The Fifth Element
There is no future without it.
Le Cinquième Élément (1997)
2:06 (126 min)
Production
Budget
$90 000 000
Revenue
$263 920 180
Director
Scenario
Luc Besson
Author
Composer
Producer
Patrice Ledoux
Actors
Bruce Willis
Korben Dallas
Milla Jovovich
Leeloo
Gary Oldman
Zorg
Ian Holm
Cornelius
Chris Tucker
Ruby Rhod
Luke Perry
Billy
Brion James
General Munro
Tommy Lister Jr.
President Lindberg
Short description
The Fifth Element is set in a future version of New York, where a taxi driver named Korben Dallas becomes entangled in a struggle over a weapon capable of stopping a cosmic force that threatens Earth. A young woman, Leeloo, is central to that weapon, and she and Dallas must work together to prevent disaster. The film blends action and science fiction with fantasy elements and follows a conflict involving several factions competing to control the weapon.
Luc Besson directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Robert Mark Kamen. The film is the sixth of the twenty features Besson has directed in chronological order, arriving after Léon: The Professional and before The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. Bruce Willis stars as Dallas, alongside Milla Jovovich as Leeloo, Gary Oldman as Zorg, Ian Holm as Cornelius, Chris Tucker as Ruby Rhod and Luke Perry as Billy. The credited cast runs to 123 names and the crew to 335.
Released in 1997, the film had a budget of 90 million US dollars and took 264 million dollars worldwide, a return that made it a commercial success. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.6 from 541,000 votes, and on TMDB a rating of 7.6 from 12,165 votes. A critics' rating of 6.9 from 70 reviews places it somewhat below those audience scores, though the two remain reasonably close.
What's left behind the scenes
- The explosion in the main Florston Hall at the time of the film's release was the most powerful indoor explosion in cinema history.
- The parasites that are cleaned from the spaceship's chassis before departing for Floston’s Paradise are Boglins, popular toys from the 1980s.
- Gary Oldman agreed to star in the film without reading the script. It was a favor to Luc Besson, with whom he became friends during the filming of 'Leon'.
- Lilu's full name is LiluminAy LeKataRiba LaminAchAy Ekbat De SebaT.
- When the President tells Father Cornelius he has 20 seconds to state his thought, Vito manages to convey his judgments in exactly 20 seconds.
- On the 106th minute of the film, Zorg descends the ramp of his ship and shoots the liner's security guards who are coming towards him. When Corben, Leeloo, Ruby Rhod, and Cornelius approach Zorg's ship on the 107th minute, there are no corpses on the hangar floor in front of it.
- Part of Plavalaguna’s aria was created on a computer.
- By the time the film was released, the $80 million spent on special effects was the largest in the history of cinema.
- Among the unintelligible words, one can clearly hear: “Mlartha,” “Big Badaboom,” “Akta,” “Seno Akta Gamat,” “San agamat chey bet Envolet,” “Danko,” “Domo Danko,” and “Apipulai.” All other phrases sound incoherent.
- At the very beginning of the film, Gary Oldman's character quotes Nietzsche: “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Bruce Willis later released an album with the same title.
- On the 115th minute of the film, when the shadow of the Great Evil falls on Earth and covers the temple, there are almost no clouds in the sky above the desert. When a beam rises upwards after the activation of the five elements on the 119th minute, the sky above the temple is completely covered with clouds. However, in the next shot, when the Sphere approaches Earth, you can see that there are no clouds above the place where the beam originated.
- On the calendar in Korben Dallas's room, the date March 18, 2263 is visible. March 18 is Luc Besson's birthday.
- Gary Oldman agreed to star without reading the script.
- The inscription on the "McDonald's" train that a police car crashes into reads: "Served 65 trillion people."
- Billy Masterson, an assistant professor studying Egyptian frescoes in 1914, is armed with a Mauser M712 Schnellfeuer automatic pistol, model 1932.
- In 2002, a computer arcade game, "NY Race," was released under license from Gaumont based on the film. In Russia, it was localized by Nival Interactive and 1C under the title "The Chase for the Fifth Element." The player is offered to play as Korben Dallas and race a taxi through the streets of New York in 2259.
- At the 68th minute of the film, when Korben takes the boarding pass from the frozen General Monroe and closes the refrigerator door, you can notice at that moment that the general blinks.
- At the 10th minute of the film, when the Mondo Shavans enter the tomb, dust is seen wiped from the sarcophagus, even though no one has entered the tomb for several thousand years.
- The character Chris Tucker was originally named Lock Rod, not Ruby Rhod. This is the name found in the book based on the film.
- Upon release, it was the most expensive French film ever made.
- At the 3-minute mark of the film, when the boy on the donkey approaches the temple, he is holding a stick, and a white camel lies near the entrance as the second closest object. When the boy jumps off the donkey in the next shot, the stick in his hand disappears, and the white camel becomes the closest to the entrance.
- At the 6-minute mark of the film, the professor takes a cup of water from the priest. After a cut, the professor is holding a brush in his right hand, and in the next shot – a cup again.
- Luc Besson wrote the screenplay for the film back in middle school.
- The first time we see Corben Dallas on screen, we can see the date on the calendar in his room – March 18, 2263. March 18th is Luc Besson's birthday.
- The opera singer's name is Plava Laguna. This is the name of a bomb shelter in Croatia where Luc Besson spent his summer vacations as a child. Translated from Croatian, it means “blue lagoon”.
- At the 11th minute of the film, when Billy threatens the priest and aliens with a pistol, the device on the tripod behind him is standing vertically. In the next shot, the tripod is lying on the floor, and in the following one – it is standing upright again.
- At the time of its release, the film was the most expensive production for both France as a whole and for the Gaumont film company in particular.
- At the 94th minute of the film, Zorg demands that Leeloo give him the box with stones. When she throws the box to Zorg and he catches it, you can notice that one side of the box dents in his hand at that moment.
- On the 113th minute of the film, Corben takes a stone with horizontal lines from Cornelius, but when he approaches the pedestal in the next shot, he has a stone with vertical lines in his hands.
- The language spoken by Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) was invented by Luc Besson himself. However, the actress herself also contributed with improvisation. By the end of filming, they could converse freely with each other in the invented language, which delighted the film crew.
- In 2002, a computer arcade game titled NY Race was released based on the film. In Russia, it was localized under the title “The Chase for the Fifth Element.”
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
