The Luc Besson Collection - 4K Blu-ray Review

Michael Scott

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The Luc Besson Collection


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Movie: :4stars:
4K Video: :4.5stars:
Video: :3.5stars:
Audio: :4stars:
Extras: :3.5stars:

Final Score: :4stars:


WARNING: THE SCORES ABOVE ARE A COMBINED SCORE FROM ALL 3 FILMS, THE INDIVIDUAL SCORES ARE CONTAINED BELOW IN THE INDIVIDUAL SECTIONS OF THE REVIEW


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Movie

As a huge fan of Luc Besson’s work over the last 42 years, I was excited beyond belief to see that Sony pictures was releasing a massive 9 film boxset consisting of most of his most popular films. Some released in singles by Sony already, but many were never before released in 4K/Blu-ray, and others replacing long out of date discs that were released at the beginning of the format wars. So, when it arrived on my doorstep last month I got to cracking on the set, and am beyond happy with what Sony gave us. Most boxsets these days are badly packaged, prone to damage due to those stupid cardboard disc sleeves, or just generally poor sets with bad movies. Thankfully this set has none of those issues (except one minor one that I’ll mention at the bottom of this review), and all housed in a cardboard case.

As a brief overview before diving into each film properly, this is mostly a good thing. A few of the discs seem to come from dated masters (the 3 Blu-rays in particular), while the 4K UHD discs are definitely much better handled, with newer minted masters and a plethora of modern audio mixes and special features.
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For a breakdown of each film you can follow the links to each film's individual review below

Le Dernier Combat - Blu-ray

The Big Blue - 4K

Atlantis - Blu-ray

Angel-A - Blu-ray

Subway - 4K

The Messenger - 4K

The Fifth Element - 4K

Leon: The Professional - 4K

La Femme Nikita - 4K





Rated PG: Parental Guidance recommended




4K Video: :4.5stars: Video: :3.5stars:
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For individual video scores you can link to each film below.

(one thing to point out. Usually I separate the 4K and the Blu-ray score to account for both discs in combo pack, but in this instance the 4K Video score is for the 4K films in this set, and the "Video" score is the averaged video score for the 3 Blu-ray only titles in this set, which are Atlantis, Le Dernier Combat and Angel-A)

Le Dernier Combat - Blu-ray

The Big Blue - 4K

Atlantis - Blu-ray

Angel-A - Blu-ray

Subway - 4K

The Messenger - 4K

The Fifth Element - 4K

Leon: The Professional - 4K

La Femme Nikita - 4K




Audio: :4stars:
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For individual audio scores you can link to each film below

Le Dernier Combat - Blu-ray

The Big Blue - 4K

Atlantis - Blu-ray

Angel-A - Blu-ray

Subway - 4K

The Messenger - 4K

The Fifth Element - 4K

Leon: The Professional - 4K

La Femme Nikita - 4K





Extras: :3.5stars:
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While you can find the on disc extras below via the links, lets talking about the packaging. The entire set is housed in individual Blu-ray and 4K UHD Viva elite cases (though some of the 3 and 4 disc sets are stack packs, which aren't my favorite) and given unique cover art and slip cart for this set. A 9 films are housed in a bright and shiny looking cardboard box that folds upwards to reveal each of the 9 films side by side. There's no art booklets or extra phsyical swag, but this is a very attractive looking boxset that is distinctly unique amidst all of the rest of the studio special edition sets, and definitely hardier than most.


Le Dernier Combat - Blu-ray

The Big Blue - 4K

Atlantis - Blu-ray

Angel-A - Blu-ray

Subway - 4K

The Messenger - 4K

The Fifth Element - 4K

Leon: The Professional - 4K

La Femme Nikita - 4K







Final Score: :4stars:


Is The Luc Besson Collection worth it? Personally I would say yes. The set offers a wide variety of the man’s greatest hits, including several that have never seen the light of day in the United States in any higher definition format. The packaging is superb, as we get individual cases for each films, unique slip covers, and all the 4K UHD discs sport combo packs housed in a large box that opens from the front on a hinge.I was a bit sad to see that Le Dernier Combat, Angel-A, and Atlantis only got a Blu-ray release instead of all 9 films getting a 4K UHD release, but I’m not complaining too much. Fans who are only used to the French director’s mainstream films may find about half the collection a bit odd, but fans of the director’s entire library will be VERY pleased with this set. Most of the films look great, with just a few minor flaws, and the price of the box set is actually pretty solid considering this a 9 films set. Definitely recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson, Crispin Glover
Directed by: Luc Besson
Written by: Luc Besson + Various
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC / 2.39:1, 1.37:1 AVC
Audio:
Le Dernier Combat: French DTS-HD MA 5.0, French DTS-HD MA 2.0
Subway: French DTS-HD MA 5.0, French, English DTS-HD MA 2.0
The Big Blue: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Atlantis: Music: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Music DTS-HD MA 2.0
La Femme Nikita: French DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 5.1, French DTS-HD MA 2.0
Leon: The Professional: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English, French DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0
The Fifth Element: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English, French, Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0
The Messenger: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English, French DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Angel-A: French DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles:
Le Dernier Combat: English
Subway: English, English SDH, Spanish
The Big Blue: English, English SDH
Atlantis: English
La Femme Nikita: English, Englishd SDH, Spanish
Leon: The Professional: English, English SDH, Spanish
The Fifth Element: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
The Messenger: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Angel-A: English, English SDH
Studio: Sony
Rated: R / Unrated (Atlantis) / PG-13 (The Fifth Element)
Runtime: Various
Blu-Ray Release Date: November 11th, 2025
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Recommendation: Great Watch


 
Thanks for the review. I have not seen most of them so will check them out.
 
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