"Director: Luc Besson"

• Atlantis | DVD | (14/09/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Atlantis

• Le Dernier Combat | DVD | (31/03/2003) from £9.95   |  Saving you £3.04 (30.55%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Le Dernier Combat (1983) finds Luc Besson setting out his directorial convictions in vividly direct terms. He honours the French New Wave through spartan, documentary-style presentation and--save for possibly the two most meaningful "Bonjours" in cinema history--the total absence of dialogue, appropriate for a film in which devastation has robbed survivors of the power of speech. The action centres on Pierre Jolivet, good-guy in a society where vigilantism and subjugation are the primary tools of survival. Gladiatorially clad Jean Reno makes a characteristic showing as his ruthless opponent, while Jean Bouise is the taciturn doctor who comes to Jolivet's aid. Eric Serra offsets the chill austerity with a motley score of modernist clichés and easy listening soundbites. To be honest, there's little about this film that could be considered ground-breaking, but if a Mad Max scenario filtered through European surrealist sensibilities appeals, then Le Dernier Combat will make absorbing viewing. On the DVD Le Dernier Combat's 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen picture has a suitably stark immediacy, enhanced by the surround sound option. There are no subtitles, hardly a stumbling block in this instance, and no special features apart from the chance to see trailers for two rather different Hollywood productions. There's no directorial commentary, which is a pity, as Besson's subsequent career has been an eventful one and it would have been good to hear him discuss it from the perspective of his first feature. --Richard Whitehouse

• Le Dernier Combat | DVD | (14/09/2009) from £12.75   |  Saving you £3.24 (25.41%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Experience Luc Besson's dark vision of the future a cult classic exploration of the post-apocalyptic survival. In a world populated with savages living amongst the wreckage of a devastated civilization one man wages war against brutality and isolation. Filmed in black and white and almost entirely without dialogue Besson's first film presents in every detail a haunting premonition of a hostile tomorrow.

• The Messenger - The Story of Joan Of Arc | Blu Ray | (01/12/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In 1429, a teenage girl from a remote village stood before the world and announced she would defeat the world's greatest army and liberate her country.

• Arthur and the Invisibles/Hoodwinked/Racing Stripes | DVD | (12/11/2007) from £9.43   |  Saving you £10.56 (52.80%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Arthur And The Invisibles (Dir. Luc Besson 2006): From the creative mind of talented filmmaker comes a larger-than-life family adventure about a boy who after his grandfather disappears sets out to save his family home from emerging real estate developers. Arthur learns that he must follow his grandfather's ancient clues to a vast treasure - and unlock the passageway to a spectacular new world filled with mysterious little people so tiny they are considered invisible and enlist their help. But once in the magical land Arthur must join swords with a beautiful princess and a reckless army of defenders to save the land from the evil wizard. It seems like an impossible task but as he discovers along the way sometimes the smallest heroes can make the biggest difference. Hoodwinked (Dir. Cory & Todd Edwards 2005): Little Red Riding Hood: a classic story but there's more to every tale than meets the eye! Before you judge a book by its cover you've got to flip through the pages. For this story we begin at the end. Furry and feathered cops from the animal world investigate a domestic disturbance at Granny's cottage involving a girl a wolf and an axe. The charges are many: breaking and entering disturbing the peace intent to eat and wielding an axe without a license. Not to mention this case might be tied to the elusive and infamous ""Goody Bandit"" who has been stealing the recipes of goody shops everywhere! Racing Stripes (Dir. Frederik Du Chau 2005): An abandoned zebra grows up believing he is a racehorse and with the help of his barnyard friends and a teenage girl set out to achieve his dream of racing with thoroughbreds...

• La Femme Nikita/Subway | DVD | (30/04/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Nikita (1990): After being convicted of killing a cop street-tough Nikita must choose between her own execution or training with a top-secret government agency to become an assassin. Given a new identity new skills and a new life by her mentor Bob (Tcheky Karyo) Nikita becomes ""Josephine "" a seductive sophisticated knockout who's also a brutally efficient killing machine. Luc Besson's Nikita is the stylish high-voltage thriller that revolutionized the action genre with a sexy gun-wielding woman as its main character. Starring Jean Reno Jean-Hughes Anglade Jeanne Moreau and Anne Parillaud in the title role (winning her a 1991 Best Actress Cesar Award) Nikita achieved cult status worldwide inspiring an American remake and a hit U.S. television series. Powered by some of the most adrenaline-pumping action scenes ever filmed Nikita redefined femme fatale for a new generation. Subway (1985): Christopher Lambert plays a hipster thief who falls in love with the bored and beautiful wife of the millionaire he just robbed. She wants her stolen papers back and he wants her heart. With gangsters and Metro police on their tail the two seek refuge in the wild labyrinth beneath the subway and team up with the strange characters including a drummer (Jean Reno) who inhabit this subterranean world. The result is Luc Besson's hilarious rocking adventure!.

