The Fifth Element

The Fifth Element (1997)

10 answered questions since 11 Oct '17, 00:00

(13 votes)

Question: When Korben first drops of Leeloo at the Priest's apartment, he is wearing a tank top. At the seam of his shoulder running vertically is a scar. The year before, Die Hard with a Vengeance premiered and McClane was injured in that same spot. Seemed like a strange bit to add to T5E. Did anyone recall any backstory or explanation for that scar? Other than his general only survivor of his unit (don't tell Fingers, that deserter!) description.

Answer: Bruce Willis has had that scar since he was 17, as a result of surgery after a broken arm.

Jon Sandys

Question: Ruby claims that the Mangalores stink. If so, what's the point in disguising their appearance (like Aknot did)? The stench would blow their cover no matter the mascara.

Dangar

Answer: I can't give a complete answer but in the spaceport there seems to be a garbage strike which might mask the Mangalores' smell (although no characters comment on the garbage smelling). Also, Mangalores are thuggish fighters, not clever spies, so they may not have thought of it. But I agree that doesn't explain this mistake fully.

Question: I still don't know whether Leeloo is human or an alien. Can anyone explain her story for me?

Answer: Leeloo was originally human in some form; the Supreme Being label indicates that she's just an extremely advanced human. Her essence has resided on Earth for many thousands of years, but the Mondoshawans (aliens) remove her for safekeeping. She is reconstructed from the few cells remaining in the statue from the alien wreckage.

Phoenix

Answer: She's a supreme being who isn't so much alien but more of an evolved hybrid of divine and human. She protects not just Earth but the whole universe. She is also a weapon who seems to be within the Mondeshewans control and care, as shown in the first Egypt scene, and they are alien. She is also linked to Earth, meaning she is meant to 'go off' on Earth in the temple specifically thus is created in our likeness.

Nikita Moon

Question: Has anyone recognized any of the pictures on the wall of the building on the left as Corben's taxi is being tailed by 4 police cars? They seem like they're significant, if not direct references.

Tony Martin

Answer: I looked it up and it is Jill Milan. If you do a search for her, it is in her credits as an actress.

Question: What happened to the Mondoshawan trapped inside the temple at the beginning of the film? When we see the temple again towards the end of the film it isn't there anymore. Did it get out? If so, how?

THGhost

Chosen answer: The Mondoshawan died. It was moved out of the temple room by David while he was preparing for the arrival of the heroes.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: The opening scene happens 300 years before our heroes and story line kicks in, as it tells us on screen when we switch the 'present'. So, it stands to reason that the large metal bodies were removed or collected by the Priesthood of that time, and maybe a few after - did you see the size of those things? Plus there were a lot of them. It does seem to imply their death, the heroic sacrifice for life. But I've never fully bought that. The big metal beastie gives the priest the key, which the 'present' priest 300 yrs later has. I'm sure the first priest and his buddies (or a posse of Egyptian child labor candidates) pried that door open and got them out. Dead or alive. There's no way that skinny, awkward, priest kid in training would have been able to clean all that up on his own. Nor do I think they would have just left the big mess of dead aliens for 300yrs.

Question: Who is the voice of Mr. Shadow?

Answer: Nobody is credited with the voice of Mr. Shadow, nor with the voice of Korben Dallas' mother. There's only speculation.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: I bet money it was Tom Lister Jr. under voice altering. He plays the president in the movie.

Question: Corben and Leeloo fly to Fhloston Paradise planet in spaceship at hyper-speed (around speed of light). And the flight takes long enough for the spaceship crew to put passengers asleep. Let's say the flight at hyper-speed takes 2 hours. That means it would take 2 hours for radio signal originated from Fhloston to reach Earth. But 1) After Corben enters his hotel room on Fhloston he gets call from his mother who is on Earth. And they are talking over the phone in real time with no signal delay! 2) President and his cabinet - who are on Earth - are observing events on Fhloston via radio with no signal delay! How that might be? I realise that movie events take place in the future where new advanced communication technologies might be invented. But the speed of light is a universal constant that can't be changed or exceeded. So it would still take 2 hours (in our example) for the signal to be exchanged between planets. How come Earth and Fhloston communicate each other with no signal delay?

grrench

Answer: I think the issue here is that you are trying to apply real-world logic to an overly fantastical film. There's not necessarily a feasible or realistic explanation... but that's okay, because the film doesn't need one. It's just not that type of movie. And that's part of the fun of this film. It's a wacky, crazy movie. (Not to mention, instantaneous communication when there should be a delay is a pretty common trope in all of sci-fi.) You just gotta go with it. The best possible explanation I could give you is "futuristic sci-fi technology somehow makes it possible." But again, it's just not that type of film where it really matters.

