Creating the Futurescape for the Fifth Element (2019)

And each time I see an article like this, I simply marvel at the immense love for art and life it has. What an incredibly talented crew, what product of mastery and care.

sixtyj3• 3 months ago

He continued with Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

The Fifth Element has similar cinematic feeling as the first Blade Runner.

And now it is clear. There is the same person behind it :)

metalman• 3 months ago

waterworld

simonh• 3 months ago

Valerian was fun, but I really don't think it held together. Great set piece scenes though.

Cthulhu_2• 3 months ago

Valerian missed the mark; I'm sure it's got great designs (although I also believe it's mostly CGI), but the story of the movie is disjointed (which is a risk when trying to merge multiple storylines into one) and the actors are lifeless.

nntwozz3• 3 months ago

The Fifth Element and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets are widely considered to share a thematic and stylistic universe, with similar aesthetic influences. There are shared elements (ha!) and aesthetics, with Valerian even featuring a shop called "Korbens" as an easter egg to The Fifth Element.

Unfortunately the movie doesn't do it for me, the 90s were a better time.

Once CGI became good storytelling and creativity took a backseat in Hollywood.

Joel_Mckay3• 3 months ago

Adam Savage covered the Mondoshawan props on his channel last year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf5dPrmBvwE

It was a fun film, but Chris Tucker broke the pacing too many times for a general audience. Even now on rottentomatoes his role still distracts focus from the character arcs.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fifth_element

Was a cult classic for sure, but nowhere near Blade Runner as a film. =3

cubefox2• 3 months ago

I think the film would have been better (though perhaps less successful) if Besson had toned down the occasionally exaggerated tomfoolery, like Chris Tucker's character, or the spaceship Evil (the orb described in the article) which felt almost like a SciFi parody taken out of the movie Spaceballs.

The pacing, the great costumes and set design by Moebius, the actors Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich, and the unusual ideas (like the alien opera singer) were all more than enough to carry the movie.

NoSalt6• 3 months ago

I cannot disagree enough. Chris Tucker's Ruby is just what this film needs. With everybody else wearing their "this is serious" face, Ruby being Ruby is a great bit of levity that really adds to this film.

tomaytotomato• 3 months ago

I have fond memories of the Fifth Element, as one of my first PG-13 movies at the cinema that I was allowed to see as a 9-10 year old.

Looking back, the whole story gives a different futuristic feel to the usual gloomy polluted dystopian earths, and feels a bit, "near-future".

Seeing hover cars getting drive through McDonalds will forever be a future hope for me (my inner 10 year old self)

Sam6late2• 3 months ago

I was in Paris years ago and took these photos of the actual cab models that were on display. Enjoy https://imgur.com/a/txIHpJT

jr3592• 3 months ago

Where did you see these? I'd love to go next time I am in Paris.

Sam6late2• 3 months ago

It was the HQ of French company, Alstom's French headquarters is located in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, near Paris, at 48 rue Albert Dhalenne, 93400 Saint-Ouen, France. The display shows original props from Luc Besson’s 1997 movie The Fifth Element — including Korben Dallas’s famous yellow flying taxi and the blue-and-silver NYPD police car. Alstom keeps these pieces on display as a fun tribute to their shared focus on city mobility.

ModernMech4• 3 months ago

The article is missing one of the best futurescape shots in the whole movie!

http://i.imgur.com/6W5InkH.jpg

That image is only on screen for like 2 seconds, but it tells a whole story and really pulled me into the film. The first half you're deep in the city, and then finally when you get to see it from afar, it seems like a whole real city instead of the few locales they shot. Also makes it feel like a continuity of our future instead of some random alien drama.

rainingmonkey• 3 months ago

Imgur is blocked in the UK, and last I checked blocked connections from VPNs too.

Which scene are you referring to?

ModernMech4• 3 months ago

Try this one?

http://www.vfxhq.com/1997/stills/fifth/welcome.jpg

It's the wide shot of NYC after they leave the spaceport.

msephton• 3 months ago

Works in Opera with its built-in VPN.

nntwozz3• 3 months ago

That's amazing, you always see flooded cities in the future this is out of the box thinking.

Jordan-1172• 3 months ago

My post! :)

Imgur might be vastly underselling the richness of the image, depending on your browser/device. Definitely check out the full 4K version if you're only seeing a thumbnail on that page:

http://web.archive.org/web/20161007133354if_/http://digitald...

gwern• 3 months ago

But is the cinematography there of any interest? Why would OP include it? They're talking about the hard shots, like the exploding spaceship where they need to find a spot in the desert to shoot dozens of mortars at it, or the crazy blue paint needing special UV light exposures to render just right. That looks like... a matte painting? A nice matte painting, sure, important for worldbuilding. But just that.

ModernMech4• 3 months ago

You're probably right that the shot isn't of interest to American Cinematographer magazine, which is why it's not included. I still think it's the best futurescape shot in the movie, serving to tie the rest of the first half together nicely.

tvshtr• 3 months ago

I have very vivid memories of watching it for the first time in the cinema (original run). I'm pretty sure I still have the ticket. I was spending winter break in the mountains, with some friends, completely snowed in. I bought the soundtrack too (on a cassette tape). Possibly the last decent movie of his.

prhn• 3 months ago

I'm just here to share my love for this film. I'm a big movie fan. I've been watching the Fifth Element since high school, and I've only grown to appreciate it more and more as a film as I get older.

