The Fifth Element (1997) | First Time Watching | Movie Reaction 

Gary Oldman's maniacal giggle that transforms into "They're not here" is one of my favorite moments in all of cinema.

Gary Oldman was so delightfully unhinged in this one! Always loved this movie, it's insane how well the effects still hold.

"I literally could never, that's not enough real estate" LOL

If you require realism and consistency, then The Fifth Element is not for you. If you can set those aside and bask in the glory of outrageous spectacle, then The Fifth Element is a masterpiece.

Bruce Willis at the end of this was basically sci-fi Die Hard.

I always wonder about Zorg's receptionist talking to an ancient evil entity. -"Zorg Industries, how can I help you?" -"Zooooorg" -"Oh, hello Mr Shadow. Let me put you on hold" 🎵The Girl From Ipanema (instrumental)🎵

It was Jean Paul Gaultier that designed the costumes.

Aw man this would’ve been so fun as a dual reaction Also made me crack up every time Maple asked a question that could be answered with “…french”

tne song is called "the diva dance". it was designed to be sung by an alien, not for humans to sing. with that said, there is a handful of people who can come close. DIMASH, as a man drops the key by one half step, and kills it pretty closely.

"The side characters all look like models" - must be a French movie then, perhaps with Jean-Paul Gaulthier as costume designer?

It’s hard to imagine anyone upstaging Bruce Willis but Chris Tucker steals every scene he’s in. He seriously went all-in on becoming Ruby Rhod. Now that you’ve seen the movie; If you’re into costume parties and/or Halloween, I promise you’ll see someone dressed as Leeloo every year.

One movie close to this one would be Luc Besson's "Valerian". They could even be set within the same universe. (fan theory) It's based on a French comic book series by Jean-Claude Mézières, the same artist who did the production design for The Fifth Element. Also, the Diva Dance was intentionally written 'alien', so to not being possibly sung by a natural human, yet there are now several live performances of it around.(also on RU-vid.)

Multipass!

One interesting detail about this movie people always bring up: the main protagonist (Korben Dallas) and the main antagonist (Zorg) never meet.

What a delightful reaction to this movie. So many folks overthink it and ruin it with “why”. You just smiled and enjoyed the colorful ride. Very nice

Interesting you said a lot of the characters looked like models because they were, a lot of them, the entire wardrobe was Jean Paul Gaultier too.

Maple-pass

It was so cool to see Ian Holm aka "Bilbo Baggins" playing the priest.

"Negative. I am a meat popsicle." The perfect random reply to a question.

You need to watch Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets cause the same guy Luc Besson wrote and directed The Fifth Element (1997) also wrote and directed Valerian (2017).

Demolition Man, Total Recall, Stargate and Judge Dredd (Stallone version) have a similar vibe.

Great reaction Maple. You clearly loved it, and that was fun to watch. But a shout out, to your editor. Nearly perfect, YT cut!

31:24 In the first part of the song, Plava Laguna is singing "il dolce suono" from Donizetti's tragic opera Lucia di Lammermoor. The actress playing Plava Laguna is Maïwenn, a French actress and filmmaker. (She is also the ex-wife of the director Luc Besson. During the production of this film, Luc Besson started a relationship Mila Jovovich who plays Leeloo. Considering the stories I've heard about Maïwenn and Besson's relationship, I'm not sure if this was cheating or a mutually agreed upon arrangement.) The vocalist was Inva Mula who is credited in the film with her married name Inva Mula Çako (or Mula-Tchako. I've seen both spellings). I've heard that some of the notes were artificial. The IRL videos I've seen where others do this song make alterations to avoid those notes. You can find RU-vid videos of different singers doing doing the Fifth Element version of the song. I think the best one is: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kJl2uPNsJEk.html The scene was shot at the Royal Opera House in London. It is definitely on my bucket list of cinema filming locations to visit.

Awesome flick for Maple's reaction.

