The Sixth Element could be a name to a spectacular movie of its time, The Fifth Element (1997)! Compared to science fiction movies now such as Interstellar, this movie’s use of Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) is far less complex, but for its time the producers did a great job. For many people including me, this movie was far before our time, so I will give a brief summary to possibly spark some of you to watch it!
***** CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD *****
The movie starts by showing what a great evil in the universe has done to a military ship and shows its immense power. It is a great evil that appears only every 5,000 years, and only a group of 5 elements when combined can defeat it. Four of these elements (earth, water, wind, and fire) are held within stones while the fifth element is a person named Leeloo. Gremlins that work for the great evil plot to murder Leeloo, and take the stones. They do succeed in destroying the ship she was on, but with advanced biotechnology, she is brought back to life. When she wakes she jumps out of a window due to fear, she falls into a taxi that an ex special operative named Dallas is driving. The government then reaches out to Dallas requesting his help because he develops a personal relationship with Leeloo. They then go on to battle for the stones and obtain them. Once they have the stones and reach the ancient temple, the are able to unleash the great light which defeats the great evil. The movie itself is much better than a summary I could ever write and goes much deeper into detail that makes it exciting to watch.
A possible future movie may be named The Sixth Element. The sequel’s plot may introduce an additional element into the mix such as a non-Earth material or maybe can add an element that is emotion. This could be set 5,000 years after the original with the re-emergence of the great evil. Or possible, the movie could be set 20 to 30 years after the original where the characters have children and they have to fight an early emergence or a remnant of the great evil.
We would have seen a sequel sooner, but this movie was not exactly a blockbuster. It’s estimated budget was around $93 million, and it grossed worldwide approximately $264 million. Fortunately, this movie did make a lot of money, so a sequel is very much a possibility.
There is potential for this sequel to be extremely good, but as the years go on the audience it originally captured is fading. Evidently the time is now for a sequel.
This seems like an interesting movie plot to me. It slightly reminds me of an old children’s show that I used to watch called Avatar the Last Airbender. This show also involved the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. It is amazing that this movie grossed over double its budget. I will definitely try to watch this movie in the future.
Jack, thank you for your succinct summary of The Fifth Element. I watched the film quite a while ago, therefore a refresher was appreciated. You mentioned that the audience for this movie is fading as time progresses, which may limit the potential of sequels to succeed. I do not completely agree with this since, with improved CGI, the movie could be tailored to younger audiences, who are accustomed to top-tier video graphics. Though, the sequels may receive backlash from older audiences for not matching the nostalgic charm of the original movie. I would personally love for there to be a sequel.
Even though I have never seen the film, your summary was very helpful in getting me up to speed on the plot of the movie. Based on your description, I think this would be a perfect movie for a sequel, incorporating another element would be a very cool plot twist. And with the cast being significantly older now, they could approach the movie with a different perspective as well but with the same cast.