I love it too, and that makes it not a terrible movie.
“Une bande dessinée” is no more or less than any kind of comics, e.g. Little Nemo or Tintin or Akira. See eg here
Moderating:
Hey, it’s fine to use an obscure term where it’s relevant to a thread. And it’s fine to ask what it means. And it’s super to answer politely and clearly.
But it becomes a hijack and a bit jerkish to complain about the word and otherwise carry on about it. So please return to discussing the work, want but the vocabulary.
Thanks.
I’mma buy tickets to see this, and you’d best believe when someone scans my smartphone to let me in, I’m gonna say, “Fifth Element multipass.”
Please note that I did not “otherwise carry on about it.”
Vaguely on this subject, I will note that Enki Bilal also directed a few of his own films, which also look cool (though the budget was limited) and capture some of that surreal comic-book atmosphere, but did not hang together as well as The Fifth Element for some reason (maybe he is not that experienced at writing for the screen, as opposed to comics).
In no sense is The Fifth Element a good movie. It is, in fact, quite a bad movie.
But I don’t care, because it’s also an incredibly fun movie.
I agree it’s a fun movie and one that I enjoy. In my opinion, that makes it a good movie.
I fear I was unclear. I just liked the world, the visuals. I thought its reputation as ‘sucktastic’ was well-known, and I guess I proceeded with that as a given. I see now what I wrote might be regarded as a recommendation of the movie as a whole. If someone likes the visuals of The Fifth Element and wanted more of that, I still hold that Valerian delivers. Enjoy the pretty, the fantastic. If you NEED more than that, don’t go. If you go in expecting more, it’s not my fault. Well, not now, anyway.
I didn’t hate Valerian as much as some, but I’m certainly not going to defend it either. I see its faults, and its criticisms are well-earned. Still. . .you know. . .pretty, cool world.
I did like the opening sequence showing how the International Space Station grew to be a “city of a thousand planets”.
I could actually do with a little less Chris Tucker in the movie. Or maybe he would have been OK if they had just ditched that annoying hairstyle where it looked as though he had a paper towel glued to his forehead. Gary Oldman, on the other hand? I would have been happy to watch him going around chewing the scenery for as long as he wanted.
Personally, I thought that Mila Jovavich was what made the movie.
She didn’t hurt it any.
My favorite actors, in descending order.
Chris Tucker (Ruby Rhod): perfect portrayal of a man who is pure id. The costumes, the hair, the mannerisms, the talking are all essential to showing his indifference to norms. The character isn’t meant to be lovable, but the characterization entertains in a unique way.
Milla Jovovich (Leeloo): shows how a skilled actor can work with only facial expressions, body movement, and nonsensical words. She overcomes her character’s limitations to make clear who the character is, with a perfect balance of self confidence and vulnerability. Most difficult role in the movie, and she nails it.
Gary Oldman (Zorg): hits all the right notes for a classic evil, corporate overlord. Neither over the top nor bland, he’s frighteningly plausible. I love how he switches from boss to salesman to minion, depending on the scene. Displays the greatest acting range in the movie.
Bruce Willis (Korben Dallas): does his thing, being both macho and sensitive. He doesn’t stretch himself here, but complements Milla’s performance very well. Basically, the solid-core role in the movie that allows the other actors to contrast against; he shouldn’t have played it any different.
Guess what we call the EZPass for tolls hereabouts?? 
I love this movie. I don’t know why - I’ve seen it a gazillion times, it’s not particularly compelling and not really my kind of movie, but I’ll still watch it if I come across it while scrolling on the TV. Same with Demolition Man… I feel dirty just saying that. 
We have it on DVD or Blu-Ray, I‘m not sure which.
A few weeks ago one of the steaming services mentioned it as something we would like, and we took it as a hint to watch it again.
It‘s a great romp, and definitely worth watching again. And we‘ll watch again in a few years. Rinse and repeat.
But I don’t have any desire to go to a movie theater to watch it - I‘d rather watch it at home.
If it makes you feel better, I have a copy of that on DVD as well. But it’s much more of a guilty pleasure than Fifth Element. Still, again, very quoteable, and watching Denis Leary be grunge Denis-of-the-Future along with Snipes eating the scenery is worth the amazingly unbelievability of the rest of the film is fun from time to time.
I have such a weakness for female action heroes that I absolutely LOVE Tank Girl. And was mad a few years after the fact that I didn’t know about The Long Kiss Goodnight until after it wasn’t in theaters.
But this one-- WHAT a female action hero. Plus Bruce Willis being all Bruce Willis-y in the best way. And, holy shit Chris Tucker-- turn down the screech a coupla decibels! So much of the best of action movies plus gorgeous visuals.
I’ve seen a few clips of very talented singers trying to sing the full Diva song, including the parts that in the movie were done with post-processing. Some get pretty damn close.
It would be absolutely epic and basically the pinnacle of the entire field of cosplay for someone to actually give that performance live in full diva dress/makeup, with another set of people acting out the Leeloo vs baddies fight.
The Tank Girl film makes me angry - brilliant performance by Lori Petty, great world building, perfect soundtrack, and they even put in the fucking kangaroos, and then they stuck in a thin and stupid plot (one we’d already seen in “Solarbabies”) and an outright silly villain, resulting in a decidedly tepid film. Could have been so much better if they’d had a little more courage.
You need Barbara Hannigan. (No, she’s not singing the Diva song - it’s Ligeti - and she hasn’t got all the lowest notes, but this is one of the most insane actual live performances I’ve ever seen).