In 1914, the Mondoshawans, a kind of big extraterrestrial robots, arrive at an ancient Egyptian temple and get back the ultimate weapon capable of defeating the Great Evil which will appears in three hundred and fifty years. The weapon is divided into four stones, representing the four elements (wind, earth, fire and water), and a sarcophagus that contains a Fifth Element in the form of a human, which is the key element in order to create a "Divine Light" that can stop the Great Evil. The Mondoshawans will return with the Elements in three hundred and fifty years to stop the Great Evil, but an accident forces them to give their key to the temple to the priest and instruct him to pass it on to future generations.
In 2263, the Great Evil appears like a giant asteroid. After the destryction an Earth battleship, President Lindberg is then informed of the myth of the Great Evil and the weapon that can stop it by the current priest of the Mondoshawan key, Vito Cornelius. As the Mondoshawans return to Earth, their spacecraft are attaqued by the shape-shifting Mangalores. Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg in under command, and he was contacted by the Great Evil itself in order to steal the Element stones. The Mondoshawan's spacecraft is destroyed and the only thing recovered is the right hand of the Fifth Element, which they use to create a woman, named "Leeloo". She escapes from the laboratory and jumps off a ledge to land in the flying taxicab of Korben Dallas, a former major in the Special Forces who become a taxi driver.
Dallas delivers Leeloo to Cornelius. Leeloo tell him that the four Element stones weren't in the Mondoshawan's spacecraft, but that Diva Plavalaguna, an opera singer, is taking care of them. Because the Mangalores failed to obtain the stones (they only bring an empty suitcase), Zorg tries to kill them. Their compatriots attempt to obtain the Elements for themselves. General Munro, Dallas' former superior, orders Dallas to travel undercover, as a radio contest winner, to meet the Diva on a luxury cruise in space. Dallas takes Leeloo with him, while Cornelius instructs David to prepare the temple and infiltrates aboard the vessel.
The Diva is killed when Mangalores attack the ship. The Element stones are inside the Diva's body. Dallas give them to Ruby Rhod, a showman on the radio, then fights the Mangalores, and kills their leader. Zorg arrives : he is looking for the Elements. He attacks Leeloo with his new gun, finds a carrying case and leaves behind a time bomb. Zorg discovers the case is empty when he is on his spacecraft, so he returns to search for the Element stones. He deactivates the bomb, but a dying Mangalore then activates his own bomb, destroying the ship and killing Zorg and the remaining Mangalores. Meanwhile, Dallas, Cornelius, Leeloo, and Ruby Rhod escape with the Element stones aboard Zorg's spacecraft.
The four return to the Egyptian temple as the Great Evil approaches. The group arranges the stones and activates them with the classical element that each stone represents (the wind blow, the fire burn, the rain fall...). One problem remains : Leeloo has become disenchanted with humanity after learning the history of War, and initially refuses to release the Divine Light. Dallas confesses his love for Leeloo and kisses her. Then, Leeloo combines the power of the stones and releases the Divine Light, and finally the Great Evil becomes a new moon in Earth's orbit.
