|
| • Advanced Search • Help |
The Day of the Jackal | Year: 1973 Classification: Action/Adventure Directed: - Fred Zinnemann Actors/Actresses: - Edward Fox - Derek Jacobi Nail biting political thriller with an ice cold assassin ! This tremendously entertaining film has lost none of it's impact in nearly 30 years. Fred Zinnemann's adaptation of the Frederick Forsythe thriller is compulsive viewing for fans of political thrillers, espionage and deadly assassins. Loosely based on events surrounding the French involement in Algeria in the 1950's, Forsythe penned his novel in only a few weeks and it shot to the top of the best seller list immediately....and attracted the movie makers with it's dynamic plot and complex characters. Edward Fox created one the best killers EVER bought to the screen...Fox's character is dashing, debonair, charming and a ruthless assassin who is innovative, driven and exceptionally cold blooded. Where as we have become sorely accustomed to seeing current day movie assassins as highly testosteroned gorillas toting machine guns and loaded with lethal gadgets, Fox's suave, intelligent liquidator is streets ahead of any of them in his murderous portrayal. Michel Lonsdale (in probably his best role) is the intrepid and wily French police inspector who is given the invidious task of finding a faceless man who is on a single minded mission to kill President Charles DeGaulle. Zinnemann never lets the pace slow up from start to finish. His excellent direction of this deadly game of "cat and mouse" is inventive, taut and brillianty staged. A first rate support cast of predominantly lesser known actors lend a superb authenticity to the feel of the story (Loved Cyril Cusack as the Jackal's expert gunsmith). It would have been a bonus to have some insightful extras with this DVD, but alas there were none! Never to mind, "The Day of the Jackal" is A-class entertainment from beginning to end and belongs on the shelf of any devotee of stimulating and riveting thrillers...buy it now ! DOCUMENTARY-STYLE THRILLER This is one of my all-time favorite suspense movies. In almost documentary-style, director Fred Zinnemann takes the viewer through a believable plot to assassinate French President de Gaulle by French ex-soldiers angry at his freeing Algeria from colonialist rule. We see the plotters and their assassin (an excellent and unforgettable Edward Fox), the inept government ministers and the wily detective they hire to find The Jackal who just happens to stay one step ahead of them. This movie combines history, suspense and sheer entertainment (even a little sex) without all the overdone explosions and violence we have to sit through in current thrillers of its type. Oh, there are quite a few dead bodies left in the Jackal's wake but most of this is done quickly or discreetly off-screen (a nice little touch is the lobster on the kitchen floor who gets a reprieve while the cook is offed). There is probably no cooler killer in the movies than the Jackal but even more than that, this movie works because it slowly builds to a neat climax with a surprising twist. My only complaint with the DVD is the lack of any special features (how about a short docu on the Algerian war that preceded independence?) but for intelligent and exciting entertainment this one is a real winner. Excellent adaptation from Forsyth's novel. A winner! Why not the jackal? Buy The Day Of The Jackal at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Day Of The Jackal Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Day Of The Jackal This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
|
