Here in Canada, The Fifth Element really only found a cult following when it was released on home video, and the real story of The Fifth Element lies just there – in its cult appeal.

What I couldn’t understand, however, was why none of my friends shared in my excitement, and why not one of them made an effort to see it on the big screen. And at the time of its release, it was the most expensive European film ever made, and it remained the highest-grossing French film at the international box office until the release of The Untouchables in 2011. The film was actually a financial success, earning more than $263 million at the box office on a $90 million budget. It was far from perfect, a huge slobbering mess with a convoluted plot that made no sense, but it was unlike any blockbuster I had seen prior. All I knew was that I saw something wild. Of course, I didn’t know or care what the critics were saying since I wasn’t reading film reviews and the internet still wasn’t a household thing. The film received mainly positive reviews – although it tended to polarize critics, and has been called both the best and worst summer blockbuster of all time. Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element is a wild space opus that gives you everything from the unadulterated entertainment of Star Wars to the inspired visual artistry of Blade Runnerto the slapstick lunacy of Monty Python. I saw it on opening day, and I was not disappointed. It didn’t hurt that I was already a huge fan of the director, a well-respected artist whose short but impressive resume included La Femme Nikita and The Professional (Leon). I clearly remember going into the theatre optimistic I was young and the thought that The Fifth Element could be the next Star Wars had me really excited.

This year marks 25 years since Luc Besson’s jaw-dropping and mind-blowing space opera, The Fifth Element was released in theaters. Revisiting Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element

5th element space opera