elcome to the wondrous world of Luc Besson's The Fifth Element, translated to the Web and just as engaging as it is on the big screen (see our review of the movie this issue). Through the liberal use of Shockwave, the site promotes this new science fiction extravaganza in a way that's almost as dynamic as the film itself.
The site has, predictably, five main sections: The Movie, Exclusive Information, Multimedia, Games, and a Catalog. Here's what's found in each:
- The Movie
- An introduction to the film's story, presented in an artistic, photomosaic slide show. There are also a few paragraphs about each of the main characters and short biographies of the cast and key film makers. An article on the special effects talks about the work that went into creating the film's amazing visuals.
- Multimedia
- A downloader's heaven, with movie trailers in .MOV and .AVI formats, as well as a good number of stills, some wallpaper images for both the PC and Macintosh, and a coloring book of black and white sketches.
- Exclusive Information
- Interviews with the film's writer and director, Luc Besson, and the costume designer, Jean Paul Gaultier. There are also links to information about the Cannes film festival.
- Games
- This section contains three Shockwave dexterity games that employ components from the film: drive a flying taxicab; shoot at Mangalores; and catch falling elements. There is also a more complex 3-D driving game that requires the Community Place VRML 2.0 plug in.
- Catalog
- T-shirts, 169 French Francs each. Buy four, get one free.
Techno wizardry but meager data
If only all Web sites were as easy and fun to use as this one. The interface goes many steps beyond Web-standard clickable links by providing good feedback. For instance, on the Cast page, as the mouse pointer passes over someone's name, their picture appears. When their name is clicked, their biography appears. One hilarious component is the Previous/Next control on the still pictures page. At the bottom of the screen is a Mangalore with a gun in each hand. Passing the mouse over the right gun causes a fiery muzzle flash to appear and the word Next. Clicking makes the gun go "bang!"
Fun sounds are sprinkled throughout the site, and many of the pages have a looping background music that loads quickly and reflects the movie's mood. Also there are cool animated "cut scenes" that play as users move from section to section.
While its layout and navigation are innovative, the site's information is sparse, even rudimentary. The material on the characters is hardly any more than what can be learned from watching the movie. Likewise, the cast facts consist of brief filmographies and little more. This is information that could be found anywhere. What about the specifics of how and why these particular actors came to play these parts? Why did the director feel that they and no one else could do the job best? It's these kind of insider details that the site sorely lacks.
