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

As Korben and Leeloo approach an intersection in his cab the camera whips forward to reveal to the audience that six police cars are waiting for him ahead. In the far background, behind the police cars, is a chase between a police car and a long black car complete with muzzle flashes to represent gun fire between the two cars. Ever an eye for detail, Luc Besson noticed the embellishment the first time the visual effects shot was reviewed, thought that it was funny and it remains in the final film.

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Goofs

The pistol used by Billy in 1914 appears to be a Mauser C.96 "Schnellfeuer" (also known as the Model M712), as shown by its long detachable magazine and fully-automatic (machine pistol) operation. In reality, no fully-automatic versions of this pistol were made until the late 1920s (the Spanish Astra 903, followed by the Mauser M1932).

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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 Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991)

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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

"That's ma favorite!" (Gary Oldman)

THE FIFTH ELEMENT is a complex film....if you WANT it to be! It offers varying levels of analysis depending on the tools you have to dig with! On the surface, a "leave your brain in the cloakroom" sci-fi yarn, you may well find wanting! As far removed from STAR WARS as Austin Powers is from DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. this film is pitched uniquely at those who can laugh at life but who have deep down an unquenchable desire for adventure and the romantic.

Set on a futuristic earth, where really nothing has changed except the technology, Bruce Willis is STILL John McLane, a has-been stormtrooper reduced now to driving air-cabs for a living...same old premise for him - nothing's changed much since STRIKING DISTANCE, except maybe the yellow hair-rinse. Now, legend has it that in a time long long ago, the forces of darkness visited earth and were repelled by the unification in close proximity, of four stones representing the four elements. earth, wind, fire and water together with a fifth "element" of unknown origin.

Dear old Ian Holm is Priest Cornelius, an expert authority on the five elements and keeper of all knowledge on things magical and mysterious. Gary Oldman in arguably his most way-put role is General Zorg who has done a deal with "The Dark Side" and whose sole purpose is to take possession of the elemental stones. The scene wherein he demonstrates the new weaponry to his alien henchman (from which the one-line "summary quote" above is taken) is an absolute classic of cinema. Milla Jovovich (Married to Besson at the time of the flick) is absolutely rivetting as Leeloo, the cloned/unzipped humanised fifth element. She must have practised long and hard perfecting her ancient language dialog....it's amazing. She strikes exactly the right note as a being of purity, femininity and warrior woman. As the film progresses she assumes the identitiy of the perfect girl any man would wish for and want to protect.

The comedy angle is hysterical, the action sequences in your face, and the fx generally impressive if not mega weird at times. Color and visuals play a major role in this pro-European production, the continent where not surprisingly it was most successful. The outcome naturally is predictable and in the best traditions of "will love save the day?" as if it wasn't always going to???

So, there u have it. Watch it one-dimensionally and that's what you'll get back. let it flow, immerse yourself in IT and you couldn't fail to have a good time, unless of course you are clinically dead or devoid of any sense of fun or fantasy ....but in that case you'd be wasting your time anyway, it wasn't MADE for you!