5:20 It may have been they cast extras who looked like models. And I wouldn't be surprised if the costume designer (Jean Paul Gaultier) brought along some of his favorite models.

You might like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, a very under rated sci fi comedy movie.

I got stoned for this.

The composer of the opera said that he wanted to write something that would be physically impossible for a human to sing. There have been many renditions of this piece, but you'll notice they've all been arranged in such a way as to allow a human to get as close as possible.

The Mask of Zorro, if either of the girls haven’t seen it, is a modern classic.

Always makes me laugh seeing Lee Evans in this and Something about Mary (and a few others). One of the best stand-up comedians ever.

I remember when my friend's parents got this from Blockbuster on VHS and pizza. THAT was an awesome Friday night for 12 year old me.

The song "the Diva Dance" is mostly computer generated. The composer said no human could duplicate it, however singer Dimash Kudaibergen came closest to at the Bastau...well worth listening to. It's AMAZINGLY BREATHTAKING.

This is one of my personal all time favorite movies. It’s weird and not for everyone, but that’s what I like about it. The production design is some of the best ever. It’s the best onscreen representation of the art styles of French comic artists Moebius and Mezieres.

Prince was originally offered the Ruby Rod role!

I love your appreciation for the practical effects in this film. I graduated from art school right before this came out. I was studying special makeup effects and model making. Around that time, CG was becoming more and more popular. People told us. "you might as well give up because practical effects are going to be obsolete." I wish I would have stuck with it.

Youre experiencing one of the greatest movies that has ever been made

SO many young adults missed the "bugged" listening device reference -- a roach with a mechanical antenna doing on the desk?

i really loved your dive into the after movie reaction, especially the practical effects vs cgi and your interest in the singing; your personal and professional experience and clear interest these topics made it a compelling watch !

loved the reaction at the end to a real performance of diva dance 😂😂😂😂 i saw this film as a child and that opera totally changed me fo reals...

"Grab your fire extinguisher . . . And quench your hot-ass breath!" Thank you, Maple. Thank you.

“Not enough real estate” love ya😂😂

25:31 "Multipass." I don't know what it is, but I love the line delivery here. Maybe it's her complete, matter-of-fact self-assurance, yet coupled with something unnatural...?

when leloo and the priest show up at the apt to get the tickets..the priest calls him Mr Willis...Bruce corrects him to Dallas but they just keep going

Re: the kiss Yes it’s creepy, but it’s also a reference to fairy tale. “the white knight” and the “damsel in distrss”. He isn’t a “White” knight, and while she was in distress and needed saving, she isn’t a Damsel. See also: Waking the Princess with a kiss.

Every time I see that bleeding scene, I can't not think of it just being chocolate syrup lol

the kiss scene i think is an acceptable scene. for 2 reasons: One - i think its meant to be like a sleeping beauty snow white situation . Second - the kiss was addressed in the scene and deemed unacceptable without consent and when he gets into his cab again moments he reflects upon it and knew it was a mistake.

Amazing right. Commissioner Gordan; Sirius Black; Dracula; Doctor Smith; Zorg; Lord Shen; and even the dreadlock wearing Pimp in True Romance. ALL portrayed by Gary Oldman. A true Master of the acting craft. Instead of taking a role and warping it to suit HIS OWN personality like TOO many new actors do today Gary Oldman transforms HIMSELF into the role required. That's why and how he can be unrecognizable at times. One of the greatest in my opinion.

I love your concern for the space cruise ship industry after this catastrophic Titanic-like event 🙏😂

This movie is pure 90's goodness. It's so over the top and that makes it so great. I feel that if this movie was much more serious/darker then it simply wouldn't be nearly as good of a movie. It would probably be successful, but the style of this movie has made it iconic.

Yes look up dimash Diva dance, there are a couple others who have tried to sing it but I think his is best.

