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The Fifth Element was released 29 years ago today! This is probably THE film that I discovered, thanks to this account, is very popular. Way more than I expected.

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It was released early in my wife and I's relationship so it was definitely a fav. We've always named our cats after scifi characters and Korben Dallas was always on the list but only until 2 years ago did we meet him.

Not directly. The majority of my job was handling and scanning the original negative to digitize it, and then recording the finished digital images back to film. It was an incredible environment to be in, though, and Mark Stetson is just a fantastic person

This and Starship Troopers didn't seem to do so hot in my circle of friends but I remember in the early 00s they were basically the two reference DVDs for home theater folks. Embrace your fate as an olds.

btw

The Spaceshipper 🚀@thespaceshipper.com

[Upcoming book] The Fifth Element: A Visual Retrospective (September, @titanbooks.bsky.social) by Patrice Girod (Lucasfilm Magazine) and Arnaud Grunberg (Starfix Museum) “This book will be like having a Fifth Element gallery exhibition in your very hands.”

The Fifth Element is really popular. Okay, let's start a thread. 🚨 Note: no one forgets Luc Besson's behavior, but this thread is about the creation of this film (whose script bears the mark of its creator, in fantastic and/or bad ways).

Luc Besson began to imagine this story in the 1970s. It should be noted that this film had a first life in 1991-1992, when Jean "Moebius" Giraud, Jean-Claude Mézières, Patrice Garcia, and more fantastic artists started to draw this universe. Diva Plavalaguna, early design by Jean-Claude Mézières:

Definitely my all time favorite 🤩 I've literally watched it at least 20 times and I remember meeting my best buddies while constantly quoting lines from the movie in class. The dialogues, the characters, the architecture, the costumes, the music... Everything about this movie is a delight ❤️

I think the reason it is so popular is that it is so different and stylish. From Ruby Rod to that deaf aristocrat in the powdered wig to the weird pets in Zorg’s desk to Lee Evan’s little sailor outfit to the Rastafarian with the flamethrower it was like nothing else.

I think I saw it like five time in theatres. 😅 I saw it in a preview the morning of release (I skipped school!), expecting some serious epic SciFi shit (the trailer had no dialogues!) and was like... hold it's an action comedy! Loved it though. Damn Besson for not using Patrick Poivey though

Oh yeah I definitely saw it a couple more times at least at the Fête du Cinéma. I know after the premiere I went see it in English (and was baffled at Chris Tucker's voice!) and then another time cos they just opened a new cinema with a huge screen.

I'd read a lot of Heavy Metal before going in see this movie so I already had a reasonable BD 'vocab', I was well aware of what I was talking watching - my mates at the time who didn't - not so much 😀.

Totally disagree my man! I love Chris Tucker in this, especially the scene where the ship is being infiltrated by Zorg's Mangalores and he's doing the live play-by-play broadcast. "Ohmuhgod." "Ohmuhgod, Corbin!!!"

Your mileage may differ. I thought him a magnificent interruption that also kicked the plot on. The interplay between him and Bruce is hilarious, not least because I suspect not much actual acting was involved.

That's my absolute caught-by-surprise giggleworthy remark of the day. Thank you, I can now close BSky and quit slopscrolling with a clear conscience. Super green. ❤️

I know Tuckers role is polarizing, but outside of one or two cringey moments, his character's hyper presence keeps the audience engaged. The character pointed to the rise of social media influencing 15 years later. His introductory scene is one of the funniest intros in film history.

Bruce, Mila, Luc Besson in their prime. Gary Oldman with a supporting role for the ages. Ian Holm and Chris Tucker were fantastic. Incredible world building. One of my all time favorites.

When it came out in the UK, there was a national cinema day, where all screenings were £1. So I saw it in a full house, which I doubt would have happened normally.

I always appreciated the design of the capital ships that Earth used. They were clearly a rectangular take on the Imperial Star Destroyer, plus I recall them also looking vaguely like the USS Saratoga from Space: Above and Beyond

Saw this in the cinema when it came out, in spite of the poor reviews that I'd read. I *loved* it. I remember saying that in time it would be considered as much of a cult classic as Blade Runner had came to be. I feel I've been vindicated.

C'est un des rares films où, en français, Bruce Willis n'est pas doublé par Patrick Poivey... C'est Bernard Métraux qui prend la barre ici. Et c'est bizarre, en fait, mais bon...

Unfortunately, I didn't connect with it. I loved the prologue. The first act is solid. But once they return to the city, the chemistry is gone for me, especially between the characters. Lots of great ideas, but I didn't connect with the whole.

Valerian is similar enough to 5thE that it provides a perfect demonstration of why the first film worked and the second one didn't - for me, performances. Valerian is like 5thE without fun charismatic actors. I don't know how they made Clive Owen boring but they did. Hated that movie.

I loved Valerian but I feel too many people expected it to be Fifth Element 2.0 And as much as I love Dan DeHaan as an actor (and he does a fine job here) he probably wasnt the right casting choice for this sort of role to connect with audiences.

Ditto for Delevingne: full respect for the two individually, the chemistry just never kindled between them and the script and arcs they were given. I like the film too, it's probably in my upper quartile of films. But Besson shot for greatness and didn't quite make it, and ya gotta respect that.

I really enjoyed that movie a lot in the past, but Luc Besson and his friend composer Eric Serra being sexual predators, added to the very lame Born Sexy Yesterday trope made it really hard for me to enjoy now. The designs, visuals and Gary Oldman's acting are still incredible though.

I only just found out that he directed La Haine and was in Amelie! He'll always be gimme da cashhhh guy in my heart though.

This film was peak 90s. I loved everything about it. The cinematography, the characters, the pacing. It really is one of the greatest films of all time

Was the perfect high school age of hanging out at a mall with a movie theater, and it was around for a good portion of the summer when movies were still cheap. We just went in to see it again and again when we had nothing to do or wanted air con. Saw it like 10x in the theater, just a lot of fun.

The multipass scene alone deserves a deep-dive on how sci-fi builds entire worlds through tiny bureaucratic details. Besson created a universe where even getting through security feels alien yet familiar.

Still one of the best 90's #Sci-Fi films to me that never gets old! I will always love this part with the floating Chinese Boat Food Stall serving Korben his Lunch at his Window. "At least I won Lunch." "Good Philosophy, See Good in Bad I like." #Filmsky #Movies

I loved this movie! It's one of those movies that inspired me to create RPG worlds among other things, and one thing led to another, eventually leading me into the video game industry.

Horrificallie@grissallia.bsky.social

Disappearing in and out of staff areas all over the aged care facility. Staff member who had no idea why I was there: “Excuse me, can I help you??” Holding my all-access security fob aloft, I respond with “MULTIPASS!”

One of the most visually creative sci-fi movies ever made. It somehow feels chaotic, goofy, stylish, futuristic, and completely sincere all at the same time. And honestly, Chris Tucker’s Ruby Rhod still feels like he arrived from another planet entirely 😂🚀