Customer Reviews

The Fifth Element

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I tend to buy a lot of film soundtracks, particularly from science fiction and fantasy related films. "The Fifth Element" is a soundtrack I have never gotten tired of. I've had it since the film came out (3 differing copies, no less!), and while some soundtracks will fade into obscurity in my collection, this is the outstanding piece. If you enjoyed the movie, then this is a highly recommended soundtrack. You literally envision the parts of the film each song pertains to. While I love "Lucia di Lammermoor" and "The Diva Dance," my favorite track is #8, "Five Millennia Later." It is the track to which Leeloo escapes the Nucleo-Lab and finds herself crashing into Korben's cab. I love the mix of techno and piano--usually techno bores me but this song keeps the beat moving and I never lose interest. I spent a high amount of time tracking down the special edition disc which contains an interactive track on it for computer users. But the spoiler came when I laid my hands on a copy of "The Fifth Element: The Complete Score." It is a two-disc set, and it was an accident that I found it. It is not a standard factory produced set; it is one of few copies which were produced to be sent to the record company so they could preview it and pick out the songs they felt would most benefit the finished product for public purchase. Many of the titles on this set differ from the finished product. I definitely feel there is some material the public missed out on--the humor of Zorg's cherry choking scene, and some pounding music associated with the Managalores. The CD opens with the first rumblings of the film, and the eerie landing scene in Egypt--the rest of the music follows the path of the film with few exceptions. Cheb Khaled's "Alech Taadi" (cab chase scene) is present on this set, albeit with sound effects from the film included (no dialogue), but it is there nonetheless. Some of the songs are of a higher quality than others, and disc two contains unreleased music scored for the film but not present in the finished product. One song with a Middle Eastern flavor is simply beautiful--a haunting, sad woman's voice--but it trails off and the song is never completed. I was amazed to find this gem--and as you can tell, I loved the soundtrack so much I had to have three different copies. If you enjoy the unusual mix of music this soundtrack has to offer--rai music, Middle Eastern themes, opera, some mainstream scoring, techno, and music with a Jamaican flavor, then I highly recommend this disc. The music clearly reflects the film's imagery--in your face, eye-popping, colorful, and boisterous, occasionally confused--sometimes reflective and pensive, but never boring.

I particularly like this soundtrack as it captures the unique vision of the director. It is great to listen to an album that depicts the movie's essence so well. The only thing I wish they had included was Alech Taadi as it added so much color and ethnicity to the movie and as well made that car chase scene so much more enjoyable and somewhat playful.

The quality is excellent. The composition is good. But, I found it draggy in spots. That's about all I have to say about the score.

If you saw the movie (Fifth Element) you have to buy this CD.

How many times you buy a CD and you like 2 or 3 songs?
The melodies in this CD will blow you away. Eric Serra: you are awesome. I have also the CD from "The Professional" and "La Femme Nikita". Everyone is just great. The variety is refreshing.
Mondoshawan, Five Millenia Later, Heat (*****), are just great. All the others are 4 stars, but the compilation of all the music from the movie in this CD is 5 stars.

This CD is different from anything else I have, and I have a big variety of rithmes. Do yourself a favor: buy this CD.

The sounds are great. I love the diva's song and the intro song. All the other tracks are just amazing. What's even better, is that if you listen to the soundtrack a few times then watch the movie, it seems to enhance the whole experience. Trust me, you'll love it. You may want to check it out at your library before purchasing it.

I just purchased this soundtrack from 1997's Sci-Fi flick The Fifth Element and it's wowing. Inva Mulla Tchako is one talented lady and her performances of the tear-jerking "Lucia Di Lammermoor" and "The Diva Dance" are fascinatingly beautiful: Amazing! That woman can sing. The high note rocks in the second tune.

This was such an excellent soundtrack to one of my all time favorite movies, Eric Serra is such a musical genius with Luc Besson especially on the music score to Besson's " Leon The Professional".

This has a great music score, great song called " Light of Love", a fantastic disco Opera song, and it's all around a perfect and englightening soundtrack that is a must own for fans of Sci-fi soundtracks and fans of the Fifth Element.

... is what I would attest this OST.
I was a little younger when I first saw the movie and it really hit me. I was astonished by the weird athmosphere, while I couldn't explain myself why. The movie is good, and Milla Jovovich was sweet in it. It really shiveres down the spine (when you're a 17 year old dreamy boy) but something non-visual grabbed for my soul, sort of. Until today I feel this unexplainable connection I had with that movie, it formed a good part of my overall live-feel, back then.

With the soundtrack I can put myself back into certain athmospheric parts of the movie without heaving to bear Bruce's dull one-liners.

One thing I especially like about the album is Erics massive use of the oboe and the bassoon, which I really really enjoyed.

The variety of the styles and instruments is incredible.
"Badaboom" is a beautiful manifest to humanities fragile feelings while "Mangalores" frightens you with a sampled slightly atonal-sounding synth-drum-sound.

I often had the feeling Eric Serra moved close to the edge of what is good for the music. Which kind of makes the sound of this album and is what makes it outstanding.

I own quite a lot of cd's and this one is always around in my current top 5 records.

Unfortunately his other work seems a bit straighter.

Eric Serra is a Genius. Enough said.
Who knew that opera could merge with techno? Only Eric Serra could pull off a track like that without making it at all cheesy. I highly recommend this album. I loved the film, and this album is super for a variety of uses: cleaning house, soaking in the tub, surfing the net, making whoopee-- it is a multi-purpose soundtrack. Relaxing but upbeat. Buy it.

This is a brilliant, if not experimental soundtrack! I'm not qualified to compare this to Eric Serra's other works but if this is any indication of his talents then I must check out his other compositions. "The Fifth Element" is a futuristic sci-fi action-comedy and the music captures that perfectly. The movie was rather good but I found myself turning the volume up whenever the funky rhythms came on. This album is an excellent marriage of cinematic orchestral and middle eastern with synthy beats. The flow is nicely balanced and, while most of it is funky at best, some are actually quite mellow and lush, as displayed in the surprisingly beautiful "Leeloo" with its subtle flourishment of strings, which blends into the dramatic, easy listening (ie, piano), chilled-out electronic fusioned "Five Millenia Later".
Most shocking of all is the groovy reggae tune "Heat", which SHOULD sound out of place but actually fits in well with this strange, eclectic union of genres. And of course we can't forget about the haunting operatic/Italian techno aria "Lucia Di Lammermoor" which goes hand in hand with "The Diva Dance" and is performed by the angelic soprano and VERY talented Inva Mulla Tchako.

Another song worth mentioning is the End Titles Version of "Little Light Of Love" which thankfully doesn't feature the singing of Sting-wannabe R.X.R.A and replaces him with soaring female voices instead. It's shorter in length but has more energy to it with a middle eastern flare and a rock edge because of the guitars.

This is hardly a masterpiece worthy of awards but it's interesting, fun to listen to, and very different from your average movie score.