Movie of the Day (5/9/08)

Easily Luc Besson’s most popular film, The Fifth Element combined a great cast (Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Milla Jovovich), special effects, direction, and script into one of the best summer blockbusters ever. Set 250 years into the future, a corporation of evil (Literally, Great Evil), sets to destroy humanity with the help of the industrialist Zorg. An ex-soldier turned cab-driver named Korben Dallas uses a woman who falls from the sky, dubbed the fifth element, to stop them.

Newly re-released in high-definition, The Fifth Element looks and sounds best on the Blu-ray format. Unfortunately for extras, one can’t look to this edition, as it includes absolutely none. The Ultimate Edition on DVD, however, includes a number of featurettes, trailers, and other bonus material.

Basic information (IMDb Profile):

• Director: Luc Besson
• Writer: Luc Besson
• Producer: Patrice Ledoux
• Cast: Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Chris Tucker
• Cinematographer: Thierry Arbogast

”Movie of the Day” highlights a specific film of importance with a release date that coincides with the current date.

Movie of the Day (5/8/08)

While not the first of Ian Fleming’s novels in the series (Casino Royale takes that title), Dr. No was James Bond’s first appearance in modern cinema. Investigating the murder of a fellow agent, Bond is sent to Jamaica and later the island of Dr. No, who’s attempting to destroy the US space program. In the process he meets Felix Leiter, who appears in other films in the franchise, including Casino Royale.

The Bond films are notorious for their releases and re-releases on DVD, but the James Bond Ultimate Collection is the definitive choice, particularly the fourth for Dr. No (Tomorrow Never Dies, Moonraker, and You Only Live Twice round out the set). Aside from featuring a stunning restored image and audio track for the film, the collection includes various documentaries, trailers, TV spots, and photo galleries.

Basic information (IMDb Profile):

• Director: Terence Young
• Writers: Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, Berkely Mather
• Producers: Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman
• Cast: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman, Jack Lord, Bernard Lee, ANthony Dawson, Zena Marshall, John Kitzmiller
• Cinematographer: Ted Moore

“Movie of the Day” highlights a specific film of importance with a release date that coincides with the current date.

Seven Minutes of Speed

Yahoo! Movies today posted a video clip of the first seven minutes of Speed Racer, which is set to open in theaters tomorrow. Available to view on the site in flash format, or downloadable at the following links (Right-click, save, and rename “playlist.dll” as a .mov file):

• 1080p (564 MB)
• 720p (374 MB)
• 480p (150 MB)