The Fifth Element (1997)

Big budget action adventures aren't usually this whimsical, this unique, and this absolutely weird. Or polarizing, for that matter. This is the kind of film that you'll either absolutely love, or completely despise. As famed French director Luc Besson's pet project since his youth, it's lavished with incredible detail and flung at a smartly edited breakneck pace, but the story is frequently so far out of left field, the humor so bizarrely set, that audience approval is a total crapshoot. Still, this jaunty tale of doomsday prophecies, future cab drivers in flying cars, and an orange-haired semi-nudist martial artist, has so much originality it's difficult to dismiss out of hand. Ultimately, enjoyment is a calculated risk. You'll either be blissfully swept up in this eccentric bit of universe-saving, or rage-quit within the first thirty minutes.

8 out of 10.