It’s a big year for anniversaries. For fans of the odd and surreal, Fathom Events is bringing a cult favorite to theaters for you! 1997’s The Fifth Element is coming back to the big screen this June! Fathom describes the movie below.
There is No Future Without It
The Fifth Element is one of those movies that started off as a passion project and went on to become something much more. Upon its release, the film was the most expensive European movie ever crafted with a budget of $90 million. This ended up not being an issue, as it ended up earning over $236 million at the box office, almost triple its budget.
The Fifth Element was praised by audiences and critics alike for its heart, its camp, and its unforgettable sci-fi setting dripping with well-crafted props, sets, and costumes. Siskel and Ebert gave the film their iconic “thumbs up” upon its premiere, with Ebert separately calling the film “one of the great goofy movies”. The film went on to earn Best Special Visual Effects at the 1997 British Academy of Film and Television Arts as well as the Technical Grand Prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. It was also nominated for Best Sound Editing at the 1998 Academy Awards.
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Since its original release, The Fifth Element has continued to grow in status as a cult classic. This is, like a lot of cult classics, due to home media influence and word of mouth. The film has had releases on all kinds of formats from VHS to LaserDisc to DVD and Bluray. While Bluray releases have been rough over the years, a 2017 4K DVD/Bluray has since been making up for previous mediocre releases.
With science fiction currently being dominated by big-budget franchise movies like Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, once in a while, it’s nice to take a breath of fresh air and find something standalone. While it’s dated in some areas visually, The Fifth Element still stands out as a unique sci-fi adventure of hardcore action and over-the-top strangeness. If you’re already a fan or a newcomer, you’ll want to mark your calendars for June 26th and June 29th!
