If watching Abar: The First Black Superman like being on two week vodka bender, den watching The Fifth Element definitely involve some heavy drugs. You need dem in order to fully appreciate dis film – preferably acid which monster suspekt be obvious preference of filmmakers.
Dis movie a wildly mixed bag of nuts. On de one hand, it have everyting a science fiction fan could want: aliens, bad aliens, worse aliens, a colorful villain, huge stakes involving threat to Earth – de galaxy! – de UNIVERSE!, cool futuristic weapons, action! On de other hand, it have plenty of stuff any self-respekting science fiction fan NOT want: nonsensical plot and developments, lame insta-love romance, humor dat skirt de line between silly funny and stoopid-stoopid, and a future where everyone dress like Parisian runway accident victims.
Movie begin in Egypt in 1914 where archeologist diskover legend of ancient evil dat rise up every 300 years only to be vanquished by light weapon created by four elements conducted through fifth element which aktually be a human in a sarcophagus. Make sense so far? Good, good. Dat mean you already high.
Aliens arrive and open up sekret chamber in pyramid holding four elements and sarcophagus and take dem away for safekeeping. After all, dey not want to leave dese precious artifakts lying around Earth…like dey have been doing for hundreds of years! After accident involving faulty automatic doors, human priest end up wit key to sekret chamber…
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Smirky McSmirkerson.
Three hundred years later, Earth encounter evil black entity dat threaten to destroy de entire Universe! Fortunately, de good aliens we saw earlier fly back to deliver artifakts capable of destroying it. Unfortunately, good aliens get attacked by evil muppet aliens. Ship destroyed but Earth able to recover enough genetic material to recreate fully functional Fifth Element human conduit – along wit sexy band-aid dress.
Sexy conduit, a.k.a. Leelu, promptly eskape and catch ride wit washed up space cab driver played by Bruce Willis who always seem like an aktor who be doing you a favor by akting in de movie you happen to be watching. Whether he be smirking, mugging, or looking direktly at camera, de subtext of his performance always de same: “Look at me. I’m Bruce Willis! I aktually get paid for dis! Can you believe it?!” Me? Not really.
In a happy coincidence, Bruce Willis happen to be ex-military guy and get ordered to go to undercover as space-holiday winner to space cruise ship where other four elements hidden. Bruce be joined by Leelu and priest (different priest becuz dat wouldn’t make sense and we got more den enough stuff not making sense in dis movie) wit key to sekret chamber. But he pursued by…
Colorful villain wit bad hair and worse accent (played by Gary Oldman) who will stop at nothing to stop dem from getting the four elements. Why? Becuz he aktually working for…de evil entity. Yep, he be working for an evil black space cloud bent on annihilating existence. What exaktly be de upside for villain? What he get out of it? Oh, he just crazy? Er, okay. And how he, a lowly human, communicate wit his god-like amorphous cosmic boss? By phone? Er, why, yes. Evil space cloud just ring him up. Oh, okay. Dat make…about as much sense as rest of movie me guess.
It all culminate in ridikulous climax involving double-crossed and crossing alien shapeshifters, a blue opera-singing alien wit a very slow-akting digestive track, fighting, shooting, explosions, and de most annoying charakter in movie history played by Chris Tucker doing a much less masculine RuPaul imiation.
In de end, Bruce Willis save de day and get de girl while audience treated to clumsy “Horrible humanity saved by de power of love” lesson. Yeah, we suck. But we so damn cute!
Verdikt: Alternately fascinating and hugely embarrassing. It like a clown car wreck. Very hard to look away.
Rating: 5.5 chocolate chippee cookies.
But the awesome version of that.
I actually quite liked the movie…
Anyway, I got some bad news (health wise) last week. What with my dog really ill, I don’t feel much like ‘playing’ at the moment.
Hope all your projects go well Joe, and take care of yourself and Akemi.
I’m sure I missed something, but why is Cookie reviewing this? How is it a superhero movie?
See! I knew Cookie was going to be ruthless. Poor Mr. Willis. He hasn’t had such a poor review since Armageddon. At least in the Fifth Element he still had most of his hair.
As I’ve said before, I like the fifth Element. Sure, you have to turn off your brain. Sure, it’s a little over the top. Well, a lot over the top. It’s a satire, isn’t it? It’s making fun of fame, fame hogs and the obsessed fans and groupies, as in the case of Ruby Rhod, played by Chris Tucker. Everything about the show screams satire.
