I am pretty much sure that many of you would have the Fifth Element film up there in their list of movies that they would watch over and over again. Luc Besson’s sci-fi flick was a quirky one, albeit it was 12 years in the making, as he started writing about the film when he was 16 and the film was first shown when he turned 38. One of the most expensive European films, it was a big success, earning over US$260 million on a budget of US$90 million.
But for airsoft enthusiasts that most memorable thing there is the Zorg ZF-1 Pod Weapon. Developed by Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg, played by Gary Oldman, the Zorg ZF-1 is a devastating weapon with a number of deadly and not-so-deadly features as listed by the Fifth Element Wikia:
The ZF-1 is an ambidextrous assault weapon incapable of being detected by X-Rays featuring a titanium recharger, 3000 round clip with a burst of 3 or 300. It is also designed so that the first round fired will send the following shots to the same location. It also features a variety of other fire modes as well.
- Rocket Launcher: The ZF-1 features a small yellow rocket which packs a nasty punch at any target it hits.
- Arrow Launcher: Zorg demonstrated that from the sides of the ZF-1 were two launchers with a total of 10 arrows, 5 in each launcher. Each arrow is also poison tipped.
- Net Launcher: For non-lethal take downs, the ZF-1 is also known to have a net launcher to capture, rather than kill the target.
- Flamethrower: Zorg's personal favorite, the ZF-1 features a long ranged flamethrower.
- Ice Cube System: A new device the ZF-1 possesses is a weapon able to freeze people.
It also has a self-destruct system that when activated will kill all those within its blast radius as learned by the Mangalores in the movie.
Now the Zorg ZF-1 is now a reality, albeit a replica that took 17 years to make by Myth Buster’s Adam Savage. He has done several versions of the replica but what we see in the video is the most faithful rendition of the weapon when someone in the RPF forums was able to get the measurements of the actual prop and get a German version of the film that shows the prop weapon being dismantled in the Behind the Scenes footage.
Savage’s replica does some of the bells of the whistles of the ZF-1 and thankfully, it is not a working weapon that can do all the things as shown in the movie (though the Pentagon would come knocking if he is able to do that). Too bad it is a replica prop.
If someone is ambitious enough to make an airsoft replica of the ZF-1, then here is a tip: the Zorg ZF-1 prop was built around the AKS-74U compact rifle. Now that should get him/her started.