It's so full of life, creativity, color, humor, and themes we can all relate to (purpose, love, loss, etc).

This is peek Bruce Willis, and the movie is filled with other exceptional actors including Gary Oldman and Ian Holm. Milla Jovovich is extremely entertaining to watch as a sort fish-out-of-water, and I know Chris Tucker's character here isn't for everyone but in my opinion it's right on-brand for the film. Cracks me up every time for decades.

Mostly the effects have aged really well. That's generally thanks to heavy use of practical effects, as this article highlights.

I often get sad that this is becoming a lost art. Great filmmakers with big budgets are still doing this type of practical effects work (Nolan [Interstellar], Villeneuve [Dune]), but I think eventually it will be lost in time.

stiiv• 3 months ago

Agreed -- it's a wonderful film, and deserves a special place right up there with Star Wars and Harryhausen for its practical effects.

While the article mentions Moebius, I think this level of praise still merits an extra Incal callout, even if it just serves as a recommendation to those who want more of this stuff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incal

Cthulhu_2• 3 months ago

but I think eventually it will be lost in time.

I don't believe it to be honest; model making and painting remains a popular hobby for millions of people, the only question is whether filmmakers will want to use it.

And recently, especially in e.g. Star Wars franchise entries, they have gone towards using models / sets again instead of just using CGI for everything.

hypercube332• 3 months ago

CGI has amazing and always given me a wonderful advance for film making as a cinefile but I absolutely do not like how it replaced everything in movies for a while. Absolutely slop seeing actors in a green room trying to act through scenes and sfx puke we get instead of better directing, practical effects and magic of movies.

I agree that now we are finding our way back to a balance of using everything together to tell stories and I'm personally here for it.

detourdog• 3 months ago

I was flipping channels in a hotel and I assume the Peter Jackson hobbit/Lord of the Rings were on. The scene I watched was some sort of interior castle scene and it looked really bad. I felt like it was very flat and cardboardy and filmed on VHS.

0x3f• 3 months ago

But I wonder at what point digital effects become 'good enough' in some sense that they never look aged beyond the containing film. At some point surely there's no more perceptible 'resolution' to be had.

peacebeard3• 3 months ago

In practice digital effects haven’t approached being convincing the way practical effects do. In many cases, especially when used liberally, digital effects still clock as amazing digital effects rather than reality. It can be enjoyable but I don’t see what would move forward other than recognizing cgi isnt the best solution for everything.

steve19772• 3 months ago

The cast is just perfect IMHO. Super green! ;

Also one of my all time favorites.

lotsofpulp• 3 months ago

I thought slightly less of the casting for Fifth Element after I learned about the "Born Sexy Yesterday" thing in conjunction with Luc Besson's personal life. Same with Leon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_Sexy_Yesterday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0thpEyEwi80

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Besson#Personal_life

While I enjoyed watching the movies, I feel like I would have to point out this dynamic if I were to show the movie to my kids.

juancn• 3 months ago

I got the 4K BD disk to watch with my kids a couple months ago and it has aged really well, particularly the special effects.

It's a wonderful movie, definitely one of my favorites.

pavel_lishin2• 3 months ago

I cannot imagine anyone but Chris Tucker playing Ruby Rhod. He's one of the best parts of the film.

NoSalt6• 3 months ago

You green?

chasd003• 3 months ago

yes, so many good moments, "btw, i have a recording of her talented voice" haha

BoiledCabbage• 3 months ago

Chris Tucker's character here isn't for everyone

Yeah this comment to me is incredibly surprising. Chris Tucker played an absolutely incredible character in that movie. So creative, so well executed, so memorable.

He was up there with Bruce Willis as top two in that film.

Such a brilliant movie - and definitely feels like a lost art.

stephen_cagle• 3 months ago

I'm blown away by the idea of not using Chris Tucker for Ruby Rhod. It is like imagining anyone but Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. They are basically perfect castings.

dylan6044• 3 months ago

I often get sad that this is becoming a lost art. Great filmmakers with big budgets are still doing this type of practical effects work (Nolan [Interstellar], Villeneuve [Dune]), but I think eventually it will be lost in time.

Another one of the things that I appreciated from George Miller with Mad Max: Fury Road. There's definitely CG used, but so much of the stunts were real and not SpiderMan level nonsense.

beloch• 3 months ago

In the recent Mad Max films, Miller used CG for compositing, but insisted that all the action be real. There are no CG people jumping bikes over 16-wheelers. CG was only used to get rid of safety equipment, change the sky, etc.. The results feel viscerally real.

stronglikedan• 3 months ago

I'm just here to share my love for this film.

I love it too, and the best part is, I had not heard of it until my buddy dragged me to the theater to see it. I was completely blown away, and have watched it dozens of times over the years. I had the same experience when my mom took me to see the Matrix. I didn't watch much TV back then and didn't keep up with movie previews.

bobmarleybiceps• 3 months ago

literally watched it last night and was struck by how much "personality" it has.

