I watched this film on YouTube last night and I really liked it. The special affects were amazing. I thought the entire cast was amazing, including Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman and Ian Holm.
RIP Ian Holm.
I agree the specail fx are pretty impressive for a film made over twenty years ago.
I remember mistakenly reading the title as 'The Filth Element' when I saw the poster for the first time. guess my dirty mind played tricks on me.
It might not be an official release, but it exists. Way to many fellow nerds out there to not have one out there. It is possible there are copyright issues, since it is the name of an album.
Yes, this is one of my personal favorite films (up there with Princess Bride). The acting is solid from all around, the special effects hold up even after more than 20 years; almost 25 now; there is great action and character development, there are some scenes that are just deliriously fun (Zorg's speeches among the best). It is just a really well made fun movie with good action, humor that hits the punchline and moves on (doesn't drag) in an almost perfect pace, cool fantasy/sci-fi that dabbles with sarcastic 'Utopian' future; even the Roby Rod character (which many might find annoying) IMO was every bit as funny and memorable as Donkey from Shrek (both were obnoxious and annoying characters by design, and the humor it creates lands brilliantly).
All around it is a really well done movie (easily a 8/10 if not better); but the amount of fun I have with it has it in my top 10 favorite movies of all time.
This is my all time favorite movie as well. You gave a great review. Love this move.
RIP Tommy Lister (The President) and Ian Holm. Both were great in this film. They just don't make fun films like this any more.