The Fifth Element
A+
5/9/1997 9:20pm Ridgefield Park
Bruce Willis gives a superb performance in this luxurious science fantasy
epic.  A french production that was all the rave at Cannes, The Fifth
Element is a simply stunning film.  Obviously high budget, the sets are
completely grand, the costumes are wonderful, the special effects are top
notch, and the casting was well-chosen.  The direction was completely on
the mark.  The movie is set a couple hundred years in the future, where
an out-of-work cabbie gets chosen for a military mission of extreme importance,
thanks to his service history in the armed forces.  An evil empirialist
business man seeks to take over the world, while an evil force is preparing
to enter the galaxy and destroy everything.  Mankind's only hope is a bizarre
monkish order that have kept an amazing secret for over two thousand years.
If this sounds like something out of a french comic book, you should also
know that Moebius contributed to the set design.  I can't even begin to
describe all the wonderful elements of the film.  Overall, I'd say this is
surely destined to be a cult classic, and probably worth seeing again and again.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park
C
5/23/1997 7:30pm Secaucus
It's simply amazing how much money was spend on this movie.  It was such
a formula sequel, with completely predictable plot elements, and no
surprises, that I nearly fell asleep watching it.  Sure, the special
effects were great, with wonderful dinosaurs, but it was obvious that
it didn't really matter, as everyone and their uncle wanted to see it
the first weekend it came out anyway.  It broke $100M on the fourth
day it was out, smashing all records.  From a production point of view,
it's simply awe-inspiring, an amazing rate-of-return on everything.  They
didn't really need to do any marketing though; that budget was completely
wasted.  From the point of view of the individual watching the movie
though, I'd say that the movie was based on the video game, so if you're
looking for clues on how to advance to the next level, be sure to pay
close attention.