NoSalt6• 3 months ago

What do you mean "Chris Tucker's character here isn't for everyone"?!?!? I absolutely LOVE Ruby! You green???

ChoGGi3• 3 months ago

The one scene I dislike in this movie is Korben lying on the bed taking to Spider about his ex.

It always just seemed out of place to me. Exclude that one scene and it's perfect as far as I'm concerned.

chasd003• 3 months ago

i don't remember that, was that when he was talking to the food truck guy? heh "last time i checked my msgs one was from my wife saying she was leaving me, the next msg was from my lawyer saying he was leaving.. with my wife." lol so many great lines.

chasd003• 3 months ago

hah whenever i see a Stay Clear sign i whisper to myself, "i'm trying". Oldman did an amazing job btw, i really enjoyed every scene he was in, "you saved my life, so i'll spare yours".

andruby• 3 months ago

I must have watched it at least 8 times, and only on the 9th time did I pause and realize that in this movie the hero and villain never meet. Willis and Oldman almost cross at the elevator but never actually meet.

iancmceachern• 3 months ago

Came here to say the same

BadBadJellyBean• 3 months ago

I really like how well the movie aged. I recently watched it with my wife, who had never seen it, and she was hooked. Most of the effects hold up very well today and the movie is just fun.

jacquesm• 3 months ago

What I like most about the Fifth Element is that they didn't milk it through a bunch of sequels.

jeandejean• 3 months ago

Very true, but I can't help but want a sequel haha. Maybe that desire proves your point... Let our imagination do the rest

LiquidSky• 3 months ago

Yet!

throwa3562623• 3 months ago

I think this one deserved at least one sequel.

Speaking of sequels, who in the star wars universe will get their own show next? Based on who is left, i put my money on Exogorth.

vidarh3• 3 months ago

Fifth Element is pretty much Besson doing Valerian before he was able to get funding for Valerian, so we kinda did get a spiritual sequel of sorts.

Unfortunately, while I've grown to like the Valerian movie, when compared to Fifth Element it would seem that Besson should have been given a far tighter budget for Valerian rather than the apparent near free reign he got.

nntwozz3• 3 months ago

LEELOO DALLAS MULTIPASS

https://youtu.be/RdqiaNsKR2E

aresant• 3 months ago

If you enjoyed the Fifth Element absolutely watch Jodorowsky's Dune

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1935156/

On the cover it's a story about the failed production of Alejandro Jodorowsky's Dune script but the deeper story was the aggregation of an unbelievably talented pool of visual artists including Jean "Moebius" Giraud (mentioned as central artist in 5th element), H.R. Giger, Chris Foss, Salvador Dali, & Dan O'Bannon.

That group would go on to centrally influence the visual style of a huge body of science fiction work including Alien, Blade Runner, Total Recall, Star Wars, The Matrix, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc etc.

The art and creativity on display in the film is absolutely sonic.

Kind of like the original PayPal mafia!

ChoGGi3• 3 months ago

I wouldn't want to watch that again, as I'm just reminded we'll never get to see his Dune.

I'm still holding out hope for a cartoon of The Incal.

Jordan-1172• 3 months ago

Excellent article. And a great opportunity to share one of my favorite scifi worldbuilding artifacts: the 4K matte painting used for the brief view of Manhattan during the take-off sequence:

http://web.archive.org/web/20161007133354if_/http://digitald...

The overall vision for the city is implicit but wildly creative: sea levels have dropped significantly, with the architecture of the city spreading across the newly-exposed land and leaving original structures like the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan's skyscrapers, and the Statue of Liberty towering above the landscape. There are also oodles of tiny details scattered throughout the image -- you can pore over it for a good 10 minutes and still find more to appreciate. Very cool of Digital Domain to share it originally.

pavel_lishin2• 3 months ago

Went to add this to my rotation wallpaper collection, only to realize it's already there.

dylan6044• 3 months ago

One of the photog friends I have works on shooting panos of city sky lines that are used for the modern version of the matte paintings used to fill the windows in studio shoots. It's impressive to see them in person.

I took the extended WB back lot tour years ago, and part of the tour was through the matte painting shop. The scale is very impressive. To see artists on 12' ladders to work on it was a nice "human for scale" during the tour.

The circular/sphere real time screen backgrounds Favro at Disney/StarWars is using for The Mandolorian is also neat tech as well.

NoSalt6• 3 months ago

This scene takes place so fast, and my attention is always on the departing ship, that I never noticed the fine background details. Thanks a bunch for posting this great image!

hypercube332• 3 months ago

The firth element is probably my favorite movie and I too never noticed the obvious that this single shot shows. Wild and thank you as well for sharing it!

RobRivera• 3 months ago

This is amazing and absolutely brilliantly detailed for what, a 2 second shot? Thank you for sharing.

anigbrowl• 3 months ago

This is actually a reprint of a 1997 article, rather than being from 2019.

NoSalt6• 3 months ago

And???

excalibur• 3 months ago

And it would be cool if it stated as much.

Creating the Futurescape for the Fifth Element (2019)

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