The costumes are reminiscent of any of a number of freaky weird fashion shows that Fashionista’s take seriously, or perhaps a night at the Oscars.
The fifth Element shouldn’t be taken seriously, or at least no more seriously then it takes itself.
Sorry to hear Joanie. Hope you and your dog are better soon.
Chev
Yeah, I figured you weren’t going to like this one. I found it silly but fun. And I agree with Mike from Canada – it is plenty over the top and is clearly going for satire. I didn’t know you were such a Bruce Willis hater or I wouldn’t have voted to have you watch it. Maybe you should give us a list of actors/actresses you despise so we won’t make that mistake again.
@joanie: Sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope things get better soon.
I have to disagree with Cookie. There is a decent story line, comedy, and action all in one sitting!
I know this movie is not treating me respectfully, but I’m still going back to it.
The Fifth Element requires no thought to enjoy it. Stop thinking and go along with the clown car ride, right over the cliff.
And I think we all need to agree: That is a very nice hat. 😉
http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/nah_3vO0uhM/hqdefault.jpg
I agree with the others, turn off your brain and enjoy. I’ve read the author was 15 or 16 when he wrote this. That would explain a lot.
Oh and I hope things get better for you Joanie.
Ah, The Fifth Element, I did enjoy the movie, it was so easy to watch, no real scary stuff, just some aliens and orange hair(which was a wig halfway thru the movie) Milla really did make the band-aid outfit look good. Chris Rock was annoyingly funny, and Bruce was Bruce. The Diva was blue, how cool, and the singing was choreographed to the fighting, it was a fun romp and I still watch it when it comes on. The good guys won. with all the extra cheese.
Looks like Cookie’s opinion has been vetoed and he should have turned off his brain and gone along with the silly but fun clown ride over the cliff. Just quoting from above. 😉
@ Joanie – Putting you in my prayers…
Here’s how to turn off your brain to watch a movie (without drugs). Make sure the first ten times you watch it, you just caught it on TV partway through. That way, anything that doesn’t make sense, you just blame yourself for. How would you know it wasn’t already explained how a scene makes sense if you never saw the beginning? It would only be fair to ignore any red flags and assign positive intent.
The blame shifting and also the movie spouting non-sense, then acting like everything’s fine and I’m the one who’s no fun if I complain… I think I’m in an abusive relationship with this movie.
@joanie – sorry to hear of your challenges. Hugs to you and hoping to hear better news or of improvement for you and your dog.
Re Fifth Element
Reinforced with a drinkey poo of the JD Tennessee Honey – a re, re, re, rewatch of this movie. It is a favorite and I seem to always watch it when it is available.
It is called mindless (no brain or thinking required) entertainment.
What’s not to like?
Chinese restaurant that comes to your window, space McD’s complete with fries, lots of bad wigs on the airline folks, an over the top Chris Tucker who was annoying, a lovely cruise ship complete with kinda sorta Hawaiian/Samoan,Tahitian dancing and music, seemingly sincerely and dedicated priest and acolyte, rich dork named Zorg, cute robots, dense secretary, the Diva, and an overbearing mother – thank goodness we could only hear her. But wait there is more – watching the evolution of Leelu was entertaining. You gotta admit the ready bed, shower, freezer, and “Moool Tee Pass” were cute. Didn’t you want some of this?
@Mike from Canada – yes is a very very nice hat….on a guy that was doing the “I have to go to potty” dance.
What’s not to like? Space, weird people, strange people, silly approaches to silly problems and as others pointed out, no real scary stuff.
This movie made a little sense and had a plot of sorts. If compared to a real dreg – Mars Attacks, this shudda gotten an Oscar. Mars had many big names that could not save it.
This is science fiction and fantasy – probably more emphasis on the FANTASY.
I did like it.
rating: 8 variety macarons
i don’t get what my brother like about this movie. maybe he can turn his brain off more than i can.
and no reply to the review will be forthcoming on his part.
What I like about the Fifth Element is the design elements. I love the design of the robot like creatures. They remind me of something, I don’t know what, but I’m sure I’ve seen something like them before. Maybe in the pages of Heavy Metal. Most of the sets are are simply a pleasure to look at. Eye candy. Very visually appealing.
