The Jackal (1997)
Genre: Action / Thriller
Duration: 124 minuten
Country:
United States / United Kingdom / France / Germany / Japan
Directed by: Michael Caton-Jones
Stars: Bruce Willis, Richard Gere and Sidney Poitier
IMDb score:
6,4 (131.588)
Releasedate: 14 November 1997
The Jackal plot
"How do you stop an assassin who has no identity?"
The Jackal (Bruce Willis) is a mysterious hit man hired by the Russian mafia to kill the director of the FBI in revenge. The FBI learns of this and is forced to enlist the help of imprisoned IRA terrorist Declan Mulqueen (Richard Gere), the only person who can identify The Jackal. Remake of The Day of the Jackal (1973).
Actors and actresses
The Jackal
Declan Mulqueen
Carter Preston
Major Valentina Koslova
FBI Agent T. I. Witherspoon
Isabella Zanconia
FBI Director Donald Brown
Ian Lamont
Douglas
The First Lady
Reviews & comments
Filmkriebel
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- 10202 messages
- 4772 votes
Heavily underestimated, although I can understand where the shoe pinches. It has a very different feel to Zinneman's film. Reworked as a Hollywood action thriller, the film is more of a film in its own right than a remake. Therefore, I think the comparisons between the two versions are somewhat unfair and it is best to view them as two separate works.
In the meantime, it has been seen many times and it remains smooth and exciting and guarantees an exciting movie night. It's a battle against time to catch the nefarious superkiller before he can carry out his murderous plans. Willis plays one of his rare roles as a bad guy, who comes across as just a little too forcedly cold and icy. Gere, on the other hand, doesn't show up at all and plays a functional role : everything is focused on the confrontation at the end . The Russians are also really stereotypical figures here. The tension is sometimes good because of the equal force measurement on both sides. The Jackal builds up with ease to what I think is a very good finale and scores high on revision level. 4*
Translated from Dutch · View original
DutchTakeshiro
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- 366 messages
- 2235 votes
Great action thriller. The well-known tricks of the genre are repeated in The Jackal, but it all looks slick. Director Michael Caton-Jones makes a film that, despite some strong scenes, is a bit too long. The film would have come into its own in an hour and a half. The level of the film drops at times because the speed is taken out of the film. The story of The Jackal is interesting and offers enough to not just rely on the action (which looks great, by the way).
Bruce Willis steals the show as the hit man the Jackal. A rather striking role for Willis because he almost always plays the good guy. I have to say that I find this a refreshing role for him. Willis always has that disarmed expression on his face and to see him play a bad person with that exact same expression is amusing. Richard Gere plays well but I don't understand why they didn't choose a real Irishman for the part of Declan Mulqueen. You immediately hear that the accent has been played and that is a bit distracting. Sidney Poitier has a good supporting role as FBI agent Carter Preston and has a fine chemistry with Richard Gere.
Other than that, there isn't much to say about this movie. It's a decent action thriller that isn't a high-flyer, but still does better than a lot of genre contemporaries. A number of events and situations in The Jackal feel a bit unbelievable but that should not spoil the fun. The film builds up well and the final climax is more than good.
3.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Peter Pan
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- 300 messages
- 693 votes
Top movie with a top cast!
Richard Gere, who in my opinion always plays very believable, also provides a fine role here with a believable Irish accent.
Also nice to see Bruce Willis as "crook" again.
This time no yippee ki yay and macho jokes, but with a constant bloody serious face he plays a top role!
The film has a nice build-up, in which enough happens in the first half hour. The playing time of 2 hours is therefore fine, with sufficient action and enough tension.
A film from before 2000 that can still be used (although that is not very difficult with today's junk) is therefore a top film!
8.5
4*
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