Luc Bessons dazzling THE FIFTH ELEMENT, already a reference quality Superbit DVD, has been upgraded to the Ultimate Edition (Columbia TriStar Home Ent., $24.96). Its hard to believe that this is the first edition to contain supplemental features, but they provide plenty of context and perspective to all that wonderful eye candy and sci-fi hokum from Besson and French comic book artists Jean-Claude Mézières and Mobius. Disc two contains more than two hours of featurettes devoted to digital effects (courtesy of Digital Domain and boasting the work of matte artist-turned vfx supervisor Kevin Mack), production design, model work, alien creatures and costumes.
Bonus features include:* Exclusive featurettes: The Digital Element, The Visual Element, The Star Element, The Fashion Element, The Diva* Retrospective interviews with Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich and Chris Tucker* Camera, costume, set tests and more
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
