The Fifth Element (1997)

In the colorful future, a cab driver unwittingly becomes the central figure in the search for a legendary cosmic weapon to keep Evil and Mr Zorg at bay.

Director:

Luc Besson

Writers:

Luc Besson (story), Luc Besson (screenplay),

Stars:

Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Willis	...	Korben Dallas
Gary Oldman	...	Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
Ian Holm	...	Father Vito Cornelius
Milla Jovovich	...	Leeloo
Chris Tucker	...	Ruby Rhod
Luke Perry	...	Billy
Brion James	...	General Munro
Tommy 'Tiny' Lister	...	President Lindberg (as Tommy 'Tiny' Lister Jr.)
Lee Evans	...	Fog
Charlie Creed-Miles	...	David (as Charlie Creed Miles)
Tricky	...	Right Arm
John Neville	...	General Staedert
John Bluthal	...	Professor Pacoli
Mathieu Kassovitz	...	Mugger
Christopher Fairbank	...	Mactilburgh

Storyline

In the twenty-third century, the universe is threatened by evil. The only hope for mankind is the Fifth Element, who comes to Earth every five thousand years to protect the humans with four stones of the four elements: fire, water, Earth and air. A Mondoshawan spacecraft is bringing The Fifth Element back to Earth but it is destroyed by the evil Mangalores. However, a team of scientists use the DNA of the remains of the Fifth Element to rebuild the perfect being called Leeloo. She escapes from the laboratory and stumbles upon the taxi driver and former elite commando major Korben Dallas that helps her to escape from the police. Leeloo tells him that she must meet Father Vito Cornelius to accomplish her mission. Meanwhile, the Evil uses the greedy and cruel Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg and a team of mercenary Mangalores to retrieve the stones and avoid the protection of Leeloo. But the skilled Korben Dallas has fallen in love with Leeloo and decides to help her to retrieve the stones.

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Plot Keywords:

evil | stone | future | escape | taxi driver | 

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Taglines:

It Mu5t Be Found.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sci-fi violence, some sexuality and brief nudity

Details

Country:

France

Language:

English Swedish German

Release Date:

9 May 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

El quinto elemento

Filming Locations:

Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

DEM 23,844 (Germany) (19 June 1998)

Gross:

DEM 23,844 (Germany) (19 June 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In every New York visual effects scene with flying traffic there is a flying bus with the Digital Domain (the facility responsible for most of the VFX) internal reference, or shot name, stenciled on the roof of a bus. The instructions for the visual effects team were to include one bus with the shot name but then all other buses and traffic could have personal references including birthdays, initials, etc. The front marquee for a bus's destination and side billboards were customized by the artists at Digital Domain to reference, invisibly or subliminally, some personal stamp or message.

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Goofs

At the spaceport on their way to Fhloston, Korben takes David's ID, looks at it and calls him David when David is impersonating Korben. However, when David shows the fake ID's to Vito, he checks it and says "Korben David Dallas". When Korben shows up to the spaceport he takes David's ID looks at and since he knows David is not his middle name he just assumes his name is David.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Omar: [whispers to sleeping Aziz] Aziz! Aziz!
Professor Pacoli: [shouts] Aziz! Light!
[Aziz wakes up with a start]
Billy: "Aziz! Light!"

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Connections

References Sleeper (1973)

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Soundtracks

"The Diva Dance"
Performed by Inva Mula (as Inva Mulla Tchako)
Composed and Produced by Eric Serra
© Editions La Marguerite 1997

User Reviews

Excellent Fantasy Movie

This is a great movie. It isn't your typical same alien vs. human movie where there is blood everywhere, and the humans win right before they've thought it was the end. It is much more interesting. The story has love vs. evil in a whole new way, and there's a lesson to be learned through it.

Honestly, I didn't really care about the plot all that much. The imagination and creativity is awesome! I love the colors and the ideas they came up with, especially how the design of the city. The futuristic clothing is cool too. The only thing I was disappointed in was the enemy aliens. They looked a little too artificial.

My favorite thing about the whole movie was the music. It went from techno to opera to jazz, and to all over. I loved the music, partially because they used Engima and Vangelis. Many people are like, "what the heck was that?" when they hear the music, but it fits the movie perfectly and leaves you with a feeling more than a theme. I like the randomness of the music, it works well with the quirkiness of the movie.