Summer and Fall of 1997
The Fifth ElementAfter seeing the film (the text above was written prior to a screening!) we were pleased to see the film was more than we expected. Willis brings his quirky cop image into scifi and it comes across just fine! The humor in the film is delicious, and the themes and imagery are pure scifi gold. Imagine a hotel-cum- first class sea vessel decked out with shiny ceramic interiors that are simply out of this world, yet not so futuristic that you don't believe their real. Imagine a humorous looking (but quite possibly deadly) race that are the friends we really wish we had! Imagine a monastery founded many years ago (in our time it appears to still be many years ago!) and has been waiting for the return of our alien benafactors. Imagine...well, you get the idea.
The rumor is that the screenplay is one that sat in a young teenagers mind, grew as he grew, and finally made the big screen with one helluva impact. The slapstick is almost reminescent of the three stooges, however it IS not that apparent. Humor buffs will recognize routines from "oh no, its my wife" or other classic sketchs as Willis and crew serve up the best straight faced comedy ever to be seen in Sci-Fi, and on top of a relatively serious storyline as well. It is almost a spoof, but then it hooks you into the adventure.
A most notable mention is deserved of Ian Holm (Aliens, Game, Set, and Match-BBC) whose protrayal of the monk Victor Cornelius whose job is to help bring the fifth element back to its secret place so it can be used against an alien doom is interspersed with a comical misadventure that is entirely unbelievable yet perfect for the movie. His disbelieve at what can and does go wrong is so apt...and he does it with simple facial expressions or subtle animation. At one point he is asked to put his hands up by some nasty aliens, and he gets this apologetic look on his face and holds up handcuffed hands as if to say, "I am sorry old chap, will this do?". So well done. His interactions with Willis are perfect and for a previously serious actor (as we have imagined only), the role in humor is precise and on the mark. Excellent all around! You may not remember Ian Holm, but is other great SciFi role was as the first android in the movie Aliens.
Newcomer to the screen, Milla Jovovich plays Leeloo Minai Lekarariba-Laminai- Tchal Ekbat De Sebat, a remarkable young woman who literally falls into Willis' air cab from a very high skyscraper, presenting him quite a problem. She is quite intriquing and certainly an easy to understand love interest for those interested in the physical aspects of young, lithe, supple, and slim. The character is definitely nurturing, loving, and sensitive, not bad traits for a heroine in a 1990s film, if not rare.
We have to mention DJ Ruby Rhod. The never satisfied love monster comes across so effervescent he seems bisexual, and most likely by design, not only laughable, but ridiculous. In fact he doesn't fit the movie at all until one scene where his very effeminite screams match the soundtrack of explosions and mayhem quite well. Except a room full of screamers reacting, we get it all from one very large and at times ludicrous mouth. With Willis already providing his own comic relief, we wonder what import Rudy Rhod is...oh now we get it, how else would the President Lindberg (the world president or some such) get any info as to what is going on?
Our advice is to get to this movie, and reserve your tape or laser disc copy now! See if they have a "rudy-les" version if you can. OPENED IN MAY.
If you are a Scifi reader, you may recognize the title and the plot, this is based upon the Carl Sagan novel. Early trailers show us Jodi Foster doing some acting in the film...we can only hope they gave her the script that will make this a good film, it actually has a lot of potentional and Foster is one of our favorite actresses. By the way, take a look at our box office heroes section, we've added Jodi Foster to the cast of folks making it big with Scifi. OPENS IN JULY.
But true to the nature of adventure/SciFi fare, there is at least one place you'll jump right out of your chair. It's funny. We know they're going to do it, and we have a suspicion when Bang it happens and you still jump. Rightous if you like thrillers (and we certainly do). However, many of the plot devices are well expected and the he-man hunter is almost fully predictable.
One good scene however, that demarks from the standard white hunter role, is a remarked post-stress letdown, as the great white hunter realizes that the fight is over and his trophy won't be mounted. If you've seen Michael Douglas' role as the great white hunter in The Ghost and the Darkness (a great film about building a bridge while fighting off two great man hunter lions, co-starring Val Kilmer), you will recognize a lot of this thorny character (can't help believe he's from Australia (sorry guys!).
And being a bit of a dinosaur ourselves, we'd follow the new target of Dr. Malcolm's affections just about anywhere. Sarah Harding, yet another Dino expert (I liked Laura Dern as the previous expert, but we guess she had enough hollywood money to last her for awhile) has the necessary excitement and naivite' one would expect from someone who hasn't survived the first Jurrasic Park fiasco. A bright woman with not nearly enough, and just enough bristle when Dr. Malcolm tries to be his macho self (actually we'd go for intelligent advice) and keep her from the danger he knows is coming just moments from now. OPENED IN JUNE.
Earth: Final Conflict
PSI Factor
Night Man
Night man is a jazz celebrity who also becomes Night Man, a super hero of unknown caliber, remenescient of the comic book character Hawkman, complete with cape, mask and batman like ears (only smaller). Matt Malcolm stars, along with Earl Holloman as Nightman's father an ex cop. Airs of FOX.
Face Off
Conspiracy Theory
From that point forward he is running for his life. Patrick Stewart plays the henchman who is after him. Julia Roberts plays the U.S. Department of Justice Attorney who is trying to figure out what is going on and we hope is looking for the truth. OPENS IN AUGUST.
Air Force One
Being the guy that he is, the Pres doesn't want to give in. His Vice President (or maybe its his Secretary of State) controls things from D.C. while this is going on.
What is interesting is that in the real world, She would really be in power if only the Vice President wasn't available, and again, in the real world, the President in this situation would quickly be ruled incapacitated and out of the chain of command, and helpless to make any decisions.
In any case, it promises to be a great vehicle for more Harrison Ford class drama. We are ready for this one! OPENS IN JULY.
Notice all the intrique about U.S. Presidents? Hmmm!
ConAir
Anyway, the closest to scifi you might be able find (its a stretch) is the anarchists cookbook found in the really nasty guy's cell after he is transferred out...he makes a highly flamable fluid that is used to set a fellow inmate on fire as a diversion.
In any case, the film has lots of action (non-stop actually), and a few quiet, southern accented lines from Cage. Nearly mindless, but that is okay as long as you know what to expect. Otherwise fun. OPENED IN JUNE.
Peacemaker - Starring George Cluney and Nichole Kidman, an absolutely thrilling and very realistic film on the dangers of a suitcase sized nuclear device being stolen by Bosnian terrorists. Look out New York!
Spawn - Yep, the comic book dark hero hits the big screen. This
film is rich with the film crew's version of spawn special effects such as
Spawn's cape. Also, look for an
incredible potrayal of the clown faced demon (played by John Guillamo) who
harrasses Spawn to no end. The monsters ain't all that bad, and Spawn's
biological body armor is neat to see in action.
Event Horizon - A spooky thriller about one of the Earth's
first hyperspace ships which suddenly returns after being lost for many years
after its maiden voyage...only it is empty. Spooky happenings on board,
believe us!
Gattica - A dark tale about the possibilities of medical
science and the human genome project, this film shows what might happen if
the medical community (in the form of gene splicers) got together with the
medical insurance companies to eliminate human frailities. What WOULD happen
if you could detect the genes that would mean your chances of contracting
disease and therefore predict your health history and life span? Would
commercial entities, or even governments use this data to force mothers to
submit to gene manipulation to save society big bucks on medical treatment in
your future? Would you become an outcast if your Mom didn't submit?