The Ending Of The Fifth Element Explained

The '90s gave birth to a number of sci-fi cinema classics, from vibrant comedies like "Men in Black" and "Galaxy Quest" to grim thrillers like "Dark City" and "12 Monkeys." But when it comes to colorful and zany science-fiction adventures, there's one movie from the '90s that requires special mention: "The Fifth Element."  

Written and directed by French auteur Luc Besson, the film stars Bruce Willis as Korben Dallas, a world-weary ex-military commando turned cab driver in an overpopulated future New York City. Milla Jovovich plays Leeloo, a human-alien-clone-hybrid whose existence must be protected because she's key to stopping a cosmic threat that could bring about the end of all life on Earth ... and beyond. To save her and the planet, Dallas must locate four ancient stones, but he's not the only one looking for them: The deranged Jean-Baptiste Zorg (Gary Oldman) and a group of deadly alien mercenaries are after them, too.

From start to finish, "The Fifth Element" is a non-stop joyride of outer space action and tongue-in-cheek humor. But it also reverberates with a powerful message and plenty of heart. And when the dust settles and the credits roll, even decades after its release, there's still a lot to unravel. So, grab your multi pass, because this is the ending of "The Fifth Element" explained.

To the surprise of everyone, the fifth element turns out to be Leeloo, a humanoid woman who is said to be the perfect evolution of mankind — though she initially can only speak an ancient alien language and has the mentality of a child. But when she escapes the government facility and falls (literally) into the lap of New York cab driver Korben Dallas, it kicks off a thrilling chase to save the world. 

Korben is the only person Leeloo seems to trust, but government forces aren't the only ones who want to capture her and the stones; there's also Cornelius, who is descended from an order of priests tasked by the Mondoshawans to pass down knowledge of the fifth element through the centuries. And let's not forget Zorg, who has been enlisted by the very approaching evil itself to stop the five elements from being assembled. And when Zorg's alien mercenary forces find themselves at odds with him, it sets up a four-way race for the stones.

Things take a sudden turn when the military recruits Dallas to go undercover on a space cruise to the planet Fhloston Paradise where it's believed the stones are being held. With Leeloo posing as his wife, Dallas is ordered to get the stones back to Earth and save the world. Zorg, Cornelius, and the alien mercenaries also head for Fhloston Paradise, where DJ Ruby Rhod (Chris Tucker) is hosting an operatic alien named Diva Plavalaguna.

Throughout "The Fifth Element," Korben Dallas and Leeloo face plenty of obstacles and dangers, from the Mangalore mercs to Zorg himself, and even the NYPD who chase them through the skies of the Big Apple. But the final threat isn't from a deadly enemy — it's from Leelo herself. When she's needed to stop the ultimate evil, she suddenly begins to question the point of their entire mission. Since she was first brought to life by government scientists, all she knows about humanity is its history of war, death, and destruction.

In the film's climactic scene in the temple, Leeloo asks Dallas point blank, "What's the use of saving life when you see what you do with it?" Dallas attempts to convince her that there is more to humanity than just war. There are good things about life — even beautiful things — that are worth saving ... like love. Until this moment, Leeloo never knew love, but with a passionate kiss, Dallas shows her exactly what's worth fighting for. And it helps Leeloo awaken her inner power just enough to defeat the great evil, proving that love is the only thing that can stand against war and destruction. It's a more spiritual meaning than one might expect from an arguably silly action-adventure set in space, but one that resonates all the more loudly because of its tonal difference from the rest of the film.

When "The Fifth Element" opens, we find the President of the Federated Territories getting a report from his military commanders regarding a mysterious planet-shaped object approaching Jupiter. They don't know what it is but try using powerful warheads to destroy it. These weapons of destruction only succeed in fueling its increased size as it gets closer to Earth. It apparently exists outside of our universe and only emerges due to a rare celestial alignment every 5,000 years. Seeking to destroy all life, the planetoid is only ever referred to as "the ultimate evil." So ... what is it?

Unfortunately, the movie gives few concrete answers, though we do know that the great evil does possess a great intelligence. It's later revealed that it uses the alias "Mr. Shadow" to communicate directly with Jean-Baptiste Zorg, who it hires to collect the four elemental stones in an effort to stop the only thing capable of opposing it. We also know that it can kill from a distance because during the planetoid's confrontation with the military, it somehow forces a pool of blood to appear on the commander's forehead, just as it does to Zorg during its threatening phone call.

Of course, the truth is that the nature of the great evil isn't really important, as it only exists in the story to serve as a physical representation of the dark forces that threaten mankind. It's an abstract concept that endangers humanity, and what it truly is can be left up to the viewer. After all, love is an abstract concept, so it wouldn't be much use against a physical threat ... but it might have a fighting chance at defeating another abstract concept, right? 

It might be tempting to assume that "The Fifth Element" was based on a French comic book that director Luc Besson read as a child. Thanks to contributions from popular illustrator Jean Giraud and fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier, the film resonates with comic book flair. But the movie is wholly original, all spilling from the mind of Besson, who created the story when he was a teenager growing up just outside of Paris. But while working on the story, Besson felt that there was something missing, and he found inspiration from an unlikely source: Greek philosopher Plato.

"I struggled a lot with the script" Besson told Nerdist in a 2017 interview. According to the director, he struggled with the core of the story, but discovered his younger sister working on a school project about the famous philosopher Plato. "He wrote about [the five elements which were thought to comprise all matter], you know the water, the earth, the fire, and the air. And the fifth element is the human being." After this "Eureka!" moment, Besson put together his idea for a futuristic cab driver with the tale of five elements — with Leeloo as the fifth. The elemental forces and a plot to destroy all life helped give the film its biggest stakes, leading to the big climactic moment at the film's conclusion.

Bruce Willis is no stranger to explosive action, having starred in classics like "Die Hard," "The Last Boy Scout," and "Striking Distance." So when the end of the sci-fi adventure called for Willis to face down a group of heavily armed alien mercenaries and jump away from an exploding bomb in an effort to save a beautiful woman, it was nothing new for him. Director Luc Besson may have had some experience on action-thrillers like "Nikita" and "Léon: The Professional," but the action in "The Fifth Element" took it to a whole different — and more dangerous — level. 

In an interview during the film's initial press tour, Besson talked about how he nearly burned down Pinewood Studios in England when working on the pyrotechnic stunts in the film's finale, which incredibly were all filmed on sound stages. Initially, he said, he wanted Bruce Willis to deliver his line after the explosion and then immediately go back to get more takes, so it would all have the same burning wreckage behind him. Unfortunately, the explosion on set was much bigger than anyone expected, and Willis didn't have time to go again because safety measures had to be undertaken.

Besson recalled, "He said the line, I said 'Go back to the start,' and he starts to go back and there are 15 firemen just invading the place and kicking everybody out."