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Amazon.co.uk Review
The Jackal is filmmaking by numbers: take two huge stars, Richard Gere and Bruce Willis, and pit them opposite each other in a plot that's already been audience tested. That director Michael Caton Jones' film is based not on Frederick Forsyth's novel but on the script for the 1973 original starring James Fox is the first clue that something here is amiss. Fred Zinneman's The Day of the Jackal was a genuinely taut and claustrophobic thriller; the remake is like a Rocky & Bullwinkle take on international terrorism disguised as an action movie. Dashing IRA terrorist, Declan Mulqueen (Richard Gere), is sprung from jail to help the FBI Deputy Director Carton Preston (Sidney Poitier) track down The Jackal, an amoral international terrorist who is a master of disguise. The FBI believes he is about to assassinate a US political bigwig and is engaged in a race against time to discover exactly who the target is and where they will be felled. Throughout the film Gere sports an Irish accent as ill-fitting and phoney as the bushy lip-wig that Willis adopts at one point as a disguise. The usually warm-hearted Willis plays the steel-jawed terrorist with a cool reserve, but he doesn't have much character development to work with (apart from a misguided attempt to introduce a gay subtext). At over two hours of running time with plenty of exposition and precious few action sequences, this film is a test of will for the audience as well as the protagonists.
On the DVD: The DVD includes a lengthy "making of" featurette, several deleted scenes and an alternate ending with some small dialogue changes. There is also an exceedingly dry director's commentary by Michael Caton Jones which muses on such mind-numbingly dull details as the colour of the subway platform in the film's climactic sequence. The film is presented in a clear print in 2.35:1 anamorphic format with 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. --Chris Campion
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
As thrillers go, if it could go wrong it did. It is the mirror opposite of Fred Zinnemann's brillant original. Perhaps it is a pastiche?
Even with the issue of an IRA man portrayed as a good guy aside, the film is still appalling. That said, it was probably an expedient marketing ploy. Controversy has been known to sell an otherwise unsellable film.
This film has more signposts than most roads. The only surprise with this film is that people actually paid to see it. Perhaps like me they hadn't read the reviews before the fact. Wasn't I silly?
From fade in to fade out, this film is jerry built with decrepit cliches.
Even with the issue of an IRA man portrayed as a good guy aside, the film is still appalling. That said, it was probably an expedient marketing ploy. Controversy has been known to sell an otherwise unsellable film.
This film has more signposts than most roads. The only surprise with this film is that people actually paid to see it. Perhaps like me they hadn't read the reviews before the fact. Wasn't I silly?
From fade in to fade out, this film is jerry built with decrepit cliches.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I can only assume that the central character in this film is called "The Jackal" in order to reel in a few more unsuspecting punters who might think that it had the subtleties and tension of "The Day Of The Jackal"!
We have a professional hit-man hired to assassinate someone ... and that's about as far as the similarities go. Different country, different target, different methods, different reason, different expert helper, different ending. You may as well claim that "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" was a remake of Ben Hur because it contained a high-tech "chariot" race!
So, let's not make comparisons!
It would appear that someone decided that the only way to make this film exciting was to find the biggest, baddest gun available, and build the rest of the script around that. Bad move, as everything then became unbelievably contrived. The HUGE cannon is shipped to Canada rather than The States where it's going to be used (why?) and then has to be taken across The Great Lakes in a boat which is "hidden" in a scheduled regatta. The goodies figure this out, but ...
(a) fail to spot the one person sailing single-handedly (bit of a clue there boys! You know ... the LONE assassin! What were you actually looking for ... a boat with a lumping great gun strapped to the deck and a bloke wearing an "I am The Jackal" tee-shirt?)
(b) only looked at boats registered in Canada ... as surely the baddie wouldn't change the name on the boat! (Hello! Anyone in there???)
(c) took so long to get to the regatta themselves that The Jackal had already unloaded his HUGE cannon, carried it all the way down a narrow pontoon, and loaded it into his mini van ... in the middle of a regatta, presumably in broad daylight, otherwise, why was The Jackal still hanging around???
At this point, I was laughing so hard that I had to take a break!
It didn't get much better ...
Our ace, professional, world's number one assassin then sets up the cannon in his mini-van which is parked in line of sight of the target. (Clearly, when a person of that importance is making a public appearance, the police don't bother to check any mini-vans with blacked out windows if they have a parking permit ... especially when they're looking for a mini-van!!!) Cue the daftest, most hilarious part of the film! The Jackal (best in the game) has a video link via his mobile and laptop to the HUGE cannon so that he can aim and fire it remotely. Surely he will be miles away. Maybe in another country? No! He sits there on a park bench, not far from the HUGE cannon, in a police uniform, with a laptop on his knee! Why? Because he's either the stupidest assassin know to man, or maybe ... just maybe, it's so that Richard Gere can catch him! After all, when the HUGE cannon pumps round after round into a building, the only person to chase after the Jackal is Gere ... oh, apart from Gere's ex girlfriend who, conveniently, just happens to be in the area, toting a hand-gun!
