One of the earliest popular DVD releases, Luc Besson's fanciful, visually striking 1997 sci-fi epic The Fifth Element has a surprisingly spare presentation: it includes standard and widescreen aspect ratios, as well as Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo Audio in English and Spanish -- and that's it. While both the sound and audio preserve the film's intricate, and often witty, details, it's still a slightly disappointing package; filmographies, a making-of featurette, or even a trailer would make the disc more substantial. Though the film's fans would want it in any DVD version, The Fifth Element deserves a more thoughtful presentation than this, and Columbia TriStar obliged by releasing a deluxe edition in early 2005.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Luc Besson's idiosyncratic futuristic action film The Fifth Element gets a superb release from Columbia/TriStar. The disc offers a widescreen transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Closed-captioned English soundtracks are rendered in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai, Chinese, and French. This disc certainly looks and sounds spectacular, making it a must-own if one is looking for something to show off a home theater system.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Eight years after its release, The Fifth Element finally gets the love it deserves on DVD with this Ultimate Edition from Columbia TriStar. Released in tandem with a two-disc of another Luc Besson masterpiece, Leon: The Professional, The Fifth Element boasts the same Superbit transfer from the 2001 release, and the film looks and sounds simply incredible on whichever system you're running. With utterly amazing levels of detail and color saturation, the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen image will astound you over and over again, while the 5.1 Dolby and DTS tracks will leave you with your jaw on the floor long after the action is over and love has conquered all. Packaged as a two-disc, the first is dedicated solely to the film, with one exception -- a fact trivia track packed with trivia and ridiculous humor that somehow fits the film's goofy tone. The second disc is stuffed with enticing extras that boast featurettes, galleries, test footage, interviews, and outtakes. The supplemental disc starts off with the visual side of the film as it focuses on the two graphic artists on whose vision the story was originally based. Jean-Claude Mézières and Jean Moebius Giraud are two of the most renowned comic artists in France, and their interviews here are the highlight of the disc. The rest of the extras cover all other aspects of the production; from the digital aspects to the makeup and costumes, each department is thoroughly explored, including some extremely rare test footage of deleted scenes, along with never-before-seen interviews and countless behind-the-scenes glimpses. There are only two drawbacks to the entire package: one, that Luc Besson refused to supply either a commentary or interviews for the discs, and two, that the production felt the need to use one of the most annoying voice-over artists for the featurettes (the guy sounds like he's voiced one too many E! Entertainment Spring Break specials). All in all, though, this release is one wallop of a good time that's worthy of being on anyone's DVD shelf.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
This twin-pack from Columbia/TruStar serves up a pair of action spectaculars. Both The Replacement Killers and The Professional are presented in widescreen transfers that preserve the original theatrical aspect ratios of the films. The Replacement Killers disc contains a commentary track from director Antoine Fuqua, deleted scenes, a pair of featurettes, and filmographies. The Professional is graced with only a trailer. These titles are available individually, but this package offers a cost effective way to acquire them both.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Antoine Fuqua's The Replacement Killers gets the deluxe treatment on this Columbia/TriStar release. The disc offers a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. A closed-captioned English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1, while French, Spanish, and Portuguese soundtracks have been recorded in Dolby Digital Stereo. Subtitles are available in all four of those languages as well as Chinese, Korean, and Thai. Supplemental materials include a commentary track recorded by Fuqua, a featurette on star Chow Yun-Fat, a making-of featurette, an alternate ending, deleted scenes, trailers, and filmographies. No matter what one thinks of the film, this is an excellent disc.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Few movies set on present-day Earth pack more audio-visual wallop than The Replacement Killers, and this DVD translation does it full justice. More successful as an exercise in style than as the morality play it purported to be, director Antoine Fuqua's bid to bring Hong Kong-inspired action to America serves as a fine demonstration of a DVD player's capabilities. The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen format captures each expertly composed, exotically lit camera angle. While the sound quality is perfectly good in two-channel Dolby 5.1, the digital surround mode allows the viewer to hear a gunshot from the left speaker while the bullet thuds into its target in the right. Don't get this one for the extras, because there aren't many. They consist entirely of a theatrical trailer, subtitles in English, Spanish, or French, and a five-minute featurette that is little more than a glorified trailer augmented by a minute or so of interview footage.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Yes!! It is very much worth it. They make your tv look the very best that it can in your setting. I would recommend anyone doing this with a tv 42" or larger.