By Corey Plante Published Jun 19, 2026, 12:30 AM EDT What to Watch Almost 30 years later, this space opera remains unmatched
The worst video game movie of all time just hit #1 on streaming Mike Myers breaks silence on Austin Powers 4, which should be a video game 10 years ago, Pixar got pulled into the culture wars over a 2-second shot Forget Star Wars and watch the wildest sci-fi space opera free on streaming instead Image: Columbia Pictures/Everett Collection The Fifth Element Sign in to your Polygon.com account 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's a sci-fi blockbuster loaded with color, camp, sex appeal, practical effects, and big ideas — the kind of movie that's almost impossible to imagine a major studio greenlighting today. That’s all the more reason to watch it since it’s available to stream for free on Pluto TV.
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’s only because she’s 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. And if you thought that was a lot of plot to digest, well, buckle up.
The huge armored bird-like aliens called the Mondoshawans — introduced in the movie’s prologue — are essentially the universe’s guardians tasked with protecting all five elements. If they’re priests, then Leeloo is the messiah they’re protecting. The elemental stones are batteries, and she’s the machine. If The Fifth Element at large is a sci-fi fairy tale, then Leelo is basically the magical princess tasked with saving not just the world, but all of sentient life. And the only way to do it? By channeling [spoiler alert for a 29-year-old movie] the power of love.
That premise is already delightfully bizarre. But our principal villain is Gary Oldman as the magnificently unhinged industrialist Zorg speaking with a weird sort of half-Texan accent and sporting a half-shaved hairstyle that includes a sheet of plastic covering part of his skull and a soul patch on his chin, because why not? At about the midpoint, the movie also introduces Chris Tucker's Ruby Rhod, a loud celebrity radio host in a flamboyant leopard print…