Primarily set in the 23rd century, the film's central plot involves the survival of planet Earth, which becomes the responsibility of Korben Dallas Willis , a taxicab driver and former special forces major, after a young woman Jovovich falls into his cab. To accomplish this, Dallas joins forces with her to recover four mystical stones essential for the defence of Earth against the impending attack of a malevolent cosmic entity. Besson started writing the story that was developed as The Fifth Element when he was 16 years old; he was 38 when the film opened in cinemas.
Besson wanted to shoot the film in France, but suitable facilities could not be found; filming took place in London and Mauritania , instead. Costume design was by Jean Paul Gaultier. The Fifth Element received mainly positive reviews, although some critics were highly negative.
At the time of its release, it was the most expensive European film ever made, and it remained the highest-grossing French film at the international box office until the release of The Intouchables in In , aliens known as Mondoshawans meet their contact on Earth, a priest of a secret order, at an ancient Egyptian temple.
They take the only weapon capable of defeating a great evil that appears every years, promising to protect it and return it before the great evil's re-emergence. The weapon consists of the four classical elements , as four engraved stones, plus a sarcophagus containing a "fifth element".
In the 23rd century, [ c ] the great evil appears in deep space as a giant living fireball. It destroys an armed Earth spaceship as it heads to Earth. The Mondoshawans' current human contact on Earth, priest Vito Cornelius, informs the president of the Federated Territories of the great evil's history and the weapon that can stop it. On their way to Earth, a Mondoshawan spacecraft carrying the weapon is ambushed and destroyed by a crew of Mangalores, alien mercenaries hired by Earth industrialist Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg, who is working for the great evil.