The music and pacing of the movie was excellent. The action is closely linked to the music beats. I too enjoyed the blue tentacle headed singing and the fight scene cut to coincide with the music. Unfortunately I thought that Milla Jovovich, who played Leeloo, was short changed in the choreographing of her fight scene, but this isn’t a huge problem.
I enjoyed Bruce’s usual antics, “Seven on the left, five on the right”.
“Four on the right, two on the left.”
I liked Korben Dallas’s pathetically small apartment with a shower that slides up to reveal a fridge. Disappearing beds. At least his apartment was larger then my first apartment. Cleaner too.
The comedy was well done, not over done. Well, for the most part not over done. Zorg’s little pink pet flailing about as he chokes on a cherry. Leeloo’s “Multipass!” Zorg’s hapless assistant. The Father Vito Cornelius’s hapless assistant. McDonalds served untold amounts of people.
I liked Gary Oldman’s take on Zorg, a ruthless aberrent over hyped class A boss who doesn’t give a damn about anyone other then himself. I thought he did his usual great job. “Not one or two or three but FOUR! FOUR STONES! W-What the hell am I supposed to do with an empty case?!”
What I didn’t like was the whole Leeloo upset about “war” and only being saved by love. It seems like a bit of a problem for the ultimate weapon. Another problem might be the advanced aliens who get killed by the Mangalores. Yes, there were a lot more problems. But they were easy to overlook.
Maybe it’s just easier for the rest of us to turn off our brains. That Cookie, he’s just too smart for his own good. Always thinking. Thinking thinking thinking.
Perhaps he should watch The Fifth Element again. Over and over. I’m sure it’ll help. Soon, he’ll be just like us.
Happy with our meager allotment of brain cells. Well, actually, I’ll just speak for myself. I’m happy with my meager allotment of brain cells. Sure it gets in the way of stuff. Writing. Remembering. Reasoning. But it does make movies better.
Speaking of Heavy Metal, did anyone see Metal Hurlant Chronicles, a french series that used Stargate Atlantis’s Joe Flanigan? My goodness, this was one really terrible show. I mean, really really terrible. Joe’s episode and acting was the best of the series, but even Joe’s episode was simply unwatchable.
I guess I’m just not that brain dead after all.
By the way….random…. Has anyone watched Real Housewives of Vancouver? I watched the first ep the other night… totally different life
Cheers, Chev
I enjoy the movie for it’s cartoon silliness. Reminds me of some over the top Heavy Metal magazine stories.
The costume designer for the movie is Jean Paul Gaultier, who actually tone-down his usual flamboyant style.
@Sylvia The bad wigs on the spaceliner folks is a subtle tribute to Gerry Anderson’s badly wigged Moonbase babes on his UFO TV show. They are not that dissimilar.
Give this movie a 8.5 rating re-watchable fun way to past time.
I will have to rewatch this movie, clearly I have missed a lot. I think my brain must have been too off when I watched it.
Cookie, I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one unimpressed with this film. It’s such a cult classic and yet I just sort of wondered “why?” after I watched it the first time.
The Fifth Element. One of my favourite movies. Possibly my favourite sci-fi movie but I’ll have to think some more about that because there’s a few in contention for the top spot. It’s certainly the one I watch the most often.
The movie can be summed up with one word: fun!
The costumes, sets and production design are totally over the top but it works. If you think about the state-of-the-art in clothes and architecture 200 years ago and how different it is from today then extrapolate today out to 200 years in the future then maybe the movie isn’t that far out afterall. Or, then again, maybe it is. That’s what is fun about imagining the future. Noone really knows what it’ll be like so you might as well enjoy making shit up!
The script is fast paced and witty. Sure, some things are a little silly like when Korben shoves his army buddies into the fridge and the cheese is laid on a little thick when we discover that it’s actually love that’s the fifth element, not Leeloo as we originally thought, but if you look past those things it’s a fun and action packed story.
At the time this movie was made it had the largest visual effects budget in history and you can tell. The CGI, makeup and prosthetics are fantastic. Cookie, you may call the Mangalores “Muppets” but they are really quite well done. These days they’d probably be 100% CGI but I don’t think they’d look as good. And this is coming from someone used to earn his bread and butter from the CGI industry and even worked with The Fifth Element‘s VFX supervisor, Mark Stetson. (Really nice, friendly guy who really knows his stuff!)
