This 1997 movie blew me away when I first saw it at the movies but for some reason I never got around to seeing it again after that first time. When a mean deal came up for the 2-disk special edition, I snapped it up right away to check it out and see how 13 years and my memory held up from my first viewing. Directed by the prolific French writer, director and producer Luc Besson this was the film that cemented him as a top film maker and has helped his continued successful career.

"Two hundred and fifty years in the future, life as we know it is threatened by the arrival of Evil. Only the fifth element can stop the Evil from extinguishing life, as it tries to do every five thousand years. She is helped by ex-soldier, current-cab-driver, Korben Dallas, who is, in turn, helped by Prince/Arsenio clone, Ruby Rhod. Unfortunately, Evil is being assisted by Mr. Zorg, who seeks to profit from the chaos that Evil will bring, and his alien mercenaries."

The first thing that struck me was that this film, which is set in a distant future, and the world it created back in '97 still feels like a genuine view of the future. Sometimes older films depicting the future look very dated when viewed in the following years but not this one. The second thing that blew me away was the visual and computer effects, which considering they are 13 years old, still look great. Sure we see better these days but for the time it came out they are pretty impressive. Add on top of that great sets, costumes, characters, acting, directing and an interesting world, I'm glad to see that this film has held up very well in the 13 years between viewings.

8 out of 10 from me.