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Wikipedia's Featured Article - 2015-04-02 - The Fifth Element
Wikipedia's Featured Article - 2015-04-02 - The Fifth Element
This article is about the lm. For other uses, see Fifth in the form of a giant ball of black re, and destroys
Element (disambiguation).
an attacking Earth spaceship. The Mondoshawans current contact on Earth, priest Vito Cornelius (Ian Holm),
informs
the President of Earth (Tom Lister Jr.) of the
The Fifth Element (French: Le Cinquime lment) is a
history of the great evil and the weapon that can stop
1997 English-language French science ction action lm
directed and co-written by Luc Besson. It stars Bruce it. As the Mondoshawans return to Earth they are ambushed by Mangalores, a race hired by the industrialist
Willis, Gary Oldman and Milla Jovovich. Mostly set in
the 23rd century, the lms central plot involves the sur- Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman), who has
vival of planet Earth, which becomes the responsibility been instructed by the great evil to acquire the stones.
of Korben Dallas (Willis), a taxicab driver and former
special forces major, after a young woman (Jovovich)
falls into his cab. Dallas joins forces with her to recover
four mystical stones essential for the defence of Earth
against an impending attack.
Besson started writing the story that became The Fifth Element when he was 16 years old; he was 38 when the lm
opened in cinemas. Besson wanted to shoot the lm in
France, but suitable locations could not be found; lming
took place instead in London and Mauritania. Comics
writers Jean Giraud and Jean-Claude Mzires, whose
comics provided inspiration for parts of the lm, were
hired for production design. Costume design was by Jean
Paul Gaultier.
Dallas delivers Leeloo to Cornelius and his apprentice, David (Charlie Creed-Miles), whereupon Cornelius
learns that the Mondoshawans entrusted the four element
stones to the alien Diva Plavalaguna (Mawenn Le Besco),
an opera singer. Zorg kills many of the Mangalores because of their failure to obtain the stones, but their compatriots determine to seize the artifacts for themselves.
Upon learning from the Mondoshawans that the stones
are in Plavalagunas possession, General Munro (Brion
James), Dallas former superior, re-enlists Dallas and orders him to travel undercover to meet Plavalaguna on a
luxury intergalactic cruise; Dallas takes Leeloo with him.
Meanwhile, Cornelius instructs David to prepare the ancient temple designed to house the stones, then stows
away on the space plane transporting Dallas to the cruise
liner.
The Fifth Element received mainly positive reviews, although it tended to polarise critics. It has been called both
the best and worst summer blockbuster of all time. The
lm was a nancial success, earning more than $263 million at the box oce on a $90 million budget. At the time
of its release it was the most expensive European lm ever
made, and it remained the highest-grossing French lm
at the international box oce until the release of The Intouchables in 2011.
Plot
In 1914, aliens 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 5,000 years. The weapon consists of four stones, representing the four classical elements, and a sarcophagus
containing a fth element in the form of a human, which
combines the power of the other four elements into a
divine light capable of defeating the evil. The Mondoshawans promise their human contact, a priest from a
secret order, that they will come back with the element
The four join up with David at the weapon chamber in the
stones in time to stop the great evil when it returns.
Egyptian temple as the great evil approaches. They actiIn 2263,[lower-alpha 2] the great evil appears in deep space
1
Cast
Bruce Willis as Korben Dallas
Gary Oldman as Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
Milla Jovovich as Leeloo
Ian Holm as Father Vito Cornelius
Chris Tucker as Ruby Rhod
Charlie Creed-Miles as David
Brion James as General Munro
Tricky as Right Arm
Tommy Tiny Lister Jr. as President Lindberg
Christopher Fairbank as Professor Mactilburgh
Lee Evans as Fog
John Bluthal as Professor Massimo Pacoli
Luke Perry as Billy Masterson
John Bennett as Priest
Kim Chan as Mr. Kim
John Neville as General Staedert
Al Matthews as General Tudor
Mawenn Le Besco as Diva Plavalaguna
Themes
PRODUCTION
4 Production
As a teenager, Besson envisioned the world of The Fifth
Element in an attempt to alleviate boredom. He began
writing the script when he was 16, though it was not released in cinemas until he was 38.[16] The original storyline was set in the year 2300, and was about a nobody named Zaltman Bleros (later renamed Korben Dallas) who wins a trip to the Club Med resort on the planet
Fhloston Paradise. There he meets Leeloo, a sand-girl
who has the beauty of youth despite being over 2,000
years old.[17] Besson continued to work on and modify
the storyline for years; by the time his lm Atlantis was
released in 1991 he had a 400-page script. Nicolas Seydoux and Patrice Ledoux from Gaumont were the rst
people to take on the project. In November 1991, while
3
looking for actors for the lm, Besson met French comics
creators Jean Giraud and Jean-Claude Mzires and recruited them[18] for the lms production design.[19][20]
Giraud and Mziress comics were a major source of inspiration for Bessons futuristic New York City.[21] Mzires wrote the book The Circles of Power, which features
a character named S'Traks, who drives a ying taxicab
through the congested air trac of the vast metropolis on
the planet Rubanis. Mzires showed images of the ying taxi to Besson, who was inspired to change the background of Korben Dallas from a worker in a rocketship
factory to that of a taxi driver who ies his cab around
a Rubanis-inspired futuristic New York.[22][23] Five other
artists were hired for the project, and Jean Paul Gaultier
was hired to design the lms costumes. The team spent
a year creating over 8,000 drawings, during which time
Besson approached both Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson for
the lead role. Willis expressed interest, though he was reluctant to take on the role as the lm was considered risky
after his previous two lms, Hudson Hawk and Billy Bathgate, had been received poorly; Gibson eventually turned
down the role.[24] While the team impressed lm companies with their designs, they struggled to nd one willing
to take on the lms budget of almost $100 million. In
December 1992 production of the lm stopped[25] without any prior warning, and the team disbanded.[3]
4.1
Eects
PRODUCTION
4.2 Soundtrack
5.4
5
5.1
Release
Initial screening
5
movies, and concluding, I would not have missed seeing
this lm, and I recommend it for its richness of imagery.
But at 127 minutes, which seems a reasonable length, it
plays long.[4]
The lm was, however, subject to a number of harsh reviews that expressed disapproval of its overblown style.
Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote, A largely misred European attempt to make an American-style sci- spectacular, The Fifth Element consists of a hodgepodge of elements that don't comfortably coalesce.[72] 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.[5]
8 NOTES
Accolades
The Fifth Element was nominated for Best Sound Editing at the 70th Academy Awards,[106] and for Best Sound
Editing at the 1998 Golden Reel Awards,[107] but lost to
Titanic in both cases. It won the BAFTA Award for Best
Special Visual Eects,[108][109] and the Lumires Award
for Best Director.[110] It was nominated for seven Csar
awards, winning three: Best Director,[111] Best Cinematography and Best Production Design.[109][112] It was
nominated for Film of the Year at the 1997 European
Film Awards,[113] as well as the Hugo Award for Best
Dramatic Presentation,[114] and the Satellite Award for
Best Visual Eects.[115] Thierry Arbogast was awarded
the Technical Grand Prize at the 1997 Cannes Film
Festival for his work on both The Fifth Element and
Shes So Lovely.[109] The lm received four Saturn Award
nominations: Best Science Fiction Film, Best Costume,
Best Special Eects,[116] and Best Supporting Actress for
Milla Jovovich.[117] Jovovichs ght against the Mangalores was nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Best
Fight,[117][118] and the actress was also nominated for Best
Actress Newcomer at the Blockbuster Entertainment
Awards.[119]
Conversely, Jovovich received a Razzie nomination for
Worst Supporting Actress, and Chris Tucker was nominated for Worst New Star for his performances in both
The Fifth Element and Money Talks.[120]
7 Home media
The original home video release of The Fifth Element
took place in North America on 10 December 1997,
on VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD.[121] The original DVD
presented the lm in its original 2.39:1 anamorphic
widescreen format though carried no special features.[122]
The lm was released in Sonys Superbit format in October 2001.[123] In his review, Conrad Jeremy from IGN
gave the picture quality of the original DVD release 9
out of 10, though awarded the Superbit version a perfect
score for picture quality. Overall the Superbit version was
given 8 out of 10; the nal score was brought down by the
versions complete lack of special features.[123]
An Ultimate Edition set of two DVDs was released on
11 January 2005.[121][124] The only dierence between
the Superbit version and the Ultimate Edition disc one
is the addition of a fact track, which when turned on
displays trivia about the lm, cast and crew as the lm
plays. The second disc provides various special features,
focusing on visual production, special eects, fashion in
the lm, featurettes and interviews with Willis, Jovovich,
and Tucker, as well as featurettes on the four dierent
alien races in the lm and Diva Plavalaguna. Ian Jane
of DVD Talk praised the Ultimate Edition for its special
features.[124]
The rst Blu-ray Disc release of the lm on 20 June 2006
was criticised as having poor picture quality by Blu-ray
standards, and for its lack of special features.[125] In what
has been called an extremely rare move Sony responded
to complaints by making a remastered Blu-ray version
available, released on 17 July 2007, and also oered a
replacement exchange program for customers unhappy
with the original Blu-ray release.[126] Ben Williams from
Blu-ray.com stated the remastered version absolutely
made up for the lacklustre initial release and praised its
high video and audio quality; however, he criticised the
continued lack of special features.[125]
8 Notes
[1] Conicting sources stated the lms budget to be various
gures between $50 million and $100 million, however,
$90 million is the most frequently cited gure, and is also
the gure cited by Besson in his book, The Story of The
Fifth Element.
[2] The lms opening scene states the year is 1914, and the
following scene in space states it is 300 years later,
though Korbens alarm clock clearly shows the year as being 2263. The year is given as 2257 on the DVD sleeve
notes published by Path in 1997, and as 2259 by Besson
in The Story of The Fifth Element.
References
[20] Anders, Charlie (1 July 2012). Luc Besson adapting classic time-travel comic created by Fifth Element concept
artist. io9. Archived from the original on 11 November
2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
[1] Le Cinquime lment [The Fifth Element]. CinRessources (in French). Archived from the original on 12
October 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
[2] Fifth Element, The Le Cinquieme Elemente. Australian
Classication Board. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
[3] Besson 1997, p. 11.
[30] Paris prosecutors probe Luc Bessons 'Film City' studios. Hrriyet Daily News. 20 December 2013.
Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
[40] Drazin, Charles (2011). The Faber Book of French Cinema. Faber and Faber. p. 382. ISBN 978-0-571-218493.
REFERENCES
[82] Smith, Steven (8 May 1997). In His Element. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 20 December
2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
[83] Chris Tucker. Los Angeles (November): 96. 1998. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
[85] Teichner, Martha (22 January 2012). Jean Paul Gaultier: [101] The Fifth Element for PlayStation. GameRankings. ReFashions wild child. CBS News. Archived from the origtrieved 30 January 2015.
inal on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
[102] The Fifth Element. GameRankings. Retrieved 30 Jan[86] Yamato, Jen (13 August 2007). Milla Jovovich on Resuary 2015.
ident Evil And Her Ultraviolet Beef. Rotten Tomatoes.
Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Re- [103] Fielder, Lauren (21 October 1998). Fifth Element, The
Review (PS)". GameSpot. Archived from the original on
trieved 11 December 2014.
10 December 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
[87] Woerner, Meredith (14 October 2010). Luc Bessons
next lm is 'The Fifth Element to the power of ten'". io9. [104] Perry, Doug (1 October 1998). Fifth Element. IGN.
Archived from the original on 7 August 2012. Retrieved
Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Re11 December 2014.
trieved 30 January 2015.
[88] Kermode, Mark (28 August 2012). Summer Block- [105] Taylor, Martin (11 December 2014). NY Race.
busters Your Best and Worst. BBC. Archived from the
Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 10 November
original on 30 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
[89] Cass, Stephen (24 December 2008). 5 Best Science Fic[106] The Fifth Element. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
tion Movies on Hulu: #3, The Fifth Element. Discover.
Sciences. Retrieved 30 January 2015. Note: Search for
Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. ReThe Fifth Element.
trieved 30 January 2015.
[90] Woerner, Meredith (18 September 2008). The 20 [107] Mark Mangini (PDF). The Hollywood Reporter: C-11.
9 March 1998. ISSN 0018-3660. Retrieved 30 January
Best Worst Science Fiction Movies of All Time. io9.
2015.
Archived from the original on 15 August 2014. Retrieved
30 January 2015.
[108] Achievement in Special Visual Eects in 1998. British
Academy of Film and Television Arts. Archived from the
[91] The Visual Eects Society Unveils '50 Most Inuential
original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
Visual Eects Films of All Time'". Studio Daily. 11 May
2007. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014.
[109] The Fifth Element (1997)". The New York Times.
Retrieved 30 January 2015.
Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Re[92] The 100 best sci- movies: 50-41. Time Out. 22 July
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2014. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014.
[110] Le Cinquime lment [The Fifth Element]. AlloCin.
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Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved
[93] The Fifth Element: Luc Besson and Bruce Willis.
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Special Broadcasting Service. 25 January 1999. Retrieved
[111] Williams, Michael (1 March 1998). Resnais seizes 7 Ce30 January 2015.
sars. Variety. Archived from the original on 25 Decem[94] The Fifth Element Ultimate Edition (The Star Element)
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(DVD). Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group. 2005.
[112] Palmares2014 - 39 th Cesar Award Ceremony. Csar
[95] Hochman, David (25 June 2014). Playboy Interview:
Award. Retrieved 30 January 2015. Note: Choose '1998'
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[96] Hamm, Matt (28 September 2011). Gary Oldman 'A [113] 1997. European Film Awards. Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
Life in Pictures @ BAFTA. Live For Films. Archived
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[97] Moebius perd son procs contre Besson [Moebius loses
trial against Besson]. ToutenBD (in French). 28 May [115] 1998. International Press Academy. Archived from the
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10
11
EXTERNAL LINKS
11 External links
Ocial website
The Fifth Element at the Internet Movie Database
The Fifth Element at the TCM Movie Database
The Fifth Element at AllMovie
The Fifth Element at Rotten Tomatoes
The Fifth Element at Box Oce Mojo
[123] Jeremy, Conrad (11 October 2001). Fifth Element (Superbit), The. IGN. Archived from the original on 15 July
2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
[124] Jane, Ian. The Fifth Element Ultimate Edition. DVD
Talk. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
[125] Williams, Ben (5 August 2007). The Fifth Element Bluray. Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on 10
November 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
[126] Sony Oers New 'Fifth Element' Blu-ray Remaster and
'Replacement Exchange Program'". High-Def Digest. 18
June 2007. Archived from the original on 10 November
2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
10
Bibliography
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12.1
12
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12.2
Images
12.3
Content license