The futuristic city with flying cars at the beginning of the movie definitely has all the cyberpunk visuals, and technically Zorg is the head of an evil corporation. But the real villain of the movie is incoming force of evil/darkness. And the plot is resolved through the power of love. Even the President of Earth is actively trying to help do the right thing and save the planet.

While there are some great cyberpunk visuals at the beginning of the movie, I don’t know if the themes are there to call this cyberpunk. What do you think? Would you consider The Fifth Element to be cyberpunk?

Here’s a trailer. It’s currently streaming on Hulu.

  • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
    51·
    7 months ago

    I think it definitely is, especially if you go back to the original Heavy Metal source material. Its just a very 1970’s/ New York portrayal of what Cyber Punk can be. The original material is also very much more in the film noir/ crime drama vein, which also aligns with some older cyber punk classics like Ghost in the Shell, Robocop, Total Recall, Bladerunner, etc.

    The 90’s version is brighter and more up beat than the 1970s version, but are actually pretty close overall. My assessment is totally cyberpunk, just not the narrow view of what cyber punk actually is. Its story hits the right beats and the world is the right size, shape and feel. I think both the original material and the new material are very much cyber punk.

    Here is a youtube video comparing the elements of both the 1970s Fifth element and the more recent one.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL_Iq57hIB8