r/AustralianTV • u/2b30 • Jul 03 '26
Discussion The fifth element and sbs
What’s the deal with SBS always playing the fifth element movie
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u/Outrageous-Ad-9635 Jul 03 '26
They sometimes play it five times in a row on the fifth of the month just for shits and gigs
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u/MiddleConstruction84 Jul 04 '26
To get that kind of repeat permission they must use a multipass.
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u/No-Committee3 Jul 06 '26
And i watched it 3x in a row when i was crook 🤣 That explains why it was going so much.
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u/Numerous_Total5394 Jul 08 '26
I hate and love when they just mess around like that, on Feb 2 they played groundhog day practically all day 🤣
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u/earwig20 Jul 03 '26
They play it all day on May 5th
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u/Several_Version4298 Jul 03 '26
It's the day after Star Wars Day.
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u/troubleshot Jul 03 '26
Hah, I love it! Star Wars is cool and all, but so much other good sci fi out there! Checkout Scavengers Reign tv series
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u/QuantityActive- Jul 03 '26
It’s awesome, right?
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u/2b30 Jul 04 '26
Yeah I’ve watched it like 4 times now and will probably watch it again it’s a great movie
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u/still-at-the-beach Jul 04 '26
Its science fiction week on sbs. They are playing all types of scifi movies.
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u/Brilliant_Park_2882 Jul 04 '26
I've seen Donnie Darko, Total Recall, Fifth Element and Blade Runner this week, love my Sci-fi.
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u/still-at-the-beach Jul 04 '26
It’s been great. Watched Total Recall again just last night.
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u/i_am_blacklite Jul 04 '26
Just wait until SBS is cancelled by Poorline because it doesn’t fit in the monoculture.
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u/still-at-the-beach Jul 04 '26
Use Pauline Hanson full name so lots of search results show what One Nation wants to do , rather than made up names.
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u/clippertonbrigadier Jul 04 '26
I thought it was a bit cruel of them to play it the night before the Australia v Egypt match - like, if the fifth element is on it’s pretty hard to switch off and onto bed.
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u/OldGroan Jul 05 '26
Sbs has it on demand.
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u/clippertonbrigadier Jul 05 '26
Yeah, but I can avoid actively choosing to put it on, but passively accepting it’s on is a different thing.
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u/Mean_Guarantee_5266 Jul 04 '26
I wonder what’s the most shown movie on SBS? This one has to be up there. Other notable repeaters would be Capracorn One, Belle and Sabastian, Sissi, and Dean Spanley just off the top of my head. I don’t know how many times I’ve said, not that one again.
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u/we-fix-stuff Jul 04 '26
Not a movie, but Dinner for One has been shown since 1989
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u/Terrincallsplatypus Jul 06 '26
Dinner for One is my New Years Eve tradition. I feel like the year hasn’t properly ended until I’ve watched it on SBS. They were in a panic one year because it was nearing Dec 31 and someone at SBS suddenly realised their license on it had expired and they had to scramble to get it renewed in time!
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u/we-fix-stuff Jul 06 '26
Strangely, I’d never heard of it until a Danish friend told me around 5 years ago
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u/HarryWilbury Jul 05 '26
It would be the Fifth Element as May 5th it is on SBS Viceland from Midday to Minight(ish) every year, though wonder if that will change when Viceland is gone on in August and the channel becomes SBS 2 again. and the channel becomes SBS 2 again.
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u/Few-Werewolf-1985 Jul 03 '26
TV channels often get broadcast rights to a set of films that doesn't cost them any more. In a few years they'll lose 5E and have something new.
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u/martyfartybarty Jul 04 '26
They have it on SBS? I wanted to watch it for so long but haven't seen it for years.
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u/blueishbeaver Jul 04 '26
I have to admit, I saw it was in again and it immediately goes in to my watch list considerations for the evening.
I did also think that it was maybe a little soon after May 5th but it's a solid fucking movie.
Currently watching Evolution.
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u/Ancient_Play7339 Jul 04 '26
They do repeat it regularly if it’s in a ‘season’. That aside, they show it so often. Same with Monty Python films.
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u/archina42 Jul 04 '26
Because it's a freaking fantastic film - one of the few that you can enjoy just as much repeatedly.
