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:

250 years in the future, all will be lost unless the fifth element is 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

While cartoonist Jean-Claude Mézières isn't directly credited in the movie, he is indeed the confirmed author of most sets, as his album "The Extras of Mezieres v.2: My Fifth Element Sets for the Film by Luc Besson" (Les Extras De Mezieres n.2: Mon cinquième élément decours pour le film du Luc Besson) was published at the same time the movie came out in France, reusing the movie's logo on the cover. Similarly, at the time the movie was being shot, Christin and Mézières published 'Les cercles du pouvoir' which contained a hovercraft taxi (which led Luc Besson to rewrite the movie's opening scenes) and a caricature of Besson.

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Goofs

When Leeloo has crash landed in Korben's taxi cab, when she looks up through the glass cab panel she has a strand of red hair across her nose and cheek that could be taken for blood, explaining why it "disappears" later.

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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 Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

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Soundtracks

"Aria of 'Lucia di Lammermoor'"
(from opera "Lucia di Lammermoor" Act 3, Scene 1: Mad scene "Il dolce suono mi colpi'...") *This is not aria.
Composed by Gaetano Donizetti (uncredited)
Performed by Inva Mula (as Inva Mulla Tchako), soprano
London Symphony Orchestra (as London Symphony Orchestra)
Conducted by Frédéric Chaslin
Produced by Michel Glotz
(c) Gaumont 1997

User Reviews

Entertainment

There is so much entertainment in this movie it would be almost stupid to write about its flaws. Especially the story is not the best thing here, but who cares. I liked every scene, every moment in this movie. The movie opens in Egypt, 1914, and we meet some strange creatures. From here on we know this is not going to be a normal or very serious sci-fi action movie. The creatures tell a priest that the stones are no longer save on earth and they take some things. They tell the priest they will return in 300 years, when evil arrives.

300 years later. The strange creatures return but they are attacked by other strange creatures. The only thing that survives is reconstructed and turns out to be Lee Loo (Milla Jovovich). She is the fifth element, the ultimate weapon against evil. Evil here looks like a great ball of fire. Lee Loo escapes from the authorities, and in an astonishing shot we see how a city looks like now. She jumps of a building and ends up in the flying cab of Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis). He saves her from the police, she asks for priest Vito Cornelius (Ian Holm), he brings her there.

We learn a little more about Lee Loo here. She needs four stones, the four other elements, to save the world. The stones are on a vacation resort where we meet DJ Ruby Rhod (Chris Tucker). He has some funny scenes as well. We have also met Zorg, who is played by Gary Oldman in a great way. The attack on the strange creatures early in the movie was planned by him. He wants the stones as well, he is offered a lot of money for them. How the story develops from here I will not reveal.

The story doesn't even matter. In every scene we have something to like. Beautiful settings, great visual effects, Gary Oldman, the beautiful Jovovich or the funny moments from Bruce Willis, Chris Tucker and Ian Holm. May be this movie is not for everyone but if you don't think to much you will definitely like it.