The Fifth Element (1997)

Director: Luc Besson

Starring: Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich, Chris Tucker, Luke Perry, Brion James, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, Lee Evans, Charlie Creed-Miles, Tricky, John Neville

More info: IMDb

Tagline: 250 years in the future, all will be lost unless the fifth element is found.

Plot: In the twenty-third century, the universe is threatened by evil. The only hope for mankind is the Fifth Element, who comes to Earth every five thousand years to protect the humans with four stones of the four elements: fire, water, Earth and air. A Mondoshawan spacecraft is bringing The Fifth Element back to Earth but it is destroyed by the evil Mangalores. However, a team of scientists use the DNA of the remains of the Fifth Element to rebuild the perfect being called Leeloo. She escapes from the laboratory and stumbles upon the taxi driver and former elite commando major Korben Dallas that helps her to escape from the police. Leeloo tells him that she must meet Father Vito Cornelius to accomplish her mission. Meanwhile, the Evil uses the greedy and cruel Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg and a team of mercenary Mangalores to retrieve the stones and avoid the protection of Leeloo. But the skilled Korben Dallas has fallen in love with Leeloo and decides to help her to retrieve the stones.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? I guess.

Hell-oooooooo, nurse!

I've probably seen this three times prior to the latest watch and I thought this would be the last time but something has changed.  I was growing increasingly tired of this flick but now I dig it more than before.  It's kind of a love/hate thing. On one hand there's some really great sci-fi going on.  The story, the gadgets, future life, etc are often great but then there's the shit like the over the top comedy, like the scene where Zorg (Oldman in a fun performance) chokes on a cherry.  And there's no way anyone could forget Chris Tucker's tremendously flamboyant performance.  For all the good there is in this picture he destroys it a little.  I get that he's just as annoying to us as he is to Dallas (Willis) but his being annoying doesn't serve the story.  He's just there to be a walking freak show for people to love.  Well, not me.  I guess when I watched it before I focused on the negative and this time it was the positive.  Regardless, it's a fun flick that isn't completely ruined by Tucker's outlandish performance.