The Fifth Element

The Fifth Element

This is a great movie. It's primarily an action movie, but it also has a good deal of comedy and a little bit of romance. Several times during the movie they have what I call meta conversations, meaning that a character will say something to another person. Before that other person can respond the scene changes and someone else says what that 2nd person would have said, but in a totally unrelated situation in response to something else. I love those, it reminds me of a quirk of mine. When someone is talking on a phone within earshot of me I will reply to what they say as if they were talking to me, just to be funny.
I think the main reason I like this movie is because of how connected everything is. I've realized recently that my mind works through a fractal-like network of connecting thoughts rather than in a linear fashion like most other people think. So when I see a movie like this where everything is interconnected and a seemingly random act from the beginning of the movie is used to save the universe, I love it.

Let's get to those connections now.

In 1914 an archaeologist discovers some writings in a pyramid that tell the story of a cosmic event that happens every 5000 years. Three planets enter a state of eclipse and form a black hole between them which is the doorway for the ultimate evil to enter our universe. It's sole purpose is to destroy all life in the galaxy. There is a weapon designed to fight it. There are 4 stones representing the four elements of life: water, earth, fire, and air. They are setup around a 5th element (no, not Boron), a perfect being representing life itself. When all 5 elements are activated they produce a divine light capable of creating life in the farthest reaches of the universe as well as defeating the ultimate evil and banishing it for another 5000 years.
While the archaeologist is making this discovery the plot thickens. The beings that have been activating this divine light in the past show up, they are aliens. They have a contact on earth, a priest who is a servant of life and knows about the fight against the evil one and will pass on his knowledge to another before he dies and so on until it is time for the black hole to open. The aliens tell him that they have come to take the elements away for safe keeping. War is coming and they feel the elements will be better protected in their care. Since the divine light can only be activated there on Earth they pledge to come back in 300 years when it is time.

Fast forward 300 years and a human ship is in space observing the cosmic event birthing the black hole. A planet forms and starts getting bigger. While they are feeding reports back home to Earth and the President Vito Cornelius, a priest who wears a belt buckle with a symbol of the elements, comes forward to explain this odd phenomenon. He tells them that it is evil and wants nothing more to destroy all life in the universe. All it needs to do is stand in place of the 5th element in the chamber with the other elements. When death is there instead of life the ray that is created will destroy all life in the universe permanently.

Time to meet our hero. Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) is a former military pilot who now drives a taxi (but it's the future so taxis and other cars fly). He lives in a tiny apartment in Brooklyn with his cat (his wife left him some time before) and a collection of guns he takes from people who try to rob him. I love the way he tricks a drug-addict robber to activate the safety on his gun.
He gets a call from an old military friend who asks him to bring in his cab for a six month overhaul. They talk about Korben's lack of a love life and Korben tells him that he is just looking for the perfect woman. Is that foreshadowing? Maybe.

The aliens with the stones contact Earth and tell them they are ready to return. While en route they are attacked by another race of aliens and their ship goes down. The president and his advisers act like it was any other tragedy, but to Vito it is the end of everything. All hope rested on that ship and the elements it was carrying. The mercenary aliens make a call to Earth, they were contracted to fight by Zorg (Gary Oldman), a weapons maker. He tells them their payment is ready for them at his factory.
The humans scoured the wreckage of the downed spaceship and found one survivor. The survivor is the right hand of someone. It was taken to a lab in New York where they plan to reconstruct the individual (how that will work without his brain I'm not sure, they never even attempt to explain it). The president's top general is there to oversee the reconstruction (it appears top level clearance is needed to activate the machine) and also to hit the abort button if the survivor is out of control and dangerous. The head scientist tells him that this person is special. A normal human has 40 DNA memo groups, as he calls them, which is more than enough for any species to perpetuate itself. This being has over 200. When they look at it's DNA it has near infinite "data" encoded in it, almost as if it was engineered. I think this may be our 5th element here.

The machine starts by reconstructing the skeleton, then the muscles, organs, and veins. In a weird exposition the head scientist then says they will bombard the subject with ultra violet rays forcing the body to react to protect itself by creating skin and hair. Terrible science, but the reconstruction itself looks cool. Then they take away the shielding that was in place for the ultra violet bombardment and you see that the survivor is a woman. They give her "thermal ribbons" so she's no longer naked, at least, but not by much. Now she's freaking out because she woke up in a strange place full of strange people and she doesn't speak any English.

The general taunts her with his keycard, saying she'll need to work on her communication skills if she wants to get out of the unbreakable tube she's in. She promptly punches a hole in it and grabs his keycard and lets herself out. She then runs through the wall to get away from the encroaching security and makes her way to the outside. All of the buildings are really tall, we've just built upwards to conserve space, it seems. She jumps off the ledge and crashes through Korben's cab's ceiling. Now that is a meet-cute.