Gimme a break!
Really just a one star film ... the second star is because I felt sorry for Sidney Poitier being misused in such tripe!
We have a professional hit-man hired to assassinate someone ... and that's about as far as the similarities go. Different country, different target, different methods, different reason, different expert helper, different ending. You may as well claim that "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" was a remake of Ben Hur because it contained a high-tech "chariot" race!
So, let's not make comparisons!
It would appear that someone decided that the only way to make this film exciting was to find the biggest, baddest gun available, and build the rest of the script around that. Bad move, as everything then became unbelievably contrived. The HUGE cannon is shipped to Canada rather than The States where it's going to be used (why?) and then has to be taken across The Great Lakes in a boat which is "hidden" in a scheduled regatta. The goodies figure this out, but ...
(a) fail to spot the one person sailing single-handedly (bit of a clue there boys! You know ... the LONE assassin! What were you actually looking for ... a boat with a lumping great gun strapped to the deck and a bloke wearing an "I am The Jackal" tee-shirt?)
(b) only looked at boats registered in Canada ... as surely the baddie wouldn't change the name on the boat! (Hello! Anyone in there???)
(c) took so long to get to the regatta themselves that The Jackal had already unloaded his HUGE cannon, carried it all the way down a narrow pontoon, and loaded it into his mini van ... in the middle of a regatta, presumably in broad daylight, otherwise, why was The Jackal still hanging around???
At this point, I was laughing so hard that I had to take a break!
It didn't get much better ...
Our ace, professional, world's number one assassin then sets up the cannon in his mini-van which is parked in line of sight of the target. (Clearly, when a person of that importance is making a public appearance, the police don't bother to check any mini-vans with blacked out windows if they have a parking permit ... especially when they're looking for a mini-van!!!) Cue the daftest, most hilarious part of the film! The Jackal (best in the game) has a video link via his mobile and laptop to the HUGE cannon so that he can aim and fire it remotely. Surely he will be miles away. Maybe in another country? No! He sits there on a park bench, not far from the HUGE cannon, in a police uniform, with a laptop on his knee! Why? Because he's either the stupidest assassin know to man, or maybe ... just maybe, it's so that Richard Gere can catch him! After all, when the HUGE cannon pumps round after round into a building, the only person to chase after the Jackal is Gere ... oh, apart from Gere's ex girlfriend who, conveniently, just happens to be in the area, toting a hand-gun!
Gimme a break!
Really just a one star film ... the second star is because I felt sorry for Sidney Poitier being misused in such tripe!
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Read the book by Frederick Forsyth... Then watch Fred Zinnemans 1973 original 'The Day of the Jackal'.. Very very satisfying
My advice is to keep away from this sillywood trash unless of course, you have a simple amoeba between your ears...
My advice is to keep away from this sillywood trash unless of course, you have a simple amoeba between your ears...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
the jackal
a realy good copy of this film very good value for money.i would recomend it to any one in future.
Published 11 days ago by dicky
An underrated thriller undeserving of all the hate
I've never understood why The Jackal has been cursed with poor reviews from pretty much everybody. From the day I saw it as a 17-year-old in January 1998 I always found it... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Inspector Gadget
Worth a watch
Two could actors brought together to make a fairly decent film, well worth adding to collection and blue ray is good for the money
Published 1 month ago by daftdave
Great
I ordered this film as someone I know said that it was a good film. I totally agree, I would recommend this film to others. I really enjoyed!
Published 1 month ago by rebecca
Dire apology of a Sillywood remake...
I picked this up in a supermarket left-overs bin, so that should have told me something. Why on earth Gere and Willis lent their names to this appalling trash is utterly beyond me. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mike Mac
Very Nice
This Item is a Have Nice , I like so Much.
Big Movie , Big actors , Big Direct , Beautiful and Great .
Big Movie , Big actors , Big Direct , Beautiful and Great .
Published 4 months ago by Renato
good yarn, great action,,,, BUT
the ending was an insult to rest of the film. No spoiler but take my word for it. The acting ranges from superb in places to dreadful but this does not seem to matter since the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by JrF
Good Film
This is a film with some really great moments but doesn't quite fulfill its high potential. I enjoyed it but can't help feeling it could be a lot better. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Dave
Great film, highly recommend.
I love this film. I think it is a million times better than the "original" Day of the Jackal, which I feel is very dated. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mr. M. Cale
Complete Subtitles & Specs
MAIN FEATURE:
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition Widescreen 2.35:1
AUDIO:
DTS-HD Master Audio English 5.1, Italian DTS Surround 5. Read more
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition Widescreen 2.35:1
AUDIO:
DTS-HD Master Audio English 5.1, Italian DTS Surround 5. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Itas
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