I’m pretty sure that Chris Tucker as Ruby Rhod is a core memory from my childhood

When the female vocalist looked at the written notes (for the first time) for the 'Diva Dance,' she reportedly smiled and stated that the human vocal apparatus wasn't designed to sing a string of such different notes THAT rapidly. In the final cut of the film, they ended up by having one or more people sing each note of the rapid sequence individually, then used a computer to digitally combine them. In the years since the film has come out, a number of elite singers have looked to the 'Diva Dance' note progression as a kind of "impossible challenge" that they've taken their shot at. The person that you played back, in the later section of your video, did a pretty darn good job! •••• There's a moment when the Diva escalates from an extreme low tone to an extreme high tone, in the same breath without pausing. I've always assumed that this was an audio effect, and also to clearly emphasize that the Diva was an alien - as no human would be able to do that. •••• When Ruby Rhod screams his string of high-pitched yells from under the pool table, I've always wondered whether that's actually Chris Tucker's voice doing the screaming. (I've assumed that it isn't, but I've never been able to learn whether it was really dubbed.) •••• You get bonus points for being one of the very few younger ones who are wise enough to judge the "Shouldn't have kissed her" moment in context of the time. Most Millennials and Gen-Z viewers are repulsed by that moment, but that's not what the film intends. Korben Dallas is VERY uncertain and hesitant, in the moments leading up to his kissing the unconscious Leeloo. The creators were counting on the film's audience to give that moment THIS context: A) Dallas is looking for the PERFECT woman. B) Leeloo crashes through the sky into his cab, in a billion-to-one shot (that somehow feels pre-destined or engineered); C) Cornelius, an authority figure, declares her to be 'perfect' and to be 'mankind's most precious possession.' D) She's unconscious, and there's no concrete reason why she is so. Given these bizarre circumstances, it was reasonable for Korben to wonder at that point: 'Did the universe or G-d position me for this moment in some Divine Plan, where I am to provide the Magic Kiss to awaken Sleeping Beauty?' Yes, he was mistaken, and it leads to a "cute-awkward" moment, but he can be forgiven for coming up with the Sleeping Beauty frame. Above all, we know it wasn't a "pervert-taking-advantage-of-an-unconscious-woman' frame. If it had been, Korben would have been shown "in lust" before the kiss (the way the General was when he said, "I'd ...like to take a few pictures, for the archives." And furthermore, Korben also would have been established before this as an unsympathetic whack-job, rather than the brave, disciplined male hero of the film.

There’s no sequel but if you want to see something similar try Valerian and the City of 1000 Planets. Same director, similar aesthetic.

I’m glad you loved this! It’s one of my all time favorite movies haha. It’s so fun. And even emotional at the end there.

I had no idea anyone could do that fifth element song in real life till now😂😂

The vibe of this movie is _w E i R d and w E i R d E r._

I almost get nostalgic when I see the soda plastic straws from McD.. Remember drinking your soda without the straw getting soggy after 5 minutes 😪

Gary Oldman kills it in this as Zorg 😂

Inva Mula was the actual singer some of the notes are actually to high, fast, and low for humans to hit but she sang the majority of it. Jihye Kim got the closest to the original without help from a sampler.

Best idea in my life was to go to Salem for Halloween dressed like Leeloo, everyone loved it !

I have three things to say; one the fact that you picked out how many times the number 5 was brought up, 2 the fact that you realized how amazing that the opera singer was (which was done with very minimal mixing, that is her real voice!), and 3 recognizing the difference between CGI and just old school world building! He not only created a world, but he made up an entire language for this movie! I am so glad you liked it, it is hard not to. I would also like to mention that my beautiful girlfriend was Korben last year, and I was Ruby Rod. This movie, for me, is in the top 5(th)😊 Just so you know, Luc Besson didn't stop there....I would highly suggest the movie The Lockout, with Maggie Grace and Guy Pierce

34:50 They don't mention it, but I'm fairly certain those stones were put inside of Plava Laguna in a way that did not involve surgery...