Chris Rock’s character, Ruby Rhod, was a bit of a shock when I first saw this movie. I thought to myself, “Who is this guy? Why is he even in this movie?” His high-pitched, almost falsetto, voice starts out grating and annoying. By the end of the film and after many, many, many viewings he’s actually one of my favourite characters and I’d like to know more about him. Hmmmm, I wonder if there’s any Ruby Rhod cosplay and fanfic? Do I want to know?
Alas, as with every movie, there are some WTF moments. I’ve mostly been able to ignore them but now, thanks to you Cookie, I guess I have to think about and acknowledge them.
The Mondoshawans are defeated by the Mangalores very easily. They knew they were in danger which is why they sent the stones separately but seem totally unprepared to defend the Fifth Element. The five Elements are THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN THE UNIVERSE at that moment in time. If any of them are destroyed or don’t get to Earth in time EVERYBODY DIES!
When the “survivor” is taken to Nucleolab to be reconstructed it looks like a Mondoshawan exoskeleton hand holding a flight control handle from the destroyed ship. Wouldn’t the Fifth Element still be in sarcophagus form? Or did they release her and put her into a spacesuit so she can be fragile and vulnerable?
The Mondoshawans sent Leeloo to Earth and the stones to Fhloston Paradise. Leeloo then has to put herself into further danger by travelling to Fhloston to get the stones and then get back to Earth. All with only a day or two before a giant fireball planet thing is about to destroy all life in the universe. No pressure guys! My only theory is that the Mondoshawans are prescient and know exactly what will happen in the future and therefore put everything in place to fulfil predestiny.
Fhloston Paradise is supposed to be really hard to get to resulting in several sequences reinforcing that notion. The government rigging the contest to send Korben as the prize winner, Zorg’s minion framing Korben so he can take his place, the Mangalores killing the wrongly arrested Korben so THEY can take his place and Cornelius knocking out the real Korben so he can take his place. And yet, when we finally get to Fhloston Paradise the Mangalores are already there in force fully armed with a massive array of weapons, Cornelius has stowed away on the plane and Zorg flies his own ship there. Gee, I guess it wasn’t so hard to get to Fhloston afterall.
Korben and Zorg never actually meet. Not really a WTF moment but it is strange that the hero and villain never actually meet in the movie. What is this? The Lord Of The Rings?
So the evil planet is stopped in the nick of time! Yay! A new moon, 12,000 miles in diameter is now in orbit 61 miles above the Earth. 61 MILES!!!!!! Sure, 60 miles is the generally accepted definition of the edge of space but it’s nowhere near high enough to achieve a stable orbit. The International Space Station is over 250 miles above sea level and it needs regular boosts in order to stay there. Something 60 miles above the Earth will start falling immediately. Something that big will make a big splash even if it did start falling from a standstill.
Yeah, so thanks, Cookie, for ruining one of my favourite movies by making me apply logic to it! I hate you!
Ha! I just noticed Smirky McSmirkerson… you remind me of BamBam and his nicknames… lol
Looking forward to Despicable Me review – a movie I have seen
Cheers, Chev
Not everyone likes the same movies. Or the same actors and actresses. I avoid movies with Jim Carey. Just having him on the screen affects me like nails on a chalkboard. So I understand how you feel about Bruce Willis. I don’t agree, but I understand.
Everything you said is true, but come on this was a great movie. If I am looking at my guide and I see it on somewhere I have to flip to it and at least watch 15 or 20 minutes.
Like others said you just gotta let go and enjoy it for what it is.
CM, you hit the nail on the head. This movie is ridiculous. But for some reason, fun to watch. I hate myself for enjoying it.
Oh, Cookie, what a shame you didn’t really like Fifth Element, you’re missing out on a real gem!
It’s deliciously OTT!
It’s like eating a high calorific ice-cream on a hot summer’s day. Covering it in sprinkles and adding a flake guarantees happy smiles, especially when you discover a satisfying chocolate treat hiding inside the wafer. Ending it with licked fingers and gulping down ice-cold water concludes a satisfying experience!
I admit, seeing the bizarre costumes on a ‘making of’ special did put me off actually seeing it at the cinema! I’d like to whack my former self …
It has humour … great humour in my opinion, amazing fight choreography and singing from the Diva … and it has Gary Oldman! You can’t go wrong with a Gary Oldman performance!
I don’t have a list as such, there are far TOO many films I love to watch – but this is definitely one of my all-time favourites! Deserves its place amongst my DVD collection!
