Fifth Element, The (Blu-ray) (1997)

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General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	Menu Animation & Audio On-Screen Information Track-Trivia
Rating
Year Of Production	1997
Running Time	125:54
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Luc Besson
Studio Distributor	Sony Pictures Home Entertain	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 John Bluthal
Case	Amaray Variant
RPI	?	Music	Eric Serra

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 English Linear PCM 48/24 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes, to quit is my goal.
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes, fast food, soft drinks.
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Every five thousand years, an evil entity of a planetary scale tears through space to terrorize Earth. A race of highly advanced, mechanized aliens, the Mondoshawans, have been assisting Earthlings each time evil approaches, via a weapon hidden in the ancient Egyptian Pyramids. When World War II nears, the Mondoshawans pop by Earth and confiscate the weapon, promising to return to help us when the evil approaches again.

    Cut to several hundred years in the future, and Earth's outer-space defence forces are encountering a huge, black, impenetrable entity, believed by priest Cornelius (Ian Holm) to be 'the evil' returning for another round. Earth's military is crushed by the entity, as it starts hurtling towards our planet.

    Who can save us? Bruce Willis, of course! Corban Dallas (Bruce Willis) is a New York cab driver, ex-special forces, who by chance encounters Leeloo (Milla Jovovich), a supreme being said to hold the key to Earth's protection from evil. But, in order to get the all-important missing weapon (a box of ornate stones) they must travel to Fhloston Paradise, a luxury resort planet. Chased by Zorg (Gary Oldman), a maniacal corporate cut-throat, and his henchman (Tricky), along with a squad of not-so-bright alien Mangalore warriors, all and sundry are after the stones and it's up to Dallas and Leeloo to discover the weapon's secret and save Earth.

    Beautifully directed by Luc Besson, The Fifth Element is one of my all-time favourites. It perfectly mixes sci-fi, action, comedy and thrills in a way unlike any other film. The special effects are first rate, from the amazing alien creatures to the outstanding futuristic ships, bizarre costumes and spacecraft, this is an awesome experience. The performances are a little on the campy side at times, particularly the flamboyant DJ Ruby Rhod (Chris Tucker), but these form part of the film's timeless charm. I'm certain this is a film I'll still be enjoying for decades to come.

    My colleague, DanielB, outlined the various standard definition versions of this film very well in his review of last year. It's definitely worth a read.

    Note that the review below refers to the non-remastered, original Blu-ray release. While the Australian distributor did send us this disc in advance for review, we suspect that this release may not have ever reached Australian shelves. The Remastered Blu-ray disc, currently available in Australian shops, is reviewed by BrandonV here.

Video

    When The Fifth Element was first released on standard definition DVD in the late nineties, it set the benchmark for digital transfers and showed us all the exciting potential of the format, even though it was soon bettered later down the line. Our expectations have grown considerably since then, and while that original release initially gained five-star reviews across the board, it's not likely to be rated quite as highly when placed alongside transfers of current blockbusters or top-shelf remasters. So, when The Fifth Element appeared on Blu-ray, my interest was piqued to say the least. The film is an awesome candidate for HD, besides being one of my all-time favourites, so one would hope the powers that be would give The Fifth Element a transfer that stands up to its status as a quality film with a decent history on SD DVD.

    Unfortunately, they haven't delivered the goods this time around, so you might want to hang onto your Collector's Edition a bit longer. There's no denying this is a sharp, vivid transfer, but very little has been done to clean up or stabilize the source print. The sharpness and clarity of HD betrays a myriad of dusty, dirty positive and negative specs that litter the transfer from beginning to end. The first five minutes are particularly bad in this regard, for example, check out the opening shot of earth at 1:35, or the bright Egyptian skyline soon after. Minor telecine wobble is also visible during still moments, such as the opening titles.

    The film has been transferred in its original theatrical aspect of 2.35:1, in a 16x9, 1080p frame.

    I made direct comparisons between this Blu-ray edition and two PAL SD discs I have on hand; the Region 4 Superbit and the original Region 4 release. The Superbit transfer is much cleaner and void of any wobble. The Superbit is also slightly windowboxed on the left and right of the frame, whereas the Blu-ray is tight to the frame. Obviously, the Superbit isn't as sharp as the Blu-ray, but the difference is not as drastic as you might expect. The Blu-ray transfer seems soft in comparison to other 1080p material I have viewed of late, and it still outdoes the SD versions- but only just. As far as colours go, I detected slightly stronger depth in the Blu-ray, but again, the difference is negligible. Like the Superbit version, the Blu-ray also has the English opening titles.

    The Blu-ray does have some strengths, although I still don't think they warrant an upgrade for most viewers. Black levels are solid, without a hint of noise or pixelation to be seen in shadowy scenes. Like most other Blu-ray titles to date, MPEG2 video compression has been applied. I didn't note any obvious compression issues at all.

    Two optional English subtitle streams are provided, including a normal text and a hard of hearing text situated in a black box. Both streams are relatively accurate and easy to read. Location titles are burned into the video stream, as they are on the Superbit disc.

    The disc format is a single layered BD-25. The feature is split into sixteen chapters.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are two audio options accompanying this film, most notably an uncompressed 48KHz PCM 5.1 soundtrack. The default soundtrack is a lowly Dolby Digital 5.1 effort. Both are in the film's original English language. I listened to the PCM in its entirety and sampled the Dolby in a few key scenes.

    I'm passing the PCM via HDMI and allowing my receiver to do the processing, as I am with HD DVD. This is a fantastic soundtrack, noticeably superior to the Superbit dts audio, especially in depth and channel separation. The PCM audio is very clean and amazingly crisp. The score and effects are very well reproduced across all channels.

    The English dialogue is clear and easy to discern at all times. The ADR is perfect and audio sync is problem-free.

    The surround channels are given a good workout, with all manner of effects, from passing vehicles at 32:23 to very in-your-face gunfire at 38:17. The Shadow's loud, booming voice envelops the viewer beautifully, and has a depth here that I have not experienced before.

    In comparing the two English soundtracks, the Dolby does the job, but is barely comparable to the PCM. The uncompressed stream is very sharp, noticeably louder and has much more depth. If you're able to process the PCM, or send it via analogue, this soundtrack is the best option.

    The score by Eric Serra is highly memorable and perfect for the film's futuristic setting. A great many genres are thrown into the film, from cheesy 80s-style electro trash to more traditional symphonic scoring. It all works wonderfully and is presented very well in the PCM soundtrack.

    The subwoofer augments numerous effects and explosions, such as at 52:39. For me, this is the best the film has sounded to date.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    If you needed another reason not to upgrade, the disc is graced with a lone trivia track. Anyone who vaguely likes the film would be aware of the recent SD Collector's Edition, laden with extras, but here we have nothing. A Super-Mega Blu-ray Edition of this title will hit the shelves eventually, no doubt.

Menu

Trivia Track

    There are some interesting tidbits of information available, delving into the production, the actors, special effects, awards, deleted scenes and continuity goofs. I learned a few things that I had not heard before, but I doubt this is the kind of feature I would use regularly.

    DanielB outlined the various standard definition versions of this film very well in his review of last year. Given the vast differences in special features between regions, it's definitely worth a read.

    The video transfer is a pretty poor effort, but would be sharp enough to impress someone viewing HD material for the first time.

    The audio transfer is great.

    The extras are missing, probably being saved for the Blu-ray Special Edition.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall