The Jackal (DVD)

In what is essentially a remake of the 1973 classic film The Day Of The Jackal, director Michael Caton-Jones sadly wastes the talents of both Bruce Willis and Richard Gere, and comes up with a disappointing attempt at what could have been a decent remake of a very good film. The 1973 film featured Edward Fox as an assassin whose latest target is the leader of the French, Charles DeGaulle, and is set in England and France in stunning scenery and traditional acting and suspense. Sadly, this Americanised remake doesn't manage to track the plot basics across the Pond very well. Willis plays the assassin known as The Jackal, while for some strange reason, Richard ...  Read the complete review

This is a review of the DVD, there was no category under DVD's (maybe it can be moved there!) Has the Jackal had its day? How do you stop a film that has no identity? ==================================== If you expect the film to be as good as the 1973 film "The Day of The Jackal" which was based on the Frederick Forsyth Book of the same name, you will be disappointed. The only link between the two appears to be the screenplay writer, Kenneth Ross, who should have insisted that his name be removed from this film. The original film, which was directed by Fred Zinnemann and starred Edward Fox as The Jackal, was an ...  Read the complete review

None of the signs boded too well ... first we got Richard Gere and Bruce Willis in the lead roles, hardly personnel whom you would immediately associate with the higher things in modern cinema, trading more on their pretty boy looks than a background at RADA ... then you get Willis assuming the role of Master of 1,000 Faces, although he actually stretches to about six, and they all somehow look like the middle aged waster whom Willis played in Death Becomes Her, with the most unbelievable moustaches and wigs you have ever seen ... finally you get a plea, an excuse almost, that you shouldn't see 1997's The Jackal as a remake of 1973's Day of the Jackal, with ...  Read the complete review

Very predictable, With an attempt to assassinate a top American offical, sounds good. But predictable the only man who can stop him is a prisoner. A Russian mob hire the Jackal (Bruce Willis) to assassinate a top American offical, after one one of their leading members was killed in a raid by American and Russian secret services. The Jackal has never been seen so is very hard to track, he's cunning, and clever and is able to use many clever disguises to trick the American police and eventually they have to enlist the help of an Irish terrorist (Richard Gere). He agrees to help on one condition, he is given a reduced sentence or a lighter sentence. ...  Read the complete review

Loosely based on the classic `The Day of The Jackal' the plot revolves around cold war politics and the attempt to assassinate a leading government official. If you like your guns big then The Jackal does not disappoint, but if you like your films to have someone you can identify with then The Jackal is sadly lacking. Willis usually excels as the likable all-American hero, this time he is asked to be the ruthless assassin. The Jackal has many aliases, much like Val Kilmer in the Saint they all look like Willis with a wig and fake moustache, but he just about gets away with it. By his pursuers, he is described as `cold' in the movie, and throughout the mysterious ...  Read the complete review