Region 4 Winners and Losers

     The Big Blue has been released many times over the years across all Regions onto DVD. It's difficult to compare releases because the film itself has many different cuts; the Director's Cut, the French Theatrical Cut and the European Theatrical Cut. The American theatrical version has not been released onto DVD, only laserdisc.

     The significant DVD releases from across all Regions include the Region 2 French four-disc Gaumont/Paramount 20th Anniversary Edition Boxset. This release includes the Director's Cut, The French theatrical version, The 97-minute Big Blue documentary, the 41-minute Cannes press conference featurette and a fourth disc which includes Besson's film Atlantis, released separately in the United Kingdom and in Australia in June 2010 by Madman Directors Suite label. This French cut includes DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 French tracks. A barebones French release by Fox includes both main versions of the film and the English soundtrack. The Region 2 Japanese Ultimate Edition includes the Director's Cut and the European theatrical cut, although this is Pan and Scan. The Region 3 Korean Ultimate Edition is similar to the Japanese release (both the Director's Cut and European theatrical cut are included) except that it includes a bonus third disc which includes the film's soundtrack.

     The previous Region 4 release by Fox had a basic Dolby Digital 2.0 surround English and French Soundtrack and no extras so this release by Madman far surpasses that 2000 release. Ultimately, this release by Madman Directors Suite label is very good; if you want the French or European theatrical cut as well you may need to settle on another Regional DVD release or get the film on Blu-ray.