A visually marvelous science fiction epic that didn't quite catch on over here because it's very European. (And, in fairness, because the story is dumb.) First Hollywood backed movie for French cult director Luc Besson. (THE PROFESSSIONAL, FEMME NIKITA)This belongs on the short-list for best successful cinematic translation of a specific comic book aesthetic. THE FIFTH ELEMENT really IS a Metal Hurlant/Moebius comic. Dead on. (Other notables that jump to mind: I'm a fan of Warren Beatty's primary color schemes in DICK TRACY and Bryan Singer did an uncanny job recreating the feel of a John Byrne X-Men comic. And GHOST WORLD is pretty amazing too.)
Bruce Willis plays Korben Dallas, an ex-special forces agent who has become a cab driver so he can spend more time drinking and feeling sorry for himself. (Yes, the set-up is identical to DIEHARD 3) Unbeknownst to him, the universe is about to end or turn evil or something and our only hope is LeeLoo (Milla Jovovich), a genetically perfect being grown from alien DNA instructions. There's no shortage of evil types who want to destroy her, so no sooner is she grown in a vat then she finds herself on the run and falls, literally, into Willis' cab. Thus begins a fast-moving chase across several star systems.
Delightful things in THE FIFTH ELEMENT: This was when I first started really respecting Milla Jovovich. Her portrayal of a new-born creature is impressive. (Quibble: If you grow a being in a vat from DNA instructions the being can have orange hair, but not orange-dyed hair with blonde roots!) The production design is stylish, warm and organic… quite different from the usual sci-fi hard-edge blue light look. The costume design by famous French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier is similarly distinctive, including two notably sexy avant-garde looks: LeeLoo's birth suit lattice of strategically placed white bands and the intergalactic stewardess outfits. Comedian Chris Tucker steals every scene he's in as prince-like hyper-manic prissy radio personality Ruby Rhod. Bad-guy Gary Oldman's army of floppy-eared shape-shifting monster warriors is pretty amusing. When Jovovich gets around to fighting people it's wonderful… what a physical presence that woman has! Cult favorites Ian Holm and Brion James are always welcome.
Run Time: 126 minutes • Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 • Available Audio Tracks: English (DTS), English (Dolby Digital 5.1) • Available subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Thai, Chinese • For videophiles there's no visually superior presentation than this "Superbit" disc, utilizing a special high bit rate digital encoding process which optimizes video quality while offering a choice of both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. These titles have been produced by a team of Sony Pictures Digital Studios video, sound and mastering engineers and comes housed in a special package complete with a 4 page booklet that contains technical information on the Superbit process. By reallocating space on the disc normally used for value-added content, Superbit DVDs can be encoded at double their normal bit rate while maintaining full compatibility with the DVD video format.