Trippy, I literally just watched this w/ the fam so they could see it for their first time about a week ago. We're catching up on all the classic 90s films that are important to being a human being who is relevant to the Zeitgeist. Kids these days only know of transient stuff that will be forgotten next year so it's important that they know about *everything*.

The Bruce Willis kiss seemed to me to be a nod towards the Disney adaptation of Sleeping Beauty (who was cursed to fall into a never-ending sleep which could only be cured by true love's kiss). Better that we don't perpetuate that these days, but it was something that many people back then grew up with.

When is Bruce Willis not a good ole time? Heck, when is Diegesis not a good ole time? This'll be fun with Maple.

So glad you enjoyed it! Saw this in the theaters when I was 17. 😀

Another movie with a personality combo like this would be The Nice Guys. Not as extreme of course, but there's a similar vibe.

Back then it was audio engineered but in the passing decades the increase in talent has closed the gap of what was originally considered impossible, I highly recommend searching because there's one in particular that I consider the best rendition of this song, and she sang it from the comfort of her chair

As a kid, this was one of my favorite movies! Still enjoy watching it as an adult, just a little funnier to me now. Fun personal fact, my two Great Danes are named Leeloo and Korben Dallas. Leeloo even has a neon orange collar :P I always get stoked when people know the movie reference when they hear about or meet the dogs!

Good paying attention.-Ernie Moore Jr.

"Broo Swillis with hair!"

This is gonna be a fun reaction from Maple

Jean Paul Gaultier designed the aliens and I believe Lilu's look. The director ripped off a cartoon named "The Mighty Orbots." In the cartoon the enemy was "Shadow" It was a huge planet of evil and spoke in the very same voice this planet does.

I love this movie. It's just organised chaos! With a Big bang a boom plus having a multi pass? Great music and costumes with a let's have a laugh attitude. Great reaction. Cheer's Beautiful.x

the song was audio engineered, they used a mix of I believe 2 human voices and a synthesizer - it was actually written to unsingable ...... so oh course several people have tried to sing it and a couple have managed pretty good. If you search youtube for diva dance song cover you'll find some but I'd suggest this one ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-o5zMupUOgQo.htmlsi=2xVGO-tVeVZiu4WZ

47:25 I think what you are trying to put your finger on is the dissonance between the different types of SciFi. Here's a little history: The Golden Age of Science Fiction in the 1940's and 1950's gave us films like Forbidden Planet. Early Star Trek is DEFINITELY Golden Age SciFi. The Golden Age focused on "Science is good and will solve all of mankind's problems". Although Star Wars is now "Mary Sue Fantasy with a smidge of SciFi", the first film (A New Hope) is almost entirely "Space Opera". Dune is probably the most well known example of what I would call "proto-New Wave" literature. It combined the "Space Opera" seen in Golden Age SciFi with elements of what would become New Wave. It is more pessimistic, and mostly abandons the physical sciences for psychology, sociology, religion, etc. Today, I think most people are more aware of what grew from New Wave SciFi: 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Akira, Alien, Altered Carbon, Barbarella, Blade Runner, Demolition Man, Dredd, Mad Max, The Matrix, Planet of the Apes, Snowpiercer, and Tron. The Fifth Element is heavily inspired by the New Wave SciFi in French comics like like Métal hurlant and Pilote. Ridley Scott, Luc Besson, and Denis Villeneuve were definitely inspired by these French comics. Scott tried to get Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (who used the pseudonym "Mœbius") to work on Blade Runner after he saw "The Long Tomorrow". He did get Dan O'Bannon though. ("The Long Tomorrow" was written by Dan O'Bannon, and illustrated by Mœbius). (If you're into Japanese animation, Hayao Miyazaki and Mœbius were inspiring each other.) In The Fifth Element, many of the elements of Korbin Dallas, as well as Dallas' first interactions with Leeloo are inspired by "The Long Tomorrow." If you've seen the 1981 film Heavy Metal, the "Harry Canyon" segment is also inspired by "The Long Tomorrow". (Métal hurlant was published in the US by National Lampoon under the title "Heavy Metal". The magazine led to the 1981 film.) Here's a portion of an article from Dazed Digital that includes an interview Jean-Pierrie Dionnet: [It was so influential, in fact, that co-founder Jean-Pierrie Dionnet said he realised it was an artistic movement on par with surrealism. “I learned it when Alain Resnais was my first subscriber, Chris Marker was the second one, Fellini the fifth,” he said in a 2013 interview. “I learned it when I would ask George Lucas for a foreword, and he would send me it the next week.”] Anyways... A lot of fiction we know today came from or was inspired by "pulp magazines". Conan, Tarzan and John Carter were characters from pulps. The film The Maltese Falcon was based on a novel that was first printed in pulp magazines. The films Pulp Fiction and Raiders of the Lost Ark were inspired by pulps. If 50 Shades of Grey had been published in the 1940's, it would have been in a pulp magazine. A common feature of pulps was that the stories were quickly written and unsophisticated. The New Wave of SciFi was a rejection of this. New Wave focused on greater sophistication and complexity. Most of the Golden Age writers were just happy to get a paycheck. The New Age writers wanted SciFi to be treated with the same respect as the "more respectable" literature. They wanted to be accepted in the ranks of writers like Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Unfortunately, the modern demand for more content is leading to more "pulpy" style SciFi. The text, stories, concepts, and practical sets all simpler. There is too much reliance cgi, which is usually cheaper than practical effects). This SciFi is churned out like sardines in a canning factory. I think modern audiences are getting sick of today's Neo-B Movies (high budget, low quality commercial films). They are finding the extravagant gems like The Fifth Element and asking "why can't I have more of this?"