TedStixon

Question: When Korben speaks to Finger, they state that Finger was in his unit: "...sat beside you for over a thousand missions. I know how you drive." Two questions: Who does the voice of Finger, and does that not negate the 3rd reason why Korben was chosen for the mission, that no one else in his unit survived?

TheBurts

Chosen answer: 1. IMDB doesn't list anyone in the credits for the role of Finger. 2. Military members often serve in more than one unit over the course of their careers. I was in for four years and was with two different units and Korben was in for much longer. Finger and Korben could have been in a unit together then one of them transfered to a different unit later on.

Shannon Jackson

Answer: Finger is an uncredited voice performance by Vin Diesel.

This has never been confirmed, and is speculation at best. Also, while Finger sounds vaguely like Vin Diesel, the voices are different enough that it's unlikely to be him.

Question: When Zorg is on the phone with "Mr. Shadow", he gets very nervous and starts sweating. Then a black, gooey substance starts running down that nose...what is that?

Michael Westpy

Answer: The substance is actually blood - in extreme cases some people have been known to secrete blood from their pores. I believe it is a Biblical reference even when encountering extreme anguish or in this case the ultimate Evil it is simply More Than The Human Condition can bear and causes any human that interacts with it to break down on a physical level therefore leaking life out of their body uncontrollably.

Answer: It's supposed to be concentrated evil.

So, Hershey's chocolate syrup.

Chosen answer: It happens to everybody who speaks with Mr. Shadow, but it's never really explained what it is. I think it's only written something like "a brown substance" in the scenario.

Dr Wilson

Question: The Diva gets to perform only one song of her concert before she is mortally gunshot in the abdomen. Almost simultaneously, Zorg sets a time-bomb to detonate in 20 minutes. Korben removes the stones from the Diva's dead body and barely escapes from the Fhloston cruise liner before it explodes 20 minutes later. Korben and his party immediately fly at hyperspeed straight to Earth and set the stones in place with only 5 minutes to spare. If they had followed the original plan without interruption and the Diva hadn't been unexpectedly murdered, she would have proceeded with the remainder of her concert, lasting an indeterminate amount of time; thereafter, presumably, she would have to undergo surgery to remove the stones from her body and deliver them to Korben, all of which would have taken far too long for him to save the Earth, correct?

Charles Austin Miller

Chosen answer: Not necessarily. Remember that the evil sped up once he knew Zorg was dead and the team had the stones. And we don't know how the Diva was going to get the stones out.

Greg Dwyer

Answer: At the end of the Diva's big number she bows, and they close the big curtains behind her displaying the amazing view. Maybe that was it, one big epic song. Plus, she asked Leeloo to wait in the hallway for her which seems kind of rude if it's the longer concerts we think of, so I don't think she planned on being that long. The Diva definitely gave off the mystic physic vibe so maybe she knew her fate. However, that would mean that she told Leeloo to wait in the hallway knowing she wasn't coming back, and maybe even knew the big beasties would show up. Either way you are correct about the dramatic timing issues all around in this movie, not that I mind.

Nikita Moon

Answer: The Diva already knew her fate... she knew it was her last song and fate would unfold the way it did.

Continuity mistake: When Zorg is first seen walking, and the screen only shows his legs, there is an audible clank as he steps with his RIGHT leg. After that, the clank is heard from his left foot. (00:47:10)

More mistakes in The Fifth Element

Zorg: I don't like warriors. Too narrow-minded, no subtlety. And worse, they fight for hopeless causes. Honor? Huh! Honor's killed millions of people, it hasn't saved a single one. Tell you what I do like though. A killer. A dyed-in-the-wool killer. Cold blooded, clean, methodical and thorough.

More quotes from The Fifth Element

Trivia: When composer Éric Serra showed Inva Mula, the Albanian soprano who was going to sing the Diva Dance, the sheet music for that part, apparently she laughed and said that it was impossible for the human voice to switch from high to low notes that quickly. She got her way: The part that ended up in the film is not a single piece of audio, rather it's several pieces stitched meticulously together.

Friso94

More trivia for The Fifth Element

Question: Has anyone recognized any of the pictures on the wall of the building on the left as Corben's taxi is being tailed by 4 police cars? They seem like they're significant, if not direct references.

Tony Martin

Answer: I looked it up and it is Jill Milan. If you do a search for her, it is in her credits as an actress.

More questions & answers from The Fifth Element

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