Once I was a child, my dad launched me to gaming by wrecking me in Tekken 3. He later drew me additional into anime with Akira and Princess Mononoke. However when it got here to science fiction, he struck out. Godzilla and Star Wars put me to sleep — I simply couldn’t join with any of the characters in Episode IV: A New Hope. Then, one afternoon, The Fifth Component got here on cable, and all the pieces clicked. Not like Star Trek, which felt too grownup, or Star Wars, which felt too distant, The Fifth Component was a narrative I might see myself in: a futuristic New York I acknowledged as a Bronx child, a Black president earlier than Barack Obama, and a flamboyant, straight Black man who cross-dressed years earlier than Younger Thug. And the kicker? They have been performed by Tommy “Tiny” Lister Jr. and Chris Tucker — two guys I already cherished from Friday, a film I’d watched 1,000,000 occasions. The Fifth Component was my Star Wars rising up, and it’s the most effective sci-fi motion pictures of all time. So the truth that it’s at the moment rocketing up the charts on Tubi is nearly as good a cause as any to revisit this underappreciated sci-fi basic.
At its core, The Fifth Component is a pulpy, neon-soaked house opera about an unlikely group attempting to cease an historical cosmic evil from wiping out humanity. Leeloo, a mysterious lady actually engineered because the “good being,” crash-lands into the lifetime of taxi driver and ex-soldier Korben Dallas, who reluctantly turns into her protector. Along with the assistance of a priest who is aware of the prophecy and a flamboyant radio host dragged alongside for the journey, they race throughout a futuristic New York and past to recuperate 4 elemental stones that, when mixed with Leeloo herself because the fifth aspect, are the one weapon able to saving the universe. The movie has a lot working in its favor. Director Luc Besson (Léon: The Skilled) leaned into his trademark for robust femme fatales, this time with Leeloo, performed by a then-19-year-old Milla Jovovich within the breakout position that paved the best way for her 2000s action-hero reign within the Resident Evil franchise. Bruce Willis confirmed up as Korben Dallas, nonetheless using the final wave of his action-star prime, whereas Besson reunited with Gary Oldman from Léon, who chews surroundings to perfection because the eccentric villain and underground arms seller Zorg. Sci-fi veteran Ian Holm (Alien) grounds the movie as an alien-worshipping priest whose straight-laced supply retains the story tethered amid its in any other case zany characters. And naturally, there was Lister Jr. as President Deebo and Tucker because the flamboyant radio host Ruby Rhod — two casting decisions that hooked me as a child. Later in life, I found that Zorg’s henchman, Proper Hand, was truly a British artist named Tough; extra illustration! Vin Diesel has an uncredited position because the voice of Korben’s boss over the cellphone!
Photograph: Columbia Photos
Besson’s sci-fi world feels each unique and surprisingly grounded, a recent imaginative and prescient of the long run that stood other than its friends. His New York had developed previous conventional skyscrapers right into a vertical maze of towers piercing the clouds, with flying automobiles zipping between them. Even acquainted concepts are reimagined — luxurious cruise ships nonetheless existed, however right here they have been starliners charting programs to unique locations throughout the photo voltaic system. In actual fact, a lot of the movie unfolds aboard one in all these vessels. At a time when many sci-fi movies leaned closely on the visible language of Star Trek and Star Wars (suppose Stargate) or pushed into campy extra (Starship Troopers), The Fifth Component carved out its personal distinct identification. It was a future the place girls could possibly be highly effective with out dropping believability; even when Leeloo sometimes slips into the damsel position, her power nonetheless defines the character. It was a future the place Black characters existed with out stereotypes (like turncoat Lando Calrissian), the place having a Black president wasn’t handled as a novelty however merely the norm. To me, that felt like the long run. One of many movie’s most iconic moments is the live performance scene that includes a tall, elegant, blue-skinned alien referred to as the Diva, secretly tasked with delivering the basic stones to Korben. Onstage, she begins with a haunting opera efficiency that all of the sudden shifts right into a hip-hop-infused remix, reduce towards Leeloo tearing by enemies elsewhere on the ship. As a child who grew up loving Looney Tunes, it felt like watching “What’s Opera, Doc?” for the primary time, however with a contemporary twist that pulled me deeper into sci-fi than ever. I cherished it a lot I confirmed it to my associates, ready for them to be as awestruck as I used to be — just for them to snigger. Trying again now, I get the humor: the clunky motion choreography, the Diva all of the sudden breaking into strikes that wouldn’t really feel misplaced within the “freestyler dance trainer” meme. But it surely simply provides to the attraction of the film.
Photograph: Columbia Photos
The ending is simply as schlocky, because it’s revealed that amongst hearth, water, earth, and air components, love seems to be the fifth, unlocked when Korben lastly confesses his emotions to Leeloo. It’s goofy, positive, however that’s the great thing about it. The most effective sci-fi pulp walks the road between absurd and epic, and The Fifth Component nails that stability with its personal model of blue-collar comedy — someplace between early Star Wars with its Monty Python vitality and Star Trek’s intellectual wit. For me, it wasn’t only a film; it was my gateway to sci-fi. Even in 1999, when my dad dragged me to see The Phantom Menace on opening day, I nonetheless dozed off… solely to go house and throw on The Fifth Component as a substitute. The Fifth Component is obtainable to stream on Tubi
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