The Fifth Element Leaving Netflix in October 2026

One of the most iconic scenes in sci-fi history nearly ended up in the trash.

After filming wrapped, the negatives for a lavish space opera were flown from London to Los Angeles for post-production. According to associate producer John Amicarella, part of that shipment somehow spilled onto the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport, where it was promptly run over by a forklift. When he arrived, Amicarella was presented with multiple trashcans filled with what remained.

The damaged footage included a sequence in which a blue-skinned alien opera singer performs an aria before being shot and killed. Then the hero has to retrieve four magical stones hidden inside her body. Somehow, the footage was salvaged. The scene survived. So did the movie.

Nearly 30 years later, Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element feels like it escaped from an alternate timeline. It is a sci-fi blockbuster loaded with color, camp, sex appeal, practical effects, and big ideas. That is all the more reason to watch it before the movie vanishes from Netflix at the end of September.

Set in the 23rd century, The Fifth Element follows Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis), a former special forces soldier scraping out a living as a flying taxi driver in the New York City of the distant future. His life changes when a mysterious woman named Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) literally crashes through the roof of his cab.

Leeloo has a childlike innocence and curiosity to her, but that is only because she is a divine being reconstructed into a human body. She is the titular Fifth Element and the only entity capable of activating four ancient elemental stones that represent earth, air, fire, and water. Together, they are humanity’s only defense against an ancient cosmic evil that returns every 5,000 years to wipe out all life.

The huge armored bird-like aliens called the Mondoshawans are essentially the universe’s guardians tasked with protecting all five elements. If they are priests, then Leeloo is the messiah they are protecting. The elemental stones are batteries, and she is the machine. If The Fifth Element is a sci-fi fairy tale, then Leeloo is the magical princess tasked with saving all of sentient life by channeling the power of love.

Fifth Element’s massive cast sells the movie

That premise is delightfully bizarre. The principal villain is Gary Oldman as the unhinged industrialist Zorg, speaking with a half-Texan accent and sporting a half-shaved hairstyle that includes a sheet of plastic covering part of his skull. At about the midpoint, the movie introduces Chris Tucker as Ruby Rhod, a loud celebrity radio host in a flamboyant leopard print leotard who was originally supposed to be played by Prince. Instead of collapsing under the weight of all these characters, The Fifth Element leverages all of it into one of the most distinctive sci-fi blockbusters ever made.

Part of what makes The Fifth Element feel refreshing is its vibrant color palette. Audiences are conditioned to expect sandy, muted tones from Dune or the dark cyberpunk aesthetic of Blade Runner. Yet this vision of the future is bright, even if it is violent and chaotic much of the time. Leeloo’s orange hair glows against the screen. Every frame is packed with bold colors, eccentric practical costumes, and strange little details. As Amicarella described it, the movie feels like a collision between comic books, Salvador Dalí paintings, and heavy metal album art.

That same philosophy extends to the performances. Willis provides the grounded center, while everyone around him operates at maximum intensity. Oldman portrays Zorg as menacing and ridiculous, and Tucker delivers a fearless performance as Ruby Rhod. Jovovich moves through the film with a mixture of innocence and intensity befitting a godlike being just reborn into an adult body.

Star Wars, but make it sexy

The movie is also sexy in a way modern science fiction rarely attempts. Leeloo spends a long stretch of the story in a costume made of bandages. Everyone wears extravagant costumes designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier. At the McDonald’s of the distant future, the female burger assistants wear strapless red dresses with golden arches framing their chests. Flight attendants dress in powder-blue, midriff-baring uniforms resembling a blend of a 1960s airline advertisement and a futuristic fashion runway. Besson’s futuristic world is filled with eccentric, attractive, messy people, creating a universe that feels genuinely alive.

For all its weirdness and spectacle, The Fifth Element endures because it has an earnest heart. Beneath the opera-singing aliens, flying cars, and ancient prophecies, it is a story about choosing hope in spite of humanity’s flaws. The movie’s climactic revelation is that love is worth fighting for. That old-fashioned idea is the reason audiences continue to rediscover the film nearly three decades later.

If you have never seen The Fifth Element, now is the time to watch it. If you have seen it, revisiting the film reminds viewers of a moment when blockbuster filmmaking felt a little stranger, riskier, and more fun.

Source: Polygon