I'm so happy you enjoyed this one! It can be really hit or miss for a lot of people and it always hurts my heart to see people shit on it. It's a silly, but visually brilliant and deeply memorable movie. Also, parts of the Diva's performance were engineered. They wanted it to sound alien and impossible for a human to perform.

Saw this in the theater as a kid, classic.

In a precisely and symmetrically divided way, there's even more perfection in this review than the actual movie. And I really like the movie.

Alice, Debo, Smokey, John McLain, Sirius Black and Bilbo Baggins all together in one movie... yes please.

no one tell this woman about "sleeping beauty"!! theres some real boundary crossing there!

Maple and a movie. What a perfect pair.

Before this movie, The Diva was married to the director. After the movie, it was Leeloo who was married to the director.

It was cool to hear you gush over the visual and practical FX. Had it on vhs growing up, and it was in constant rotation along with Sam raimis Spiderman

Fantastic reaction!

That "cute little gun" is the base for Han Solo's blaster in Star Wars. It is a Mauser C96.

The Star Trek movies from 2009 are great if you want some FUN Sci-Fi

Did anyone order extra cheese and ham on camp? Oui oui avec fromage et jambon

Maple out here looking like SHNACK

The rapid vocal change in the Diva dance scene is engineered. I've heard the original, and while it's very impressive, some of the vocal range there is just impossible. Also, it's really weird how the protagonist and the antagonist neither meet, nor even know about the other's existence throughout this movie.

Plava Laguna was played by an opera singer, who actually sang the song.

This film is so much fun, glad Maple had something to distract her from all the heavy series theyve been watching lately

Fantabulous movie! Milla my love.

this has always been one of my favorite movies, and there are a few people that can actually perform that gangster opera piece ❤

Xylophone, good pull!

Great reaction! The "Diva Dance" there is a comparison by The Charismatic Voice, opera voice coach - compares 4 different performances of the "unsingable" Diva Dance - all performed live, non-enhanced, in the original key. Look it up, I'll go watch it now 🙂

Excellent reaction.

This was a great reaction Maple!😊I saw this in a theater in L.A. because my friend wanted to, i had no interest, lol. I love when a movie is such a pleasant surprise.😛

Maple is wonderful.

Awesome reaction of my favorite movie!!!!!😊😊😊😊😊😊