Korben and the 5th element get chased by the police for a little bit. After they evade them She asks Korben to take her to the priest Vito. When Vito meets her he is so happy because there is hope again. Before he leaves Korben introduces himself to the 5th element and finds out her name is Leeloo.
While learning English and Earth history and culture Leeloo tells Vito and his apprentice David about the stones. At the same time we see Zorg meeting up with the mercenaries (shape-shifting aliens) with the case. The case was missing a handle as it was in Leeloo's hand when it was recovered from the wreckage. Zorg opens the case and finds it is empty. Leeloo starts laughing, as if at Zorg's mistake. Vito asks "What do you mean empty?" While Zorg says, "Empty as in the opposite of full." I love that. Two different scenes mashed together. Since Zorg didn't get the stones he isn't going to pay the mercenaries the weapons they want. They threaten him so he leaves them one crate of weapons. What he doesn't tell them is that each weapon is booby-trapped and they summarily blow themselves up.
Leeloo tells Vito that the guardian aliens didn't fully trust the humans so they sent the stones with a courier they could trust who will meet Leeloo at a hotel on the luxury planet Fhloston Paradise. The problem is there is a charity event with tons of celebrities meaning tight security and all the interstellar flights have been booked. When Korben was watching TV earlier, though, he saw an ad about a contest to win tickets to Fhloston Paradise. I wonder if that will have any bearing on plot.

Korben gets a call from his mother complaining that he's not taking her on his trip. He doesn't know what she's talking about so she tells him he's one the contest for two tickets to Floston Paradise. Just then he gets mail but doesn't want to check it since he knows he never entered the contest. The general who was working with the president arrives and asks Korben to go on a mission to save the world. He tells Korben he's being sent to Fhloston Paradise and grabs Korben's mail, takes out the prize notification and hands Korben his tickets. Just then Leeloo knocks on the door and Korben has the general and his attendants hide in the fridge. Leeloo and Vito come in and say they heard about his prize and needs his tickets to save the world. Vito knocks Korben unconscious and takes his tickets and he and Leeloo leave. Korben then grabs the mission briefing from the now frozen general and tells him he accepts.
At the spaceport 4 different people show up claiming to be Korben Dallas: David the apprentice priest, one of the shape-shifting aliens (they heard about the stones on Fhloston Paradise and want to intercept them to screw with Zorg), the real Korben Dallas, and one of Zorg's lackeys. Luckily the real Korben is the one who gets on the flight. Unfortunately for him he is pulled aside to be interviewed by Ruby Rhod, a flamboyant radio host who gets on Korben's nerves. Korben keeps his remarks short which upsets Ruby.
Korben, Leeloo, and Ruby all fly to Fhloston (and Vito has stowed away with the landing gear since David wasn't able to go). Zorg blows up his lackey for failing him and decides to go himself on a private ship.





What follows next is an awesome combination of music, fighting, and some humorous situations involving Ruby Rhod being an unwilling sidekick to Korben. I can't even do credit to the awesomeness of this section of movie to do it justice. I love every minute of it. It culminates with the end of Ruby's radio show. After he signs off he says, "That was the best show I ever did."

Climactic race to save Life:

Now they're back on Earth, they have Leeloo and the stones representing the elements. Everything's good, right? No. The evil planet is now heading towards Earth and is minutes from the temple where it plans to destroy all life in the universe. They set up the stones on their platforms, but Vito doesn't know how to activate them and Leeloo is tired and despondent. She read up on Earth's wars during their flight in and was horrified by them, especially when she learned about their use of nuclear bombs. They eventually figure out that to "open" the stone you have to introduce a bit of its element to it: blow on the wind one, throw sand on the earth one, drop water on the water one, and burn the fire one. Just one problem, Ruby has the fire stone but no fire. Korben has one match left from his cigarettes he picked up in the beginning. With much anticipation he gets it lit and gets the fire on the stone. Leeloo still doesn't want to activate the divine light, though. What's the point she asks when all they do is destroy? Korben tells her there are some things worth protecting, like love. He finally admits that he loves her and they kiss. As the countdown of impact of the dark planet to Earth is sounding it's final seconds Leeloo activates the divine light and a blast hits the planet stopping it in its tracks and shutting it down. The elemental stones then deactivate since they won't be needed again for another 5000 years.
The universe is saved, Leeloo has love for the first time since she was created, and Korben has found himself the perfect woman.

I would have written more, but I spent more time watching the movie getting into the plot that I kept forgetting to stop and write. I guess that's a good sign, right?