Rating: 
Summary: 24 Minutes Better
Review: I originally saw this film about 5 years ago on video, and was somewhat surprised that I had managed to miss the cinema release! The quality of acting is strong by Jean Reno, Gary Oldman and Natalie Portman. In particular though, Jean Reno is most impressive, with often subtle, understated acting, which is emphasised in the additional footage.Although another reviewer refers to this version as "The European Version," I hadn't seen the additional footage, which suggests the original release was cut for both American and British audiences. The added 24 minutes do change the feel of the film considerably, by placing more detail on Mathilda and Leon's relationship. The relationship no longer leads the audience to believe protection is the primary motive for Leon's 'adoption' of Mathilda, love becomes the true reason, and although it considers a paedophilic angle, it brings into focus interesting questions about what - in particular non-sexual - relationships are permissible in our society, and between whom. Apart from the additional footage the DVD is pretty short on special features, with just a handful of trailers, release posters and a quick bio of Reno, Oldman and Portman (and why isn't True Romance mentioned amongst Oldman's filmography?).
Rating: 
Summary: I'm one of the few who likes the "American" version better.
Review: "The Professional" is a great film! But "Leon - The Professional" is the uncut version with extra footage, and that extra footage, while sometimes enlightening, alters the tempo of the shorter version, and not always for the better. It slows it down in spots, and even adds a touch of unsettling lust to it. Granted, the extra footage provides some insight to some story details left unexplained in the shorter version. Not that "Leon..." isn't also a great film. But I think some of the extra footage was perfectly fine resting on the cutting room floor. Still worth watching, though.
Rating: 
Summary: Good.
Review: Gary Oldman is probably the best actor today. In the Professional he again does a very good job. This time he portrays a hit man who reluctantly saves the life of a little girl whose family has just been butchered. This girl, now an orphan, begins to live with him. This is this film's biggest flaw. If you can believe that a hit man would care for an orphan, you will love this film. If you think that such an action is too unbelievable, this film won't work. I was in the middle. On her first night there, he says tomorrow you must leave. Instead, she stays. Why? Well, whatever the reason, from this point on he begins to teach her about his life. Yet, in the process of teaching her how to kill, he begins to live again. She, however, is a young girl. Repeatedly in this film she does dumb things which get them into trouble. But, all of the things she does do, fit within the context of the film. Eventually there is a confrontation between him and her family's killers. There are a few surprises here, but it is pretty predictable from this point on. Overall, this film was a mixed bag. The acting was great. The effects were good. The story? That was its weak point. This film isn't worth attacking, but it doesn't deserve much praise either.
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing
Review: Whether you view the original "Leon" or the American version "The Professional", you will be in for a rare treat. In lesser hands, this could easily have been nothing more than a reasonably good action movie, or worse yet, an exploitation film taking advantage of a highly taboo piece of subject matter, and that being pedophilia. In Luc Besson's hands, it becomes a small masterpiece. The additional 24 minutes of footage in the original movie version changes the meaning of this film to a surprising degree. As one reviewer put it (and I paraphrase here), the American version is more innocent, and takes into account American sensibilities (or non-sensibilities, as I like to put it). The American version is a very good film, but the deleted footage added plot holes while lacking the depth and nuances in the original. Leon (played by Jean Reno) is an odd-looking 40 something year-old man with almost a childlike mind. He may even be close to being an idiot savant in that he can do only one thing well (actually exceptionally well), and that is killing (he is a professional hit man, and the deadliest of his kind). Although he can speak English, he cannot read, and since coming to this country has been under the influence of a mafia boss, Tony (played by Danny Aiello) who takes full advantage of Leon's abilities and especially his disabilities. Tony hires Leon for specialized contracts, but keeps his money as his banker and only doles out a little at a time (the audience knows full well that Leon will never see much of what he has earned). Leon is a pathetic individual who lives a secluded and lonely life. He sleeps in a chair fully clothed with a loaded gun within arms reach. He is an outsider with no social skills, loves only a plant, drinks only milk, and who escapes his brutal and barren reality by involving himself in old, nostalgic movies. In contrast, Mathilda (played by Natalie Portman) is a beautiful 12 year-old girl raised in a drug influenced and unloving home. She's a young girl who is continually the brunt of her father's anger, often beaten and always neglected. She is also a girl who, because of her environment, is streetwise well beyond her years. She escapes her brutal reality by immersing herself into cartoons. The tragic incident that brings these two lost souls together is the murder of Mathilda's entire family (but particularly her 4 year-old brother who she dearly loves) by out-of-control DEA agents led by a truly psychotic agent, Stansfield (played by Gary Oldman). Once this unlikely pair are forced together, they begin to complement each others deficiencies and needs, and this is the heart and soul of this fine film. Leon as the reluctant protector, actually becomes her guide into the world of killing, while Mathilda, needing revenge for her little brother's death, teaches Leon to read, and ultimately to care, feel, and love. Is it any wonder that by fulfilling such basic needs, it turns into love? But what kind of love are we talking about? Basically, it's the love of a father and daughter, yet there is a seething undercurrent suggesting so much more. Mathilda easily mistakes this love as being "in love", and in her limited knowledge, she IS in love. Leon, meanwhile, denies his attraction for Mathilda to himself, and to her. Besson handles all this with utmost care and realism. My hat goes off to the entire cast (even Oldman, although his performance is over-the-top, it is extremely chilling). However, what makes or breaks this movie is the performance by Natalie Portman under Besson's wonderful direction. Her roll is the key, and she lights up the screen every single second she is on it. Her big, beautiful brown eyes sparkle with a child's laughter in one scene, then steams the screen seductively in the next. There are so many memorable scenes that there just aren't enough words allotted to describe them all. Suffice it to say, this movie kept me on the edge of my seat and totally captivated. Between 1 and 10, "The Professional" gets a marginal 8, while "Leon" gets a solid 9. Admittedly, this film is not for everyone, especially those who are easily offended either by the topic or the language. That being said, I don't think you can possibly lose with either film version. So what could make this film a 10? To tell you the truth, the action scenes (as intense and as good as they were) often took away from the real story (I sometimes wonder what was left on the cutting room floor in lieu of some of these action scenes). One can readily understand why this was done. "The Professional" could reach a much larger audience if it highlighted the action. Unfortunately, we live in a world where violence and death are glorified and love, especially forbidden love, is a topic that most find extremely difficult to handle, or even understand.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful film
Review: I cannot recommend enough this film, in its full European version. It somehow manages to explore taboos of love and death without being pedantic or mystical. Its characters, described, sound like they must be cardboard cutouts, but each unique individual is brought to life by the actors and the screenplay. It's a rare film that can evoke such a range of emotions, from vicarious thrills to real loss or triumph. Rarer is one that can evoke sympathy for the romantic love of a young girl for a father figure, and even for his eventual reciprocation. I recall one scene, in which the two are forced to part due to some danger, in which I felt the type of "fierce sadness" of true love denied, of innocent life trampled. Yet at the same time one is aware that their love cannot be, that their lives at that moment may fit but that it is a moment seized from time, a moment that cannot continue. In that way, that grasping, it is like a mirror of our own lives, that we seize a moment in time and hold it, fiercely, as the waters rush in. Do see this film.
Rating:
Summary: LIKE A KILLER, LIKE A CHILD
Review: Always I have a bit fear of giving "5 stars" for a movie that is not by - for ex. - Kubrick, Bergman, Billy Wilder or Fellini, and is not "The night of the hunter"... But then I say to myself: every work has been valued both by how we like it and by how much it gives effect of the idea of its author...This second thinking reassures me and I vote "5 stars". "The Professional", in fact, has an excellent consistency around an original and effective idea, an idea that can transmit emotions. After many years, I have to find it is true still. Leon is a perfect killer but he is a child in every other way: he is not independent, he has not an his real life, he eats only milk, he sleeps on a chair and when he is not working he cares of a small plant ("it's the sole my friend" he says) or goes at a matinee to see old musicals. Look the front line of Jean Reno (what wonderful performance!) who enjoys "Singin'in the rain" looking around himself in the empty cinema, as he has fears his happiness could been seen by someone. Matilda (Natalie Portman) is alone, her family has been butchered by a squad of psychopathic and corrupt policemen, and she throws herself on Leon. At beginning he repulses her, and he almost kills her while she is sleeping, but he has stopped himself. From this gesture, normally of hate but now of charity, an alliance is formed between them, and love. This love is shown with much discretion, Matilda is only twelve years!, but it is deep-rooted in a will of surviving that perhaps is the base of all the unions apparently more mature. This is an excellent action-movie too, the scenes of the killer's jobs and of the carnage in the Matilda's house are not inferior of those in "Nikita" (maybe she was the older Matilda...). Like in all great movies, not only the good, the bad too is unforgettable: the policeman by Gary Oldman put himself in our head and there will remain! How can we forget his contortions when he pops himself before every violence? At last, very good music. A great movie!
Rating:
Summary: All time cult classic.
Review: For anyone who liked the matrix or is a big John Woo fan you have to add this to your DVD collection (European version,extra 24 minutes).Even though the plot is your basic man saves girl from bad guys there is one big twist here the girl is only 12-13 yrs old and the guy is 40ish.Some people might say this relationship is sick but there is such great chemistry between Jean Reno and Natalie Portman that the age difference is blurred. As far the action scenes Luc Beeson can actually create such great tension before the action scene starts that your on the edge of your seat with your heart pounding throughout the whole movie. Final word this movie should be shown to film students as benchmark.
Rating:
Summary: Ode to childhood,even flowers live in the dirt
Review: Luc Besson creates overanimated yet understated films,sounds difficult and it is.Jean Reno is the lone wolf almost a mute who takes life in small steps and sharp shots.He meets a little girl played by Natalie Portman who was born an orphan even though she had a large family.Now the world that they live in holds no hope for the sensitive or emotional.And they form a friendship brittle and broken that forms a barrier from the outside world.I thought Oldman played a better Beethoven here than in Immortal Beloved,he's lively and quite deaf.And the song from Sting at the end credits,the whole film is about what not to sacrifice in this life,a true friend.
Rating:
Summary: Painful but will done.
Review: I loved the American version of The Professional. I loved Natalie Portman, Jean Reno, Danny Aiello, Gary Oldman. I loved Eric Serra's music. Although the film is dark - a murdered family, a lonely hit man, an orphaned girl, a criminal cop- the emotions are real. Natalie Portman makes the movie authentic; she makes it real. It is a rare film and I must have watched it about a dozen times. Imagine my surprise when I found that there was a version with an additional 24 minutes. To be honest, I'm glad the American version cut out those scenes. It made it a more innocent film and is a compliment to the decency of American sensibilities. However the 24 minutes are great in their own way. They add depth to the plot and greatly enhance the pathos. It's a dark masterpiece where everything came together perfectly.
Rating:
Summary: This Movie is a Legendary Classic
Review: This title LEON THE PROFESSIONAL has the same character of the anime movie called GOLGO 13 THE PROFESSIONAL,but vise versa personality,but they are the same. LEON The Professional is Presented in a 2.35 Animorphic widescreen,and DOLBY 5.1 Sound. The Widescreen is well done encoded,colors are great and you will see barely any Blooming colors. But this movie is suppose to be wider from the original PROFESSIONAL DVD. Look at the BATHTUB SEEN when Garry Oldman shoots her.Its suppose to be wider.you dont lose any image at all from the top and bottom,but you lose %5 of the left and right. Also The sound lacks Bass,and it contains minor Bass from Eric Serras Music Score.But it does have great discreate sound from rear speakers. The special Features Lacks what DVDs are made for,NO COMMENTERY,NO INTERVIEWS,NO MAKING OF,and No Ommited Scenes. The Features only has 3 Trailers(LEON,THE MESSAGER,THE BIG BLUE.) and also it does have a Poster Gallery.and noting more. But you will enjoy the extra scenes,it made the movie completely diffrent and well done acting from Jean Reno and Natalie Portman. I gave it 4 stars of the lack of features. This movie is an example of how a basic DVD should be.(RULES OF ENGAGEMENT ANY BODIE). And This movie is not a complete Directors Cut,There are scenes like,How did Norman Finds LEON,how Tony got scares on his Face,and theres a Action Sequence cut from the film which this how Leon got shot. But Enjoy,This cut is still worth cause of the Ring Trick.
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