend that this film English-talkie is really all that French enough for a French title - to triumph as a generally enjoyable piece of charming dazzle.

    2.5/5 - Fair
  • fb632414987
    May 31, 2010
    fb632414987
    For me this film managed to be romantic, warm and loving yet cold and distant at the same time. I suppose this is an achievement iitself and is maybe why it has the massive cult following it does? Beautifully shot and if you like dolphins (as I do) you will find certain scenes si... read moremply mesmeric.
    I enjoyed Jean Renos performance (as I have in most films ive seen him in) and Barr is also good. Whilst Arquette was annoyingly screechy at times I still couldnt help but warm to her.
    The film is long at almost 3 hours though it didnt feel like it to me. However, I found the ending sad in a completely unsatisfactory way. Im not of the school of thought that wants (or likes) every ending of a story to be happy-happy-joy-joy (far from it) but I just couldnt understand the choice Jacques made at the end.
    As far as Bessons films go, give me Leon any day of the week.
  • Nutterjr
    April 19, 2008
    Nutterjr
    One of a kind.
  • Lemure
    July 22, 2011
    Lemure
    Early Besson, before he met Hollywood, and it's pretty good. There's some fantastic photography, the likes of which I'd expect from Herzog, but Besson's "energy" is on show thanks to Reno's character. It's a must-see for any fans of Besson, but also worth a watch for everybody else.
  • mingsysar
    January 5, 2009
    mingsysar
    To take this film on face value would be a travesty. Deeply philosophical, extremely beautiful, perfectly peaceful, with added Besson and Reno.
  • ileo
    April 10, 2007
    ileo
    A favorite in/of my childhood.
  • kenscheck
    September 21, 2011
    kenscheck
    Water is pretty on film. That could be the only thought that went through the folks who made this film's mind. A lot of beautiful shots mixed in with poor acting from the leads, good acting from Jean Reno, and bad 8ps music and bad 80s lovemaking scenes.
  • awknighterocketmailcom
    February 6, 2011
    awknighterocketmailcom
    This movie was pretty good, despite the fact that Jean-Marc Barr played a rather passive character with no emotion whatsoever, except for the crying scenes. Jean Reno was awesome as always and this movie would probably have been better without the whiny lovestruck ditsy chick.

View All The Big Blue (Le Grand bleu) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Steven Rosen
January 1, 2000
Steven Rosen, Denver Post

What he and his writers have cooked up defies our patience. Full Review

Mark Holcomb
January 1, 2000
Mark Holcomb, Village Voice

Besson is no master storyteller. Full Review

Cole Smithey
November 6, 2005
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

One of a kind movie.

Chuck Rudolph
March 23, 2001
Chuck Rudolph, Matinee Magazine

Is an extra 50 minutes of bad footage reason enough to re-release an already problematic movie? I wouldn't think so. Full Review

Harvey S. Karten
January 1, 2000
Harvey S. Karten, Compuserve

Silly as the narrative may sound, The Big Blue is nonetheless intriguing in its quaint originality. Full Review

Bilge Ebiri
January 1, 2000
Bilge Ebiri, Citysearch

It's the ultimate film about losing your innocence. Full Review

Kim Morgan
January 1, 2000
Kim Morgan, Oregonian

The film is a flawed fable but an intriguing one nonetheless. Full Review

January 1, 2000
TV Guide's Movie Guide

No matter which version you see, the story doesn't really make sense. Full Review

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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