Plot
In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, extraterrestrials known as Mondoshawans arrive at an ancient Egyptian temple to collect, for safekeeping, the only weapon capable of defeating a Great Evil that appears every five thousand years. The weapon consists of four stones, representing the four classical elements, and a sarcophagus that contains a Fifth Element in the form of a human, which combines the power of the other four elements into a "Divine Light". The Mondoshawans promise their human contact, a priest, that they will return with the Elements in time to stop the Great Evil, but an accident forces them to give a key to the priest and instruct him to pass it on to future generations. In the mid 23rd Century, the Great Evil appears in space in the form of a giant ball of black fire and destroys an Earth battleship. The current priest of the Mondoshawan key, Vito Cornelius, informs President Lindberg of the history of the Great Evil and the weapon that can stop it. As the Mondoshawans return to Earth, they are ambushed by the shape-shifting Mangalores, the remnants of an outlawed, warlike alien race hired by the industrialist Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg, who was himself hired by the Great Evil to dispose of the element stones. The Mondoshawan's spacecraft is destroyed and the only thing Earth scientists recover is the hand of the Fifth Element, which they use to create a humanoid woman, known as "Leeloo". Terrified of her unfamiliar surroundings, she escapes confinement and jumps off a ledge to land in the flying taxicab of Korben Dallas, a former major in the Special Forces.
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Dallas delivers Leeloo to Cornelius and his apprentice, David, whereupon Cornelius learns that the four Element stones were entrusted to Diva Plavalaguna, an opera singer. Because the Mangalores failed to obtain the stones, Zorg kills them, but their compatriots attempt to obtain the Elements for themselves. Upon learning from the Mondoshawans that Plavalaguna has the stones, General Munro, Dallas' former superior, re-enlists Dallas and orders him to travel undercover, as a rigged radio contest winner, to meet the Diva on a luxury cruise in space. The publicity of the contest attracts the Mangalores and Zorg to the space liner. Dallas takes Leeloo with him, while Cornelius instructs David to prepare the temple and stows away aboard the vessel.
The Diva is killed when the Mangalores attack the ship; but Dallas retrieves the Elements from the Diva's body. He fights the Mangalores, killing their leader, to liberate the ship. Zorg searches for the Elements; he finds a carrying case, assumes the elements are in it, and leaves behind a time bomb that causes the liner's occupants to evacuate. Zorg departs on his spacecraft, but discovers the case to be empty, so he returns to search for the Elements. He deactivates the bomb, but a dying Mangalore activates his own bomb, destroying the ship and killing Zorg, while Dallas, Cornelius, Leeloo and talk-show host Ruby Rhod escape with the Elements aboard Zorg's spacecraft.
The four return to the Egyptian temple as the Great Evil approaches. The group arranges the stones; but Leeloo has become disenchanted with humanity after having come to witness the brutality of war and violence, and refuses to release the Divine Light. Dallas confesses his love for Leeloo and kisses her. In response, Leeloo combines the power of the stones and releases the Divine Light, causing the Great Evil to become dormant as a new moon in Earth's orbit.
The four return to the Egyptian temple as the Great Evil approaches. The group arranges the stones; but Leeloo has become disenchanted with humanity after having come to witness the brutality of war and violence, and refuses to release the Divine Light. Dallas confesses his love for Leeloo and kisses her. In response, Leeloo combines the power of the stones and releases the Divine Light, causing the Great Evil to become dormant as a new moon in Earth's orbit.
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Earth scientists assure President Lindberg that the Great Evil is dead. Korben and Leeloo are brought in by scientists and placed together in a healing tank to recuperate. When the President arrives and demands to see them one of the scientists informs him that "they need...five more minutes", as Korben and Leeloo have begun consummating their love.
