Customer Reviews

The Jackal (Widescreen Edition) [VHS]

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

Director Michael Caton-Jones has created a good dramatic and suspense filled film with outstanding actors and a riveting, masterful plot. Bruce Willis plays the lead role as the "Jackal" a cold and calculating assassin. Sidney Poitier is superbly cast as the FBI Deputy Director. Richard Gere plays Declan Mulqueen, an IRA. terrorist, imprisoned in the USA. Diane Venora is cast as the Russian Interpol agent, Valentina Kostova. Scenes were filmed in many locations in Europe, primarily Helsinki, Finland which also served to represent Moscow, and London, England; Montreal, Canada; Chicago, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Essentially, the FBI and Russian agents managed to kill a Chechnyan mobster. Unfortunately, his brother is out for revenge and hires the Jackal to assassinate a top US official ... Initially, they believe the target is the Director of the FBI. However, as time evolves, Declan Mulqueen discovers who the real target is.

Bruce Willis is chilling and real in his role as the Jackal. He engages in multiple disguises and identities throughout the film to achieve his goals. He manages to get a computer guided high tech weapon built and smuggled into the United States undetected. He gains entry into the US via a power boat over the Lakes from Canada to Lake Michigan and there he joins a boat race in Chicago by blending in. The FBI gets permission to spring Declan Mulqueen out of jail ... in order to get his help to identify and apprehend the Jackal. He makes a deal to win his freedom, then joins in the chase to catch the Jackal.

It turns out the Jackal has another murder in mind along with accomplishing the task for which he was hired. The Jackal has an old score to settle with Isabella, a woman from his past who can identify him. She survived his attempt to kill her. She was a Spanish terrorist of Basque origins who worked with Declan Mulqueen many years ago. They had been lovers and she was pregnant with his child when the Jackal shot her ... It seems Declan Mulqueen also has a score to settle with the Jackal. While the plot is well developed, the film drags on a bit, as much of the film involves chasing the Jackal while he deviously manages to avoid detection, When he gets closer to his target and the deadline ... the film picks up speed and the story becomes more fascinating and complex. The ending is exciting and satisfying. Some feel the film made in 1973, "Day of the Jackal" upon which this film is based, is superior. Never having seen the former, I can only judge this film. Overall, this could have been a *more* exciting film given the action, drama, and well layed out plot but too much time is wasted in the big chase which makes one feel the film is much longer than it should be. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

Michael Caton-Jones is one of those directors who never makes a really good movie, but usually there's something interesting about them. Actors must love him because he's certainly lured a lot of the best into his productions. Maybe that's his weakness, a penchant for big names and not really being able to offer them proper vehicles for their talents. They wind up overacting, out of control. DOC HOLLYWOOD is a good example. Cute premise, appealing stars, and what happens? Caton-Jones fails to lift it out of routine romantic comedy. He had an attractive cast, and a fantastic soundtrack, in SCANDAL, the 1989 film of the Profumo/Christine Keeler affair, but it just sat there and failed to give off sparks. MEMPHIS BELLE was more of the same, a war picture that did not revive the war picture as it was meant to. ROB ROY was an aimitation of BRAVEHEART and CITY BY THE SEA--well, what the devil was that anyhow? Caton-Jones had a real success with THIS BOY'S LIFE, in which he uncovered layers of talent in the young Leo DiCaprio, but one is not surprised he is now directing the BASIC INSTINCT sequel RISK ADDICTION. I bet it's a pip.

However, THE JACKAL isn't half bad and in some ways it might be the best of the bunch. Again the enormous cast of talented actors, among them the amazing Diane Venora (of Michael Mann fame) here going all Russian and Ninotchka is some wonderful outfits and the frosty, wet look of one torn between allegiances. Sidney Poitier is in it too, sort of a waste of Poitier's once great talent. Really anybody could have played the part. Richard Gere strikes all the right notes and plays an IRA terrorist, Declan, with a heart of gold and smart as all get out, who helps the USA solve the problem of who will the Mafia send to kill the first lady. (I know, what a ridiculous story, and in such bad taste in our age of terror.) Still Gere is terrific and makes all the right deductions and eventually we begin to realize that none other than Bruce Willis is really evil Carlos, the original Jackal, the hit man beyond compare.

When one compares this film to the original, Apollonian classic made by Fred Zinnemann in the 1970s, one realizes that perhaps they changed De Gaulle to the First Lady because focus groups were employed to find out that nowadays no one knows who De Gaulle was, and presumably everyone knows the First Lady. How stupid! For "First Lady" Tess Harper, once an important actress in US cinema, this was her last movie of the 1990s, and in fact her final studio picture (since then she has appeared in one obscure indie after another. And yet THE JACKAL is an appealing mess of a film, everything but the kitchen sink makes an appearance, and then, around reel eight, there's a kitchen sink! You've got to love it.

I imported this version from Amazon.de some time ago and can say it plays fine on Region A (US & Canada) players. While the main movie plays fine (and looks and sounds great given the age of the movie), don't expect the extras work on your US player (as they are not encoded in 1080p).