On a completely different note: Re-watching old (Sharpe) specials. Wonderful drama and Sean Bean is ALWAYS easy on the eyes!
@Joanie: Sending you my best wishes – I hope everything works out for all concerned
I cannot figure out why I love this movie so much. The film is actually worse than Cookie’s review, but yet I love it at almost the same level as many historically well loved and well reviewed sci-fi films. It must be the ridiculousness/cheesiness of the film that makes it enjoyable. The more someone enjoys something, the more faults we’re willing to forgive.
Also, the inhuman screeching Chris Tucker considers a voice actually is not out of place in this film.
Mike from Canada: That Cookie, he’s just too smart for his own good. Always thinking. Thinking thinking thinking.
Perhaps he should watch The Fifth Element again. Over and over. I’m sure it’ll help. Soon, he’ll be just like us. Happy with our meager allotment of brain cells. Well, actually, I’ll just speak for myself. I’m happy with my meager allotment of brain cells. Sure it gets in the way of stuff. Writing. Remembering. Reasoning. But it does make movies better. Thanks for the laugh Mike!
😳
I had a migraine fifteen minutes in when I realized (to my great horror) that this was not the movie we’d paid for. The trailer we saw made it seem like Blade Runner 2. Instead it was way, way more “comedic” than advertised. I have a lingering loathing of Chris Tucker that only dissipated after seeing his terrific performance in Silver Linings Playbook. But my younger sis still despises the very sight of poor Chris. He really is terrific in Silver Linings. My favorite thing about this movie is how boys wee themselves with excitement whenever chicks dress up like Leelu at conventions. To hell with Leia’s bikini, Leelu’s bandage dress is catnip for muchachos.
With all of that, I still love that crazy blue Opera singer squid lady, I love Gary Oldham’s nutty villain and I always watch the thing when it’s on. It’s much better if you don’t struggle and just let the crazy wash over you.
@ Kevin: Besson wrote this when he was 15, and it does seem like a kid’s fantasy notebook come to life. I keep watching the film, and I enjoy it much more now than I did when it first came out, despite it’s weirdness. Luc Besson gave us Nikita, Banlieue 13, Taken and the Transporter so bless him for that.
I know I commented on ” TheFifth Element” a year or two ago, and I can’t find it. Lazy, aren’t I? 😉 I loved this quirky, colorful, FUN movie the way you love kids’ movies from the 70s. Even on re-watch, when you see the lame parts, you still love the old favorites. No surprise then that this script was written by a kid/teenager. The art direction was so over-the-top that it was enjoyable to watch, like a kaleidoscope. Sci-fi, action, artful sillyness, cool transportation, wild colors, satire (2nd or 3rd that!), and pure entertainment.
One of the funniest scenes in this movie, besides the Chris Tucker stuff was when all those random people were pretending to be Korben Dallas lol
Anyway, although I’ve never considered Milla Jovovich to be a good actress, virtually everything she’s appeared in, she’s appeared in because she was dating/married to the guy directing. Be it Luc Besson or Paul W.S Anderson. Though I guess that’s common these days with movies.
Haven’t had a chance to screen it yet (still in NH!) but I will when I get home. I agree with cookie on Willis’ mugging. It’s getting worse over time too, or perhaps my tolerance for it is less.
Everything going well here, but man, it’s hot!!
I’m going to have to do this in two parts. This is what I have so far…….
As with all great science fiction stories, it starts in Egypt and a Stargate…oops, not a Stargate. The information about black holes is totally wrong. Black holes are not doorways into or from other galaxies. The priest tries to kill the archeologist but he wants wine not poison. But the priest was not going to kill Billy? Billy knew just as much. A spaceship that looks like an elongated acorn approaches. Billy quickly draws a picture of the aliens. The aliens remind me of the fat people in UP! when they wobble. Or a taller version of the Volus in Mass Effect. Look it’s Bilbo Baggins as the new priest! The military wants to use weapons. Evil begets evil–the priest doesn’t think that is a good idea. The president has a doubt but the general shoots anyway. So this president has no clear authority. He orders them to leave and they ignore that, too. The future does not look very nice. Small apartments. People are still smoking. And Nemo is back in the fish tank. And TV sucks. And your neighbors are crazy people with guns. Fashion is horrible, too. They have 48 hours until life is over. They can recreate a being with a DNA sample. She is in desperate need of a root job. She lands in Dallas’ cab and he is instantly smitten. I love that a woman is the key to saving all of mankind. I love the snuffalafagus creature that Zorg has. I adore Chris Tucker’s character. It is so outrageous that only he could pull something like that off.
