10 Movies With Different Endings In Different Countries
2. The Big Blue
The ending to the 1988 French/English diving adventure was considered either too ambiguous or downbeat by U.S distributor Columbia Pictures.
In the original, Jacques Mayol is seen drifting down into the depths of the sea when he spots a dolphin. In a dreamlike sequence - Mayol follows the dolphin into the murky depths and the film ends there, heavily implying that he dies down in the underwater depths he so loves.
On the back of him being told by his lover that she is expecting his child, the obviously suicidal actions of Mayol were apparently too much for an American audience to handle. As such, the ending was changed so that Mayol swims away with the dolphin, but returns to the surface afterwards, providing a more optimistic ending than that of the original.
The film is a cult classic of the late '80s European cinema, and the altered ending doesn't really fit the mould for the films central focus of love for the ocean. But like so many other entries on this list, American distributors were more concerned about good vibrations at the end of a film, rather than poignant storytelling.