One of my most watched DVDs. This movie is ingenious. The mix of sarcastic/subtle humor and action is what keeps drawing me going back every few months to watch it again. Maybe it's the cool soundtrack or the over the top but hilariously timed choreography. The director knew what he was doing. Those that get it will love the movie and watch it again and again. Those that compare it too the original or get their meat torqued over anything they think is implausable or those that consider themsleves too 'sophisticated' are better off staying away. This is a great movie. I like it in a similiar way as I do The Saint with Val Kilmer. It would appear that unless a movie has a 80 pound woman with a large cranium skilled in martial arts or a gay cowboy or a rapper turned actor, it will be looked down upon over an upturned nose.

I love this movie, great action, great content, great artists, great everything...

But, I live in Latin America, so I thought that watching (and hearing) this movie in BluRay should be a great experience... but I'm very disapointed because the BluRay format doesn't have Spanish Subtitles, just English language and subs.

Even, the DVD has French language and Spanish subtitles, but I really love watching movies in HD.

If you speak English, go ahead and enjoy this movie...

This is a no-nonsense Blu release that has the DVD version on the opposite side - I can't say that I appreciate the arrangement but that's the way it is so we'll have to live with it.

The Blu side lacks extras but the movie's Blu transfer is nothing short of spectacular both for picture and sound, considering this Jackal's age. There is a 'The Making of the Jackal' featurette on the DVD side but that's the side that gets lots of fingerprints and I didn't play it yet. I truly enjoyed watching this Blu release and this is all that matters, after all.

The picture format is 2.35:1, 1080p, of course, with the default sound as DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. A French sound track is available on the DVD side only.

There are 2 Blu-ray specific features:

- My Scenes (can be useful) - allows you to mark clips while watching for later viewing.

- Universal Tickler (very annoying) - downloads 'updates' while your player is booting up with the movie and then plays unwanted commercials until you hit the 'Menu' key and escape out of it.

To conclude, I loved watching The Jackal in HD but I will take away one star for the minor annoyances that I've mentioned already. If I were a Jackal/Bruce Willis fan and had a Blu player I'd buy it even if I had the DVD already. I know that I did.

The first half of the movie builds up a great story. The Jackal is a hired assassin who is paid millions of dollars to assassinate a well-known personality in the USA. He is able to go undetected all over North America using aliases, disguises and stolen identities. He has a carefully crafted plan that involves an automatic firing weapon controlled remotely via a laptop. Bruce Willis plays a very believable villain.

However, the ending was so bad that the whole plot blows up like a poorly made B-movie! Unfortunately, it makes the two hours not worth watching!

This one is passable entertainment if you don't pay much attention to the plot and enjoy what few things this film has to offer. Among them is Richard Gere's charismatic performance as Ex-IRA who is now helping Sidney Poitier track down The Jackal. Poitier is his usual intimidating self and it's a lot of fun to see Bruce Willis change identities, I also enjoyed the high-tech weaponry. Other than that, the plot and the ending are unsatisfying. From a scale of 1-10 I give this film a 6!

"The Jackal" is stylish, entertaining, jam-packed with great action, but it's brought down by a weak screenplay. This film lacks the intelligence of it's inspiration: "The Day Of The Jackal" and the lore of international intrigue. There are too many loose ends and stuff you know is not plausible. Bruce Willis is great as The Jackal, but he doesn't have a strong base here. I was entertained by the film, but I was left unsatisfied by some slow moments and situations that could have been taken out. The soundtrack is very well-done though. "The Jackal" is an entertaining and at times stylish and thrilling, but it lacks a bigger brain.

Rex Stewart Movie Review: Jackal This is a great story line, poorly executed. During my first viewing, I was not impressed by any aspect of the movie, except its potential to be a great movie. The story line has resulted in a Line of Fire wanna-be. Pro's: Best Gun this decade.

Director: 3/10 The Director really falls down in what could have been a great movie. I do not know all of the limitations imposed, but clearly he had the budget for a great cast of characters. He does a poor job of maintaining the drama. The pace is maintained. The movie is reasonably exciting, but a relatively smooth sine wave. I am surprised that in the light of the poor writing and directing the Director did not resort to more violence and high impact theatrics. After all, he does have the best gun of the decade. The Director and writers fail to generate empathy for the protagonist, a common failing of potentially great movies. (see Indochine). Leading Actor: 4/10 I really like Bruce Willis, but he was mis-cast and mis-written for the part. The character just is not the Jackal. (See John Malkovich, Line of Fire). Supporting Actor: Richard Gere. I think I would like R. Gere if I met him (and lord knows he is a heart throb, for some), but I am rarely impressed by his acting. 5/10.

Movie Rating: ** It is very watchable, and I could watch it again without complaint, but it does not live up to its potential. Even the critics can be wrong, Rex Stewart

Rex Stewart rating Scale Overall movie rating: 0 Not worth watching 1 Worth watching once. Assuming $1 rental on a slow Sunday afternoon. 2 Could watch it twice within three years without complaint. 3*** Worth a full price theatre ticket. 3 * . 4* An excellent movie. Worthy of purchase or multilpe rentals over several years. 5* Blockbuster. Overwhelming. Would own the movie and watch it for a lifetime.

Other movie aspects: 5/10 Meets expectations for the movie as I believe it is projected.