Hm, I have a feeling that cookie monster was looking for a different kind of cookie than what he got? Don’t get me wrong…I might be the greatest nitpicker of them all regarding movie logic and plausibilty in any serious movie including action blockbusters and don’t easily forgive a breach of logic. It’s just that I don’t think this movie does not aim at taking itself seriously but rather at relishing in being delightfully over the top. Which includes jumping into abysses (…which I did NOT forgive in The Hobbit), villains with somehow out-of-place beards, steeping hands in light-blue blood, movie quotes, big guns, big sad eyes, and, to top it off, luuuurve as the solution to it all. In other words, this movie is clearly not self-respecting. In a good way :-). It’s space opera rather than SciFi. It had a Space balls or Coen brothers feel interspersed with a some of these amazing and memorable moments that achieve the rare feat of completely transporting the viewer to a futuristic world (which is amongst the highest praise I can give for a SciFi movie) such as Dallas’ multifunction cubicle and diva song scene. Maybe I would judge it more critically today, but haven’t seen it since I watched it years ago in a small cinema probably the size of your home theatre. By then I enjoyed it immensely (like 10 points) even though I did not understand half of it :-).
One of my favourite go-to movies when I need to not think about anything and just be entertained.
We’ve been very very sad. My longtime horse pal and friend Dundee had to be put down last week. He was 28 years old. I was in the mountains when I got the call that my horse of 24 years had broken his leg/shoulder (not sure how). We couldn’t let him suffer. I’ve had him my entire adult life and we’ve been through lots together. Getting old really sucks…
@Bella&Kasper I am so sorry for your loss.
Okay here is the rest of my review….
Fifth element
McDonald’s has become the new Hooters. The police chase Dallas and run into a McDonald’s truck that says served. (LOL — You got served). I wanted to break out in the Kelly Clarkson song when Zorg says, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”.
Miniblinds still exist in the future? Tragedy. I love Major Iceborg with Princess Leia like hair. Something disturbing about a shower draining on top of a refrigerator. And geez–they don’t have waterproof mascara in the future? That sucks. The garbage didn’t surprise me much but people still carrying suitcases did.
Looks like there is some trouble with tribbles. Not sure what to make of the statue of Liberty. Did they move her? Or did the sea level go down?
I swear that is the same opera house from Battlestar Galactica. Time for Leeloo to show her kickass moves. Love the nod to The Matrix. Blue diva dies but Korben does an emergency c-section to extract the stones. That had to have been one impaction! Now it is like Die Hard in space! “Ray! The gun!” (get it? Ray Gun?). Four minutes is not a long time for a bomb alert. Pack them in like cattle into the life pods.
Those mesh-like things on Korben’s arms I used for my arm when I had the bad wound.
They figure out the stones and they need Leelo to do her stuff, but the research on war has made her exhausted. The only thing that can save her also saves the Earth–LOVE. The AVR work here gets shoddy (which reminds me of Dante’s Peak). They celebrate by consummating relationship but one has to worry that you’ll never be able to live up to the expectations of a supreme being.
I give it 10 out of 10 cookies because it became a cult classic.
…I have a feeling that cookie monster was looking for a different kind of cookie than what he got? Don’t get me wrong…I might be the greatest nitpicker of them all regarding movie logic and plausibilty in any serious movie including action blockbusters. I don’t easily forgive a breach of logic. It’s just that I don’t think this movie aims at taking itself seriously but rather at relishing being delightfully over the top. Which includes jumping into abysses (…which I did NOT forgive in The Hobbit), villains with somehow out-of-place beards, bad guys standing by to be knocked out, steeping hands in light-blue blood, movie quotes, big guns, big sad eyes, and, to top it off, luuuurve as the solution to it all. It’s space opera rather than SciFi. It had a Space balls or Coen brothers feel interspersed with some of these amazing and memorable moments that achieve the rare feat of completely transporting the viewer to a futuristic world (which is amongst the highest praise I can give for a SciFi movie) such as Dallas’s multifunction cubicle and diva song scene. Maybe I would judge it more critically today, but haven’t seen it since I watched it years ago in a small cinema probably the size of your home theatre. By then I enjoyed it immensely (like 10 points) even though I did not understand half of it 🙂