THE FIFTH ELEMENT 4K UHD and Blu-ray Review

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In 1914, right before WWI, a scientist in Egypt discovered a hidden room that contains a Supreme Being with the power of good to combat evil that gains strength every 5000 years. It is a weapon comprised of 4 stones that represent the elements: earth, wind, water, and fire with the 5th as the center to bring it all together. It was hidden here by a race of aliens called Mondoshawans but they have returned to remove them from the planet due to the impending war. They have promised to return to Earth with the weapon when evil returns towards the end of the 5000-year cycle.

Fast-forward to the year 2263 and there is a dark planet that has appeared in deep space. With every attack, it grows stronger and seems unstoppable. A priest named Vito Cornelius is the new contact for the Mondoshawans and knows that the dark planet is pure evil. As the Mondoshawans approach the Earth, they’re attacked by mercenaries and all that is left is a hand. The scientists here can recreate a person from only a few living cells and when they do, they create Leeloo. She is perfect but she won’t be held captive by anyone so she escapes. She makes her way to the outside and dives off of a building, landing in the backseat of Korben Dallas. He’s ex-military and instantly feels something for this beautiful woman. He brings her to Cornelius and the priest is ready to get the stones back save the world.

THE FIFTH ELEMENT is directed by Luc Besson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Robert Mark Kamen. The design of this lived in universe has been created by Jean Giraud and Jean-Claude Mézières. The pair of French artists come from a background of unique art and French comics such as VALERIAN and BLUEBERRY. The world has been imagined as a semi-dystopian future with cities like New York being elevated above the uninhabitable pollution refereed to in the film as “the fog.’

The cast in this movie works incredibly well together with the group of heroes growing gradually until the end of the movie. Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich’s chemistry has to especially work well to make the love for each other feel convincing. This role is one of Jovovich’s earliest but it is her breakout role. She had to learn an alien language, convey emotion with a small amount dialogue, and martial arts. She is made to play Leeloo and that’s probably why her resumé is loaded with roles like this. Of course Gary Oldman, my favorite actor, does an amazing job of playing the corporate overload with no morals named Zorg. He is in it for the cash and not interested in humanity in the slightest. He makes the mistake in the same place as most Bond villains do and thinks of him as intangible, which leads to his ultimate end. Oldman is a chameleon and brings so much into the roles that make you forget that he is only acting.

Something that also made this film so special is the proper use of practical and CG effects. It allows the actors to interact with a person in a suit rather than a tennis ball on a stick. This also means less CGI and in 1998, the CG effects were still new to the industry. With VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS currently in theaters, you can definitely see the evolution of how Besson imagines the future and what other planets to look like. In aesthetics alone, the world is lush with life and beautifully crafted.

Cast
Bruce Willis – Korben Dallas
Gary Oldman – Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
Milla Jovovich – Leeloo Minaï Lekatariba-Laminaï-Tchaï Ekbat de Sebat
Ian Holm – Father Vito Cornelius
Chris Tucker – Ruby Rhod
Charlie Creed-Miles – David
Brion James – General Munro
Tricky – Right Arm
Tommy “Tiny” Lister Jr. – President Lindberg

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VIDEO QUALITY:

Blu-ray
The video transfer for the Blu-ray is a1080p AVC and looks amazing. The intricacies that I vaguely remember seeing in the theater back in 1997 are brought into focus with this release. The Blu-ray has been mastered in 4K which means that a lot of the issues from the release prior to the Cinema Series release has been cleaned up considerably. This movie was one of the early movies put on Blu-ray and there has been progression of quality in each release. The colors are bright and vibrant throughout the movie. Some colors are really bold such as oranges in Leeloo’s hair and outfit as well as the Diva’s blue skin/blood. Details are sharp in close-ups such as when Leeloo escapes from the building in the beginning and she is covered in grime. In the wide-shots of the busy cityscapes, the vehicles in the mid and background are easily seen.

4K UHD
As for the 4k UHD, it takes everything that the Blu-ray has done right and turns it up to eleven. The details are cleaner and the skin imperfections standout. The biggest difference here is in the contrasting and coloring. First off, the contrasting has these deeper blacks from the HDR that gives the dark spaces an inky quality. As for the coloring, the brilliant colors I mentioned before are some how even brighter. The Blu-ray already has a beautiful transfer and the 4k UHD is possibly the best version I’ve seen to date.

AUDIO QUALITY:

The audio on both version of the release is a Dolby Atmos mix that defaults to a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix. The Atmos mix opens up the movie in a whole new way that has never been heard in home theaters before but I’ll explain all of that in a moment. The Dolby TrueHD mix is powerful and deserves a little credit for those without the newest receivers on the market. The release before the Cinema Series and this edition have an LPCM 5.1 track that was the best until the 7.1 Cinema Series release. It has utilizes the two extras speakers to make the sweeping audio feel smoother and more even. Now, the Atmos mix is hands down the best mix to date with overhead movement in both the ships and action scenes coming to life. There is a solid amount of LFEs in the engines and Eric Serra’s score. The dialogue is clear and reproduced just a well as the effects that never fail to impress.

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SUPPLEMENTS & PACKAGING

New to the 4K UHD release:
-The Director’s Notes: Luc Besson Looks Back: This new feature has Luc Besson looking back at THE FIFTH ELEMENT from inception to screen to it’s legacy.

The Blu-ray:
-The Visual Element: The featurette is how Besson worked with artists Jean Claude Mezieres and Jean Giraud in creating the worlds for the film.

-The Visual Element Extras: These are film tests from locations in the film.

-The Star Element: Bruce Willis: This is a conversation with actor.

-The Star Element: Mila Jovovich: This is a conversation with the actress.

-The Star Element: Mila Jovovich Extras: These are a few of the actress’ screen tests.

-The Star Element: Chris Tucker: This is the actor talking about his experiences with the role and the movie.

-The Alien Element: Mondoshawans: This looks at the crew creating this race of aliens and how they are worked into the story.

-The Alien Element: Mondoshawans Extras: This is some the screen test that were done for these characters.

-The Alien Element: Mangalores: This featurette give plenty of background into the details of creating the creatures and even how they were cast.

-The Alien Element: Mangalores Extras: These are camera test of these crazy creatures.

-The Alien Element: Picasso: Take a look at the cutest alien in the galaxy named Picasso.

-The Alien Element: Strikers: These are some the aliens that were on the cutting room floor.

-The Alien Element: Strikers Extras: Camera tests of these creatures.

?-The Fashion Element: Wardrobe and costumes for the film is key and here is a look at them.

-The Fashion Element Extras: Tests of the clothing for the movie.

-The Diva: This featurette is about a pivotal character and what it took to get her to the screen.

-The Diva Extras: These are some of the extras of the character.

-The Digital Element: This is a look at some of the effects for the movie.

-Imagining THE FIFTH ELEMENT: These are some of the bigger effects in the movie.

-The Elements of Style: Jean Paul Gaultier costume designs.

-Fact Track: These are some facts that pop up throughout the movie.

Disc Details
2-disc set w/ 1 Blu-ray and 1 4k UHD
Digital copy
Slipcover with the first pressing

Running Time
126 mins

Edition Ratings
Rated PG-13

Region Coding
Region A

4k UHD
Video Resolution
4k 2160p HEVC/H.265
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Audio Mixes
English Dolby Atmos
English Dolby TrueHD 7.1
French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles
English
English SDH
French
Spanish

Blu-ray
Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Audio Mixes
English Dolby Atmos
English Dolby TrueHD 7.1
French Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles
English
English SDH
French
Spanish

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THE BOTTOM LINE:

THE FIFTH ELEMENT is one of those movies that didn’t get a whole lot of love back in ’97 but over the years, there has been a strong following that has only grown. Besson has created a film that is a solid sci-fi film that stands on its own and the test of time or else there wouldn’t be so many releases of it. However in this case of the 4K UHD and this being the 20th Anniversary, Sony and Besson made sure to give the fans something unique. The 4k disc looks incredible and is one of the best that has released on the format so far. That’s not to say that the Blu-ray doesn’t also look beautiful as well. The Atmos mix on either disc is impressive and is like experiencing the film for the first time. The Cinema Series release included a great amount of features and with this being the anniversary, I figured there would be even more in bonus features but there was only one added to the 4k. Owners of the previous version should take comfort that adding this to your library is worth it, especially if you have a 4k setup and/or an Atmos system that you want to give a mean workout. So what are you waiting for?

About the author

MEDIA JOURNALIST | Michael is a fanatic about all both cinema old and new. He collects anything from 1:6 Scale, 1:12 Scale, and vinyl Collectibles plus Slipcovers and Steelbooks. He loves pop culture, writing, reviewing films & collectibles, and journalism. An avid Batman, The Joker and anything comics junkie, he will also chat it up about pretty much anything. Go ahead and ask...