Eric Serra Movies

On the heels of his first foray into romantic comedy, versatile French filmmaker Luc Besson breaks new ground yet again with this computer-animated, family-friendly adaptation of his own children's book Arthur and the Minimoys. Arthur is a wide-eyed ten-year-old whose vivid imagination is fueled by the colorful bedtime stories his grandmother reads to him each night. His dreams are filled with images of African tribes and the remarkable inventions detailed in the enigmatic book that his grandfather left behind after mysteriously disappearing four years ago. Arthur and his family are in danger of losing their home to an unscrupulous real-estate developer, but if there is any truth to the tales of a treasure hidden deep beneath their garden and the tiny, fairy-like creatures that his grandmother so frequently sketches, there may still be hope of saving their home before it's too late. Now, with nothing to guide him but the clues left behind by his grandfather, Arthur will set out to find the mythical world of Seven Kingdoms, where the Minimoys are said to dwell, and ensure that his troubled family always has a place to call home. An imaginative children's fantasy in the vein of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Arthur and the Invisibles features the voices of David Bowie, Snoop Dogg, Madonna, Mia Farrow, and Freddie Highmore. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A monk and a pickpocket become unlikely allies in this action adventure story. Sixty years ago, a nameless monk (Chow Yun-Fat) was appointed the guardian of a mysterious scroll that grants remarkable powers to those who possess it. After six decades of traveling the world to protect the scroll, the monk must find someone new to assume the responsibility, but as fate would have it, the new caretaker turns out to be Kar (Seann William Scott), a scruffy and distinctly non-enlightened petty thief living in San Francisco. As the monk attempts to educate Kar in the powers and responsibilities of the scroll and the ways of a monk's life, they discover they have a rival for the possession of the valuable scroll. As Kar and the monk fend off their mysterious adversary, they are aided by Bad Girl (Jaime King), a beautiful Russian mob affiliate with amazing martial arts skills and a vested interest in keeping the scroll in virtuous hands. Bulletproof Monk was based a comic book series published in 1999; Chow Yun-Fat's frequent collaborators John Woo and Terence Chang produced. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Two of the biggest stars of the French cinema bring their contrasting styles together in this lively romantic comedy. Rose (Juliette Binoche) is an emotional makeup artist who is hoping to get out of a bad relationship with her boyfriend, Sergio (Sergi Lopez), by leaving him in Paris and heading off to Mexico for a holiday. After losing her cell phone, Rose borrows one from Felix (Jean Reno), a somewhat stiff salesman with an interest in gourmet cooking, who is en route toMunich to attend a funeral. When both Rose and Felix find themselves grounded due to changes in flight scheduling and a transportation strike strands them at the airport, they end up sharing a room at a nearby hotel, where their contrasting personalities make the evening rough sledding for them both. As their unexpected stay wears on, will these opposites begin to attract? ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In the 15th century, France is mired in the 100 Years War when a humble voice appears, claiming to have been instructed by the Lord to lead the French army into battle and defend their land against the British. The voice belongs to Jeanne d'Aragon, a teenage girl from a tiny village, and, to the surprise of many, her story does not fall on deaf ears. Wearing the armor of a soldier, the girl known as Joan of Arc leads the French troops in what she believes is a holy battle. Joan would soon be tried for heresy for her actions, but history would vindicate her with sainthood. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc stars Milla Jovovich as Joan of Arc, Faye Dunaway as Yolande d'Aragon, and Dustin Hoffman as The Grand Inquisitor. Directed by Luc Besson, The Messenger was originally titled Joan of Arc but added the prefix to avoid confusion with the 1999 TV movie of the same name, which starred Leelee Sobieski. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Pierce Brosnan made his first appearance as James Bond in this action thriller, the 17th in the series (excluding the 1967 Casino Royale and the 1983 Never Say Never Again) featuring the suave British super-agent. As the story begins, Agent 007 and his partner, Agent 006 (Sean Bean), pull a daring raid on a chemical weapons plant in the Soviet Union; however, they are captured by Russian troops, and while Bond is able to escape, 006 is not so lucky. Several years later, the Soviet Union and the Cold War are a thing of the past, but Bond is still at work ferreting out evildoers everywhere. Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen), a beautiful but vicious villain working with the Russian Mafia, spearheads the theft of the controls to GoldenEye, a high-tech satellite weapons system, and with her gunmen, she kills most of the soldiers and guards at a top-secret military facility in the process. Bond joins forces with Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco), one of the base's few survivors, to help track down Onatopp's minions and the controls to GoldenEye, which can destroy all electronic circuits in a given area in a matter of seconds; however, in time, Bond discovers the true identity of the criminal mastermind who is behind this bid for unholy power and world domination -- none other than Alec Trevelyan, the man Bond once knew as 006. In addition to Brosnan, GoldenEye also marked another significant cast change for the Bond series -- Judi Dench made her debut as M, Bond's superior. Minnie Driver also has a cameo as a nightclub singer. Sadly, this was the last film in the Bond series for special-effects supervisor Derek Meddings, who died in the midst of production; the film was dedicated to him. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

As a child of undersea divers, director Luc Besson, who is perhaps best known in the U.S. for La Femme Nikita and The Fifth Element, yearned to become a marine biologist. After spending his entire childhood diving, an accident rendered him unable to dive again, and he turned his energies to becoming a filmmaker instead. However, he never lost his love of the underwater world he grew up in, and this poetic documentary is a hymn to the beauties of that world. It takes underwater footage shot all over the world in slightly over three years time and weaves it with a variety of musical accompaniments into an astonishing visual treat. Without any preaching, this movie makes a strong case for preservation of our rapidly deteriorating ocean world. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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 passion 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

Coming in on the heels of his internationally acclaimed first film, Le Dernier Combat, 26-year-old director Luc Besson created this tongue-in-cheek look at filmmaking and at the denizens in the tunnels of the Paris Metro -- a new kind of underground movie. Fred (Christopher Lambert) has just stolen some major documents from a birthday celebration given by the Paris elite for one of their kind, Helena (Isabelle Adjani). He takes off into the Metro just as it is shut down for the remaining few hours of predawn darkness and once in the Metro encounters several characters in the tunnels. There is a bodybuilder who works out with subway parts, a purse-snatcher, and a flower seller of dubious ethics. Inspired by the moment, Fred decides to recruit a few of the ubiquitous musicians who perform (some of the best music around) on the Metro's byways, and he creates a rock band. Through all of these encounters and activities, the police and others -- including Helena -- are after Fred for their own reasons, none of which coincide. As Fred discovers, going underground can be risky. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi