Leon - The Professional (Uncut International Version)

Rating:
Summary: brrilliant, imaginative, explosive thriller for the ages!
Review: got my copy today, finally, and was it ever worth the wait! it was always an astounding flick, but now, with all the footage back, the superbit/dts audio all add up to makimg this masterpiece a classic! like "the fifth element" newly restored dvd to superbit and dts sound, these components take both films to the nth level of quality. get both for over 4 hours of 2of the very best films of the 90's! bravo, mr. bessun, bravo to sony/columbia house for lavishing such loving care on both great films.

Rating:
Summary: Enveloping, fascinating, unique...incredible film
Review: Sometimes I think to myself, how did this movie not receive immediate critical acclaim and box office success upon its release in 1994? But then I remember how it was marketed. It was marketed as a hip, fast-paced, hitman action movie. But in reality it is a poetic, moving, elegant drama that happens to include a few great action scenes. Sometimes I wonder how Gary Oldman didn't receive a Best Supporting Actor nod for his work in this film. But then I remember that the Academy seldom gives such honors to over-the-top villains, no matter how well they are played. I don't know how many times I've watched and rewound the moment where Oldman's character swallows a mysterious pill in the hallway (the "calm before the storm") and subsequently how he reacts to the drug. Amazing. You know what, there are too many good things to say about this film. Basically, every performance is perfect, every character is cast perfectly, the music is perfect, the direction and cinematography are perfect. It is truly a flourishing work of art; a master stroke from director Luc Besson. Time will attest to that.

Rating:
Summary: For fans of Leon...a must have edition to view and collect.
Review: When I explained the premise of the movie, no one could believe it was actually a love story. Perhaps US audience will find it taboo to think of such - a young girl who falls for an older man. I am not saying it's right, but its what the movie is about and people viewing these kinds of movies should always keep an open mind to appreciate the story.

- The fact that you are checking out the Deluxe Edition of this movie proves that you already know what it is all about - an Italian cleaner whose methodic life is disrupted by a next-door neighbor, a young girl. It is because of her that he learned to appreciate life and realized what love is once more.

- This is a two disc set. It is mastered using Sony's Superbit - optimized video encoded at double the normal rate. Couple this with DTS and Dolby Digital and you have one heck of an experience in picture quallity.

- The first disc contains the actual original "Leon" movie. This has been previously released and mastered in Superbit. Apart from that, the only extra feature found here is the "Fact Track". This is activated and replaces the Subtitle. In place are lots of facts that appear throughout the movie regarding the movie, the production experience, the casts and even miscellaneous facts about them that isn't connected to the movie anymore. Hmm. Because of the Superbit mastering, the size of the first disc alone is around 6.84GB.

- The goodies are really found on disc 2. A mere 2.58GB, but lots of facts and interviews of almost all the main people responsible for creating the movie - the producer, director, cinematographer, editor, costume designer, casts and even the casting director. Interesting facsts as to how Natalie Portman got the part by showing her audition tape.

- Particularly of worthy note are the few peeks on the behind the scenes on how important scenes were done - Leon slipping in and out of the darkness; the rocket launcher setup used to blow up the apartment.

- There is a segment each for Jean Reno and Natalie Portman on their life prior to and after this movie. This should be pleased both fans.

- All in all a great buy and worthy investment especially since this could be had for less than USD18.72 over at Amazon. If you compare this with other DVD versions of this movie, they are being sold for more than USD20.00 and they carry the same uncut version, but no features like this.

- CONS. Yes, there are. Like every great DVD Deluxe Edition, you wonder why there were stuff left out to enjoy.

1. Since they already too the effort to produce a segment called "10 Year Retrospective", it would have been nice to see them assemble the important cast and crew in one room, too, and just talk and relive the memories.

2. Where is the director commentary? He could talk in French, but it is easy to translate this with another subtitle track for the US audience. It would have been fun to learn what was in his head as he takes us through each scene. This is standard for most DVDs already, I'm surprised they didn't take the time out to