The Jackal

Amazon.com

The best way to enjoy this 1997 thriller is to forget the much better film that inspired it (1973's The Day of the Jackal) and get whatever kicks you can from this heavy-metal remake. It's not bad as hokey thrillers go, but all of the original film's suspenseful finesse has been traded in (not traded up) for bigger, bolder action and nonsensical plotting. It's as if Hollywood had forgotten to create excitement without resorting to overblown action and heavy hardware, but there's ample compensation in the casting of Bruce Willis and Richard Gere. Willis is the elusive assassin known only as the Jackal, whose latest target (he uses a cannon-sized gun that's anything but inconspicuous) may be the first lady of the United States. Gere plays a former IRA terrorist who is recruited by the deputy head of the FBI (Sidney Poitier) to trace the Jackal's maneuvers, and Diane Venora offers some gutsy support as a Russian-born agent who assists Gere on his mission. The movie has fun turning Willis into a master of disguise, and Gere adds much-needed gravity to counter the plot's escalating absurdity, but this is the kind of film that falls apart if you think about it too much. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Does contain a directors commentary........2007-07-24

For anyone who is interested, this DVD (ISBN 0-7832-2688-8) does contain a commentary by director Michael Caton-Jones. Why Universal doesn't put that information on the box is beyond me. They've done it before(12 Monkeys springs to mind); have features someone might want, but not list them on the packaging.

What's wrong with it?.......2006-11-23

Personally, I thought this was a great movie. Well written, full of twists and turns, and contrary to many of the reviews I've read on here, has a nearly flawless plot. The only reason I'm writing a review for this movie is to clear up what some of the other people have said about it.
People have written things like "Why did that Jackal make it so complicated" or things similar to this. First of all, the giant gun he uses and the public place he attacks at are all part of what he was paid to do, and if you people would have paid attention to the story you would have known that.
Second, he wasn't "Already in the U.S." as at least one reviewer put. He was in Russia! Yes, he was an American, but he was in Russia discussing the terms of his job, from where he traveled to Canada and THEN the U.S.
And another thing, it was questioned why he took a ship to enter the U.S., and one reviewer put that he could have used his van or taken a bus. He used a ship to avoid border patrols in his van, and HOW IN THE WORLD WAS HE SUPPOSED TO GET THAT GUN AND MOUNT ON A BUS???

Fine acting and locales.......2006-10-01

A big budget action flick here with FBI agent Sidney Poitier enlisting IRA prisoner Gere to stop a high tech assassin (Willis) from completing a high level assassination. All 3 leads are very good and especially Poitier with Gere mananging an acceptable Irish brogue. It's a very watchable movie but one wishes the plot holes weren't so obvious. This was made in 1997 so it was pre 9-11 but even still, it's a little silly to believe that an FBI agent would leave the First Lady up on a platform to give a speech just to try to capture the villain.
The many disguises of Willis and the many locales add spice to the story and it almost moves along quick enough that you miss some of the holes in the story. Still very watchable and entertaining- 3.5 Stars.

no where as good as the origanal but still fun if you let it.......2006-02-17

bruce willis and richard gere plus sidney poitior in the story of an hit-man out to kill someone in the u.s. and we don't know who. russiaian mob men are looking for payback after u.s. and russian police kill one of the mobs boys in russia. they hire the "jackel" a hit-man who no one has ever seen and ask him to do the job. willis is the killer and he looks mean and enjoys killing. gere is an i.r.a. killer in jail who also has seen the "jackel" and poitior is the f.b.i. man that is tracking the hit-man down. logic never gets in the way of the action as this movie pulls out all the stops to tell this story. i makes no sence at all but it is fun if you let it be. willis is ok , gere's accent slips as much as his acting and poitior is his fine acting self and he never lets his age keep him out of the action . not great but fun .

See the great 1970's Day Of The Jackal instead.......2006-02-11

This movie is not a thriller or thrilling like the 1970's Day Of The Jackal. It's mostly dumb action pre-teen boy stuff with little suspense or interesting plot.

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