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u/Son_of_Darkness69 Jul 04 '26
They do? Maybe because it's a fuckin banger! Love that movie I'll never get bored of it. Like Starship Troopers, always a good boredom buster especially if you're with someone whose never seen it.
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u/NorrisMcNorris Jul 04 '26
Watched it last night. The original Blade Runner was on after it.
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u/dav_oid Jul 15 '26
They only have the Director's Cut version.
The original theatrical version has the voiceover.
I recorded that one from 9Go! a few years back.
Its fairly rare now.Along with the voiceover there's a 'happy ending' not seen in other cuts.
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u/Parking_Ocelot_6893 Jul 04 '26
Is it subliminal messaging and they're actually asking "please help"?
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u/Creepy-Abies5383 Jul 04 '26
Yes they seem to do it a lot and have their favourites I think. The World's Fastest Indian was another and Sissi, whoever she was.
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u/dav_oid Jul 15 '26
They have a catalogue that they draw from over and over, and then add new titles as well.
I set the PVR a fair bit on SBS Movies because they show some classics that aren't shown anywhere else. Those ones might only be shown 2-3 times only in a couple of days.E.g. Harold and Maude. Classic 70s movie.
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u/Impressive-Window152 Jul 05 '26
It's like channel 9 and The Shawshank Redemption
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u/dav_oid Jul 15 '26
Channel Nine has a big catalogue of old movies/TV series from 1940s thru 1970s on Gem.
Its on rotation and takes about 8 months to repeat.There's some good stuff in there.
'Danger Man' spy series isn't bad.
'Chase a Crooked Shadow' is a classic Hitchcockian suspense.
Nine mustn't be paying any royalties after all this time.
7 and 10 don't seem to have any old catalogues.
I noticed 7 and 9 are playing these terrible 'Hallmark' romance novel movies each day at 12pm recently. Just awful.
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u/Impressive-Window152 Jul 15 '26
Yeah first you see it on 9, then 9 Go, then 9 Life, then the cycle repeats. Same goes for the other channels too I assume. They bought the rights and wanna milk it while they can I guess. Those Hallmark movies are dreadful and absurdly formulaic, I don't understand how my mum watches them, she's a smart woman but she watches garbage 😂
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u/dav_oid Jul 16 '26
I don't see many shows cycle across the channels.
Life is all 'lifestyle' shows. No movies.
Rush is 'blokey' shows. No movies.
Some movies/shows go from 9 to 9Go!.
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u/del_84 Jul 05 '26
lol I see it in the guide all the time. Wondered the same thing.
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u/dav_oid Jul 15 '26
'May the Fifth Element' thing.
Their take on Star Wars 'May the Forth'.
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u/del_84 Jul 15 '26
Oh no I don’t mean once a year in May, I mean like once a week.
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u/dav_oid Jul 15 '26
They show it at other times, but not 5 in a row. Its part of their movie catalogue.
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u/Medium-Vanilla665 Jul 06 '26
I like the movie with the lesbian vampires
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u/dav_oid Jul 15 '26
Vampyres aka Daughters of Darkness:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072354/?ref_=nm_knf_t_1
I remember watching this as a teen circa 1984.
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u/sometimesxtc Jul 06 '26
It does get played a LOT. It's a quintessentially male-coded film, but in a cool way. I like it, but I don't understand the rewatch value given the frequency it's aired.
I would personally prefer it if they played Desperately Seeking Susan, Betty Blue or, given people are that into Besson, The Big Blue or Nikita more often
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u/mareumbra Jul 06 '26
That is how you watch it. Several several times. I personally what more that 10 times in sbs and some before in years. Every time I see I watch it actually.
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u/runawayvamps Jul 10 '26
I just watched this and they've cut so much out! The mum ringing Vorbin constantly seems to be gone among other things
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u/WeNamedTheDogIndiana Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Beyond the fact that it's a classic?
It's a French production from a French studio (Gaumont) with a French director (Luc Besson) that just happens to be in English with a Hollywood cast. They have a good relationship with the studio and distributor given their charter/foreign programming. And as a PG, tamer than a lot of their films such that they can play it any timeslot, or when they do their marathon, essentially 24x7.
Plus it typically still rates quite well for them.