The Fifth Element

The Fifth Element is the most joyfully unhinged sci-fi blockbuster ever made — a candy-colored, maximalist space opera that treats the apocalypse as a backdrop for slapstick comedy, operatic action, and some of the most eccentric production design in cinema history. Luc Besson started designing this world when he was sixteen, and it shows: every frame is packed with obsessive detail, from the flying taxi cabs of 23rd-century New York to Jean Paul Gaultier's legendary costumes.

Bruce Willis plays the most reluctant savior in sci-fi. Milla Jovovich's Leeloo is a supreme being who learns about human cruelty and nearly refuses to save Earth. Gary Oldman's Zorg is camp villainy elevated to art. Chris Tucker's Ruby Rhod is either the most annoying character in film history or the most brilliant — there is no middle ground. The Diva Plavalaguna opera scene, where an alien soprano performs an impossible aria while Leeloo fights guards in intercut slow-motion, is one of the most inventive sequences in action cinema.