bruce willis is a type-casted actor . 
in die hard , he played john mcclaine , a rough and tough chicago cop who gets caught in the wrong place at the wrong time . 
again , in pulp fiction , as butch coolidge , an over-the-hill boxer , he steps on the wrong guys toes . 
in luc besson's the fifth element , willis plays korben dallas , a new york cabby who takes in the wrong passenger at the worst possible time . 
a stylish science fiction epic , the fifth element's complex plot begins right away , in the deserts of egypt ( think stargate ) in 1914 . 
an enormous spacecraft lands above a pyramid where the " 5 elements " are stored and takes them away , vowing to return them when the evil comes back . 
cut to present day , which is our future . 
the year is 2023 , and new york is the city . 
the only basic differences between besson's futuristic depiction and the real life new york is that the smog is thicker , the buildings are higher , and the traffic floats ! 
anyway , the " evil " comes back as a ball of fire to wreak havoc on the fair citizens of the earth , so back come the tortoise-like aliens to return the " 5 elements " to earth , in order to defend themselves against the " evil . " 
in the process , however , the ship is intercepted by 2 fighter pods and is destroyed before landing . 
when officials arrive at the site , all that remains is a hand . 
what can you do with a hand ? 
hey , its the 21st century here-dna reconstruction ! 
this hand turns out to belong to a beautiful , but mysterious woman named leeloo ( milla jovovich , dazed and confused ) . 
she escapes and , attempting to escape the police by swan diving off of an enormous skyscraper and crashing through the roof of korben's floating cab . 
it's love at first site , as korben and leeloo elude the lazy-as-always cops . 
when leeloo begins mumbling about a cornelius ( ian holm , night falls on manhattan ) , korben searches the " yellow pages " and delivers her to the door of the good reverend , the only man who knows of her background and duties . 
now , korben , leeloo , and cornelius must journey to a foreign planet to board a cruise ship ( special effects were spectacular here ) to find the remaining four elements . 
it is here , where they discover that they have been followed by the evil jean-baptiste emmanuel zorg ( gary oldman , murder in the first ) . 
he , too , wants possession of the elements , as do a group of pig-like warriors ( think the gamorreans in return of the jedi ) . 
in a spectacular ending , with time running out , leeloo is faced with a problem-why should she save a people who live to destroy each other ? 
the question is a good one , and one that could be pondered . 
but enough of that . 
when korben points out his love for her , leeloo is inclined to become the " 5th element " and save the world from total destruction . 
the fifth element features good performances by willis and holm , an excellent portrayal of a comedic villain ( who reminded me a lot of jack nicholson's the joker in batman ) by one of the masters of villainy , oldman , and a heartfelt offering by relative newcomer jovovich . 
the supporting cast , which includes brion james ( tango & cash ) , tim " tiny " lester ( no holds barred ) , luke perry ( buffy the vampire slayer ) , and chris tucker ( friday ) , added a comedic effect to the film . 
although besson's the fifth element can be criticized for the outlandish use of cliches , it is a solid motion picture with a definite point . 
some other directors ( like anaconda's luis llosa ) should take a lesson from this guy-using ideas from epic motion pictures the right way . 
ideas from star wars and stargate were utilized for the improvement of this film . 
sci-fi fan or not , any movie-lover should see this wonderfully stylish motion picture . 
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