The Fifth Element Honest Trailer: It’s The WEIRDEST 90s Sci-Fi Movie

The Honest Trailer for Luc Besson’s 1990s sci-fi cult classic The Fifth Element is here, and it points out just how weird the movie was. Directed by controversial French director Besson, The Fifth Element was one of the most divisive sci-fi movies of the decade. It featured Milla Jovovich in her first starring role, as Leeloo Dallas, aka The Fifth Element referred to in the title. Bruce Willis plays cab driver and former major Corbin Dallas, while Chris Tucker appears as the eccentric celebrity Ruby Rhod, and Gary Oldman plays the hapless corporate villain Zorg.

The film was released in 1997 to mixed critical reviews, but was a worldwide box office success, smashing records in Besson’s native France, and making $263 million against a $90 million budget. In the almost quarter century since its release, The Fifth Element has remained a cult favorite with audiences who enjoy its mix of space opera and over-the-top action, as well as its Jean Paul Gaultier-designed costumes.

Now, the film has finally been given the Honest Trailer treatment as part of the Screen Junkies Summer Blockbuster season. The video starts by pointing out how The Fifth Element has the courage to combine all of the hallmarks of 90s blockbusters, including “huge explosions, crazy shooutouts and killer aliens” while also pointing out that it is “really, super horny.” It then goes on to skewer the movie’s vision of future America, saying that only a “bunch of French dudes” would envision a 23rd century USA full of smoking, topless women and rude waiters. It’s not all negative, though, saying that the performance by Willis is “perfect Bruce” combining the right amount of Willis “giving a sh-t and not giving a sh-t about the movie he’s currently in.” But it saves the best gags for pointing out just how weird the movie is, especially for a summer sci-fi blockbuster. You can watch it below.

The Honest Trailer focuses on Tucker and Oldman’s over-the-top performances, illustrating the fact that their characters would normally never appear in a summer blockbuster. They also notice that Willis and Oldman’s characters never meet, despite them being the traditional hero and villain of the movie, questioning whether that’s even allowed.

The Honest Trailer calls the movie “one of the weirdest” sci-fi movies ever, but also the “most fun” of Besson’s films. There’s no doubting that The Fifth Element doesn’t look or feel like any sci-fi blockbuster that came before it. Rather than featuring a young, heroic protagonist like Mark Hamill in Star Wars or Will Smith in Independence Day, Besson’s masterpiece features a balding, peroxided anti-hero going through what the Honest Trailer calls a “mid-life crisis.” This perhaps explains why fans are so divided over the movie, with people either loving it or hating it.

Despite its lukewarm critical reaction, the movie has influenced modern directors, with Guardians of the Galaxy possibly influenced by Besson’s over-the-top tone, and even Frozen 2 seemingly being influenced by the film’s plot. Whether a fan or not, there’s no doubting that The Fifth Element is a wild ride, and certainly one worth revisiting now that it’s been taken apart in an Honest Trailer. Just don’t forget your multi pass.

Source: Screen Junkies

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Daniel Gillespie
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Daniel Gillespie has been a writer and editor since 2009.

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