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Creating the Futurescape for the Fifth Element (2019)

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Re: Creating the Futurescape for the Fifth Element (2019)

#21

Post by prhn »

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.

Re: Creating the Futurescape for the Fifth Element (2019)

#24

Post by stiiv »

prhn wrote: post #21

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 H…

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

Re: Creating the Futurescape for the Fifth Element (2019)

#25

Post by Cthulhu_ »

prhn wrote: post #21

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 H…

> 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.

Re: Creating the Futurescape for the Fifth Element (2019)

#26

Post by Cthulhu_ »

sixtyj wrote: post #5
grenoire wrote: post #4

I love this movie so much it's _unreal_. What an experience, every single time. 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.

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 :)

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.

Re: Creating the Futurescape for the Fifth Element (2019)

#28

Post by detourdog »

prhn wrote: post #21

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 H…

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.

Re: Creating the Futurescape for the Fifth Element (2019)

#29

Post by nntwozz »

sixtyj wrote: post #5
grenoire wrote: post #4

I love this movie so much it's _unreal_. What an experience, every single time. 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.

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 :)

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.

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