CERT: 12 / FORMAT: 4K BLU-RAY, BLU-RAY, DVD, DIGITAL / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 24TH
Brainwashed by the evil Mr. Shadow, villain Zorg (Gary Oldman) is doing everything he can to find and stop the intelligent alien life-form, and key to the superpower of The Elemental Stones, Leeloo (Milla Jovovich)/The Fifth Element. Unluckily for him, Leeloo is under the protection of soldier turned taxi cab driver Korben (Bruce Willis), who have both stumbled into a mission to try and stop a humongous fireball from ending life on earth.
In this florescent, and refreshing ‘90s sci-fi classic, director Luc Besson merges grand CGI and neat practical effects to paint his vision. We see this well executed combination occur a lot, however one of the most memorable scenes has to be when Leeloo runs away from a ‘Dredd’-looking police force, and crash lands into the taxi cab of Korben – all with a futuristic, flying car packed New York City as its backdrop.
After our heroes find each other, peculiar occurrences and conflicts keep flying right at them. While journeying through a retro space station, a flying hotel, and a historic temple to name just a few very detailed and bright set pieces for an answer, we come across a variety of quirky characters. From the hilarious live radio show host Ruby Rhod (Chris Tucker), to the glue of finer plot points Cornelius (played by the late and great Ian Holm), the running time holds an array of larger than life acting performances, who between them, have helped give this film its legacy. Some sci-fi outputs like to be too confusing for no reason, but The Fifth Element is light-years from that. It’s just a very fun, comedic action blast battle of good against evil.
