Joan Of Arc: The Messenger is out now on 4K Steelbook, and while both versions are included here, it’s the Version Longue which is director Luc Besson’s definitive version about the timeless, magical, mysterious sea – a place on earth as untouched as the far reaches of space. For two men, its unknown depths will become the ultimate test of their courage. For one woman, the ultimate test of her love.
For Joan, she had a dream. And it would be to rise up and lead a revolution to protect her country and defend France against the invading Englanders (See! We’re portrayed as the bad guys again!)
Joan of Arc (Milla Jovovich, one-time squeeze of director Luc Besson and also a star in his The Fifth Element) believes she is the French answer to former Chief Constable of Greater Manchester James Anderton, and was sent by God as his messenger to make contact with the Dauphin of France (John Malkovich – Opus) and set plans in motion to reclaim their country, despite being saddled with a disastrous boyish haircut.
Faye Dunaway (Network) puts in another sleepwalking performance, this time as the Dauphin’s doubting mother-in-law, Yolande of Aragon and Joan is guided by a boy from her past for whom is known here as the voice of her conscience, who grows up to become Dustin Hoffman.
Now, let’s backtrack a little here. Was it really a dream or a vision? The moral of this story is that people should never go shouting their mouth off. She envisages that the Dauphin will eventually become the King of France. Big Brother‘s Nasty Nick had visions of who would win the gameshow, but while he escaped with a mere eviction, Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake, in quite a gruesome and realistic fashion depicted here, on May 30th, 1431 at the age of 19.
The film also includes an incredibly gross act of necrophilia early on, a neat moment where someone’s blood gets splashed on the camera, an hour in, and a staggering piece of CGI where a man’s head is squelchingly lopped off in battle.
I see inbetween the 2000 DVD, and the 2026 4K disc, the certificate has gone up from a 15-cert to an 18-cert. While I don’t know precisely, I would presume it’s for the first scene I mention, given how grim it is.
The film is in 2.35:1 and in 2160p high definition, the anamorphic widescreen image replicating the original cinema ratio, the only way to see the film since Besson uses the entire with of the screen and looks splendid throughout.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound is nothing short of spectacular. Battle scenes and Joan’s visions benefit most from the sweeping rear-action sounds as well as the full-on audio experience.
For the extras, there’s a bit of a mix across the disc. The 4K disc contains the film and In The Footsteps of Joan (85:44), a very in-depth ‘making of’ featuring plenty of on-set and behind-the-scenes footage – including for the battle scenes, and has 7 chapters.
There’s also an interview with technical director André Labbouz (4:51), in French with English subtitles.
The first Blu-ray disc just contains the film and the above interview, while the second one contains In The Footsteps of Joan (85:44), plus interviews with second unit director Gérard Krawczyk (24:52), cinematographer Thierry Arbogast (8:00), editor Sylvie Landra (16:07), costume designers Catherine Leterrier and Olivier Bériot (28:03), production designer Hugues Tissandier (32:37) and sound designer Bruno Tarrière (34:39).
Again, they all mix in film clips with the interview, and have a few chapters each.
The menu features a series of film clips along with the music, there are English subtitles, but sadly, just the paltry 12 chapters. The original DVD had 28! Come on, guys!
Still, we do have a ton of extras, so that does help.
For comparison, that DVD’s extras contained the Theatrical Trailer, Teaser Trailer, HBO ‘making of’ featurette, Filmographies and an Isolated Score.
Joan Of Arc is out now on 4K Blu-ray Steelbook, as well as the 2020 re-releases on Blu-ray, and DVD.
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FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
7.5 10 9 10 |
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OVERALL |
9 |
Cert: 
Running time: 160 minutes
Year: 2000
Chapters: 12
Cat.No: OPTUSB7414
Distributor: Studiocanal
Released: August 3rd 2026
Picture: 2160p High Definition
Language: English
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Technovision)
Subtitles: English SDH
Disc Format: BD100, and 2*BD50
Director: Luc Besson
Producer: Patrice Ledoux
Screenplay: Andrew Birkin, Luc Besson
Music: Eric Serra
Cast:
Joan of Arc: Milla Jovovich
Charles VII, Dauphin of France: John Malkovich
Yolande of Aragon: Faye Dunaway
The Conscience: Dustin Hoffman
Dunois: Tcheky Karyo
Cauchon: Timothy West
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.