I can see people's ratings! Could ciao have actually fixed something?
I can see people's ratings! Could ciao have actually fixed something?
Member since:05.05.2005
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Korben Dallas is minding his own business one day years into the future when a strange woman suddenly dives into his taxicab. Clearly terrified, the woman, called Leeloo, is a jabbering wreck, but something protective within Korben comes to the fore and he vows to protect her against his better judgement. Leeloo turns out to be the key to the survival of the world, which is about to be destroyed by the Great Evil, which in turn is aided by a wealthy man called Zorg. Can Korben, Leeloo and their associates work out what needs to be done in order to save the world?
Bruce Willis plays Korben, who is probably the only character with any link to reality. He gives a good performance, although it is not that different from his Diehard persona in that he is all action and little substance - we really find out very little about him. It perhaps isn't necessary to learn more about him, but I just
felt that I didn't have the chance to take breath before the action started - I didn't even get to grips with his name until half way through the film. Milla Jovovich gives a great performance as Leeloo. She really convinced me that she couldn't speak English anyway and I thought she did a fantastic job of looking terrified. She also looks amazing, very gamine and slender.
Then there are the more comical actors. Gary Oldman is Zorg, who visually looks like Morticia with a really bad lop-sided hairdo. Gary Oldman does evil very well, so he is in his element here, able to ham it up at every opportunity. Chris Tucker is also in his element as the rather strange Ruby Rhod, who is incredibly camp and talks in a high voice. Lee Evans pops in for a cameo role in which he gets to act daft (nothing unusual there then). And there is Ian Holm as Father Cornelius, who plays it straight most of the time and so is less memorable, but has an eccentric air about him which is rather endearing.
The genre is science fiction, which I must admit is not in my comfort zone. I much prefer my films to be a bit closer to reality. The Fifth Element is made slightly more palatable for me because of the humour. It really doesn't take itself too seriously at all; in fact it is almost comic-like and I believe that many ideas were taken from French comics. This makes the film very wacky and very colourful - visually a delight. It does also make the film very busy - there is so much going on that at times it is easy to forget that the plot is basically a story of good versus evil.
The film was made back in 1997 - hard to believe that it is over ten years old. For the time, the special effects were absolutely amazing; I remember being stunned the first time I watched it shortly after it came out. I particularly loved the flying taxicab scenes, which were incredibly realistic. Watching it today though, I was less impressed. I suppose special effects have improved phenomenally over the last few years, and it just didn't seem so outstanding and I was left feeling rather disappointed.
The other disadvantage to the film for me is the length. At around two hours, it is just too long. Director Luc Besson did a good job of pacing the first two third of the film, but the last third could have easily been condensed to make it a bit more watchable. As it was, I started fidgeting after an hour and a half and really lost interest in what was going on. The basic premise to the film is good versus evil and most of what is shown is just padding.
I am the first to admit that this just isn't the sort of film that I enjoy. I will happily watch a horror, with blood and body parts flying everywhere, but science fiction just isn't my cup of tea. And although this film is perhaps not your average science fiction film, it is still too out there for me. I enjoyed it the first time around, but after this time, won't bother watching it again. If science fiction is your thing, you'll probably love it. Otherwise, it probably isn't worth bothering with, particularly not with recent developments in special effects.
Production Year: 1979 - Science Fiction - Director: Ridley Scott - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Veronica Cartwright
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
I remember watching this at the time and loving it, but I'm not sure I'd be quite as impressed now. xx
brereton66 22.07.2008 13:09
Bang on the money. I always look forward to watching this film and then feel slightly disappointed with it, promises a lot but delivers a little short.
Advantages: Excellent quality anamorphic film transfer in correct aspect ratio; good quality 5.1 audio to match; nicely presented interactive menus. Disadvantages: Selection of extras is adequate rather than excellent; the Making Of documentary is perhaps not ‘in depth’ enough; there is no audio commentary.
Jul 17th, 2008
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