Cast
§ Clifton Lloyd Bryan as Aknot
Fitz Hall (Footballer of Queen's Park Rangers FC) appears at the beginning of the film as one of the boys greeting the water-carrier.[2]
Production
Pistol used by Bruce Willis as Maj. Korben Dallas (Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, Seattle)
As the film went into development in the early 1990s, Besson went on to create Léon: The Professional, starring Jean Reno, and Gary Oldman, who also starred in The Fifth Element, while comic book artist Jean-Claude Mézières, who had been hired as a conceptual designer for The Fifth Element, returned to illustrating The Circles of Power, the fifteenth volume in theValérian and Laureline series. This particular volume featured a character named S'Traks who drives a flying taxicab through the congested air traffic of the vast metropolis on the planet Rubanis. Besson read the book and was inspired to change the character of Dallas to a taxicab driver who flies through a futuristic New York City. Zorg owns the taxi company that employs and subsequently fires Dallas as part of a one-million person layoff designed to slow economic growth at the request of the government.
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Largely set in a futuristic New York City, the film was a French production, with most of the principal photography filmed at Pinewood Studios in England. Some scenes were also shot on location in Mauritania. The concert scenes were filmed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, except for the special effect shots that show the Planet Fhloston through the ship's portholes. The Fifth Element was shot in Super 35 mm film format. Many scenes contain visual effects, and nearly all of the visual effects scenes are hard-matted with aid ofComputer-generated imagery. The production design for the film was developed by French comics creators Jean Giraud (Moebius) andJean-Claude Mézières. The costume design was created by French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, who produced 954 costumes for use in the film.
The original name of the character Ruby Rhod was Loc Rhod. This name also appears in the novelization of the film. The "Divine Language" spoken in the film is a fictional language with only 400 words, invented by director Luc Besson and Milla Jovovich. Jovovich stated that she and Besson wrote letters to each other in the Divine Language as practice.[3]
Rumors after the film's release reported a sequel, tentatively titled Mr. Shadow, in development.[4] Besson has since stated such a project was never planned.[5]
Critical reaction
Upon release, the reception to The Fifth Element was not particularly positive. Over a decade later, however, it began to be described in various publications as a cult classic within the science fiction genre,[6][7][8] and has accrued a "fresh" 73% based on 55 reviews collected by review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, many of which are retrospective. The site holds the consensus, "Visually inventive and gleefully over the top, Luc Besson's The Fifth Element is a fantastic piece of pop sci-fi that never takes itself too seriously".[9] Among those who applauded the film on release were Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times, who described it as an "elaborate, even campy sci-fi extravaganza, which is nearly as hard to follow as last year's Mission: Impossible." He concluded that The Fifth Element was "a lot warmer, more fun and boasts some of the most sophisticated, witty production and costume design you could ever hope to see."[10]On film review show At the Movies, both Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel gave the film a 'thumbs up';[11] in his own review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4, calling it "One of the great goofy movies", and concluding, "I would not have missed seeing this film, and I recommend it for its richness of imagery. But at 127 minutes, which seems a reasonable length, it plays long."[12]The film was subject to a number of harsh reviews which expressed disapproval of its overblown style. Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote, "A largely misfired European attempt to make an American-style sci-fi spectacular, The Fifth Element consists of a hodgepodge of elements that don't comfortably coalesce."[13] David Edelstein of Slate was even more critical, saying, "It may or may not be the worst movie ever made, but it is one of the most unhinged."[14]
Box office
The film was selected as the opening film for the 1997 Cannes Film Festival[15] and became a major box office success, grossing over US$263 million, almost three times its budget of US$90 million.[1] 76% of the receipts for The Fifth Element were from markets outside of the United States. It was the 9th highest-grossing film of the year worldwide.[16]
Awards and honors
The Fifth Element was nominated for an Academy Award in 1998 in the Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing category, losing to Titanic, but it won the BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects. It was nominated for seven César awards and won three for Best Director,Best Cinematography, and Best Production Design. However, the film was also nominated for two Razzies, including Worst Supporting Actress for Milla Jovovich, and for Worst New Star for Chris Tucker.
The Visual Effects Society voted The Fifth Element to be the 50th most influential visual effects film of all time.
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