Why Is The 5th Element Rated PG-13?

I consider this movie to be quite wild and thus appropriate for a PG-13 rating. As in other action movies, you have plenty of explosions, many shootings and quite a few scenes of extreme action. Only, most of it is not too graphic, so it remains ok for teens and pre-teens. In this movie, there is also plenty of blood and violence (as in the scene where Leeloo dispatches a bunch of Mangalores) but it is all very stylized and thus remains quite tame. The only somewhat ‘suggestive’ scene is the cab ride with Ruby Rhod. There, you will get to see the the very flamboyantly dressed actor in a variety of rather risqué outfits. I also suspected that there might be some blood and/or violence in this science fiction flick but as stated before, most of it is not too graphic. A lot of the violence is pretty creative, too. So, in summary, this is a very fun and loaded action/fantasy flick which, in the end, is rated correctly as PG-13.

Interestingly enough, this film falls perfectly within the parameters of late 90s sci-fi films. With a snarky edge and style so iconic to the time period, ‘The 5th Element’ practically embodies all of the best qualities that the era has to offer. When released to theaters a decade ago, no doubt the creative visuals, and off the wall action sequences would have landed the film a more restricted rating, had it been released today. But, thanks to the strictures of the time, of course The Fifth Element receives a very tame PG-13 rating – thanks in part to Korben’s cigarette-smoking, Leeloo’s almost-revealing garb, and of course Zorg, the deliciously wicked villain of the film. Really, Besson’s often-off-the-wall style could have easily been relegated to an R, given its often-violent nature. Instead, it looks and feels much like a comic book – complete with accessible and quasi-sandboxed ‘action’ as seen in various fight scenes.

This is a movie that exists on a knife edge – lots of action but of the cartoonish sort, lots of humor but it is saucy rather than rude. So a PG-13 rating seems to fit well. The brief shots of Leeloo’s nudity are entirely non-sexual and while Ruby’s behavior is flirtatious she doesn’t get up to anything too objectionable. It is the behavior of the villainous Zorg that pushes the movie over the edge of what is deemed suitable for kids.

‘The 5th Element’ is my favourite film ever, but it’s a PG-13 movie for a reason. The action scenes never stop from the very beginning, when Korben Dollar fights against thelém refugees in the ancient temple, to the last seconds of the movie where it all unfolds on the famous Phloston Paradise space station. The movie isn’t bloody at all, but a lot of people die in it, including the Mangalores, who get destroyed in rather unpleasant ways. You might think that the lounge singer Ruby Rhod is funny in the movie, but his campy humor is of a very mature kind and sometimes even includes quite strong sex innuendos. Leeloo, the newJean Christ-like substance in the movie, runs around almost completely bandaged, Korben is his typical gruff and cranky self. It’s a very adult movie in that respect and even includes a bit of nihilism as the main arch-villain Zorg is shown to be completely merciless and even cruel, and the story takes place in a bleak and decayed future. However, Besson makes the movie so much fun to watch, that it feels sweet and nice, as it should. So all in all, the movie was properly rated as PG-13, as it is certainly thrilling, but not in the least traumatising.