• Joan Of Arc: The Messenger / Glory / The Patriot | DVD | (17/05/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Joan Of Arc: The year is 1429. France is in polical and religious turmoil as members of the royal family battle for rule. But one peasant girl from a remote village gave her country the miracle it was looking for. Milla Jovovich is Joan of Arc a young woman who would inspire and lead her countrymen until her execution at the age of nineteen. Raised in a religious family Joan witnessed her sister's rape and death at the hands of an invading army. Years later as the same war raged on Joan stood before her king with a message she claimed came from God: give her an army and in God's name she would reclaim his diminished kingdom. But was the message real or the delusion of a girl whose life had been shattered? Glory: The heart-stopping story of the first black regiment to fight for the North in the Civil War Glory stars Matthew Broderick Denzel Washington Cary Elwes and Morgan Freeman. Broderick and Elwes are the idealistic young Bostonians who lead the regiment; Freeman is the inspirational sergeant who unites the troops; and Denzel Washington in an Oscar winning performance is the runaway slave who embodies the indomitable spirit of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts. The Patriot: A hero of the fierce French and Indian conflict Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) had renounced fighting forever to raise his family in peace. But when the British arrive at his South Carolina home and endanger what he holds most dear Martin takes up arms alongside his idealistic patriot son Gabriel (Heath Ledger of 10 Things I Hate About You) and leads a brave rebel Militia into battle against a relentless and overwhelming English army. In the process he discovers the only way to protect his family is to fight for the young nation's freedom.

• Atlantis | DVD | (31/03/2003) from £11.84   |  Saving you £1.15 (9.71%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Luc Besson's Atlantis is a fitting companion to his globally popular feature The Big Blue, and presents a mesmerising, non-verbal experience of undersea wonders. Described by one critic as "a thinking person's Fantasia", this 75-minute documentary glorifies ocean wildlife with a refreshing absence (apart from a pretentious spoken prologue) of narrative interference. It belongs on your shelf next to Baraka and Koyaanisqatsi. In fruitful collaboration with composer Eric Serra and cinematographer Christian Petron, Besson travelled the world to capture the grace and beauty of such amazing creatures as Floridian manatees, Bahamian dolphins, Australian great white sharks, sea snakes in the Seychelles, and many others. Divided into thematic "movements" like Disney's animated classic (including a stunning sequence of manta rays set to a Maria Callas performance of La Sonnambula), this glorious film has been visually overshadowed by the spectacular BBC series The Blue Planet, but it serves a different purpose: it's not so much a documentary as a meditative journey, perfect for all-ages viewing. --Jeff Shannon

• Dustin Hoffman - In The Frame Collection | DVD | (29/10/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  This box set features the following films: Kramer Vs Kramer (Dir. Robert Benton) (1979): Returning home late from work one night a career-obsessed Ted Kramer is told by his wife Joanna that she is leaving him. After a life of being 'somebody's daughter' or 'somebody's wife ' she's going off to find herself - leaving Ted to care for their 6 year-old son. Ted while trying to hold down his job gets to really know his son: cooking his meals taking him to the park understanding every need and fear. For the first time in his life he feels like a fulfilled parent. But then Joanna returns. And she wants her son back... Papillon (Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner) (1973): They called him Papillon meaning butterfly. If only he had wings to go with the name. Unable to fly Henri Charriere virtually willed himself free. He persisted until he did the impossible: escape Devil's Island. Stranger Than Fiction (Dir. Marc Forster) (2006): This is an inventive comedy about a novelist (Emma Thompson) struggling to complete her latest and potentially finest book - she only has to find a way to kill off her main character Harold Crick and she'll be done. Little does she know that Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is inexplicably alive and well in the real world and suddenly aware of her words. Fiction and reality collide when the bewildered and hilariously resistant Harold hears what she has in mind and realizes he must find a way to change her (and his) ending. Joan Of Arc (Dir. Luc Besson) (1999): The year is 1429. France is in polical and religious turmoil as members of the royal family battle for rule. But one peasant girl from a remote village gave her country the miracle it was looking for. Milla Jovovich is Joan of Arc a young woman who would inspire and lead her countrymen until her execution at the age of nineteen. Raised in a religious family Joan witnessed her sister's rape and death at the hands of an invading army. Years later as the same war raged on Joan stood before her king with a message she claimed came from God: give her an army and in God's name she would reclaim his diminished kingdom. Tootsie (Dir. Sydney Pollack) (1982): Michael Dorsey is fine actor but an irreproachable perfectionist who can hardly make ends meet; the best he can do for his wallet is take on a couple of jobs as a part-time drama coach and a part-time waiter. But when with the help of a few accessories (including rouge and a padded bra) he transforms himself into Dorothy Michaels everything changes. Dorothy lands a hot job on a soap opera monopolizes the covers of glossy magazines and wins thousands of adoring fans. But when he falls head-over-heels for his co-star Julie (Jessica Lange) he's got a real problem: How can he tell Julie he loves her when she thinks he's a she? Accidental Hero (Dir. Stephen Frears) (1992): Davis is ace reporter Gale Gayley who literally falls into the story of a lifetime when she's a passenger on a airplane that crashes into a Chicago bridge. In the smoke and darkness she's saved by a rude foul-mouthed hero who promptly disappears into the night..leaving only his shoe behind. When Gale's TV Station offers a million dollars to the mystery hero a gentle Vietnam vet (Garcia) appears to claim the prize - and share it with the city's homeless. But this screwball Cinderella story is complicated by the fact that the real hero is a small-time crook (Hoffman) whom nobody believes. Both men have something heroic inside as well as something to hide and it's up to Gale to discover the true meaning of courage.

• Lucy | Blu Ray | (12/01/2015) from £29.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Zavvi Exclusive Limited Edition Steelbook. Limited to 4000 Units. From La Femme Nikita and The Professional to The Fifth Element writer/director Luc Besson has created some of the toughest most memorable female action heroes in cinematic history.  Now Besson directs Scarlett Johansson in Lucy an action-thriller that tracks a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.

• Subway/Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas | DVD | (02/06/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This boxset contains the following films: Subway (Dir. Luc Besson) (1985): Lambert plays a hipster thief who falls in love with the bored and beautiful wife of the millionaire he just robbed. She wants her stolen papers back and he wants her heart. With gangsters and Metro police on their tail the two seek refuge in the wild labyrinth beneath the subway and team up with the strange characters including a drummer (Jean Reno) who inhabit this subterranean world. The result is Luc Besson's hilarious rocking adventure!. Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas (Dir. Terry Gilliam) (2005):Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas is a whirlwind of a movie a wacky drug-laden story backed by a fist-pumping rock & roll soundtrack featuring everything from Wayne Newton and Tom Jones to Combustible Edison and Dead Kennedys. Journalist Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) heads to Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race bringing along his Samoan lawyer Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) in this furious adaptation of the book by Hunter S. Thompson. It is 1971 and Duke and Gonzo are on their way to Sin City with a frightened hitchhiker (a nearly unrecognizable Tobey Maguire) and a trunkful of drugs which they ingest nonstop. Depp is terrific as Duke Thompson's alter ego and Del Toro is a riot as the crazy lawyer. To perfect his Thompsonian performance Depp spent a lot of time with the good doctor and it paid off in a film that captures the frenetic pace of the counterculture novel. Director Terry Gilliam a master of complex bizarre visual imagery has a field day interpreting the drug-hazed world in which Duke and Gonzo reside. An all-star cast chimes in with wonderfully offbeat bit parts including Harry Dean Stanton Gilliam regular Katherine Helmond Flea Cameron Diaz Ellen Barkin Christina Ricci Gary Busey Lyle Lovett and others.

• The Fifth Element | DVD | (20/09/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Ancient curses, all-powerful monsters, shape-changing assassins, scantily-clad stewardesses, laser battles, huge explosions, a perfect woman, a malcontent hero--what more can you ask of a big-budget science fiction movie? Luc Bessons high-octane film The Fifth Element incorporates presidents, rock stars and cab drivers into its peculiar plot, traversing worlds and encountering some pretty wild aliens. Bruce Willis stars as a down-and-out cabbie who must win the love of Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) to save Earth from destruction by Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman) and a dark, unearthly force that makes Darth Vader look like an Ewok. --Geoff Riley

• Leon: Director's Cut | DVD | (11/11/2019) from £6.26   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl, is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. An unusual relationship forms as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade.