The Fifth Element (1997) on Netflix
PG-1319972h 6mActionAdventureSci-Fi
In 23rd-century New York, taxi driver Korben Dallas picks up Leeloo, a woman reconstructed from a severed armored hand. A priest's warning of a returning evil sends them after four stones.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb7.6/10551,859 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes71%
Trailer
Plot summary
Every five thousand years a great evil returns, and a secret order keeps the only weapon against it. In 1914 the Mondoshawans take it from an Egyptian temple, four engraved stones and a sarcophagus, and promise to bring it back in time. In the 23rd century a living fireball crosses deep space and destroys an Earth warship. Priest Vito Cornelius tells the president of the Federated Territories what the prophecies say. Mangalore mercenaries hired by the industrialist Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg ambush the returning Mondoshawan ship. The government rebuilds Leeloo from a severed hand found in metal armor; she escapes and lands in the flying taxi of Korben Dallas, a former special forces major who brings her to Cornelius and his apprentice David.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Fifth Element (1997)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Luc Besson offered the lead role of Korben Dallas to both Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson, and also considered Julia Roberts for Leeloo. Gibson turned the part down, while Willis hesitated because his previous two films, Hudson Hawk and Billy Bathgate, had flopped.
- Bruce Willis finished filming on 16 May, while Gary Oldman only began the following week, so Korben Dallas and Zorg, the film's hero and villain, never actually share a moment of screen time.
- Prince was originally cast as the flamboyant talk-show host Ruby Rhod, but his Jam of the Year World Tour dates got in the way. Chris Tucker and Jamie Foxx were then considered, and Besson picked Tucker partly because his smaller build suited the character.
- In December 1992 the production stopped without any prior warning and the team disbanded, after the crew failed to find a studio willing to take on a budget approaching nearly $100 million.
- Alejandro Jodorowsky and Jean Giraud sued Besson, claiming The Fifth Element plagiarised their comic The Incal, and sought millions of euros in damages and a share of the film's revenues. The case was dismissed in 2004 because only "tiny fragments" of the comic had been used.
- Milla Jovovich won the role of Leeloo from the 200 to 300 applicants Besson met in person, a group that included Elizabeth Berkley and Diane Kruger.
- For the New York City skyline, the effects team built 25 skyscrapers, some 20 ft tall, in 1/24 scale, and a team of 80 workers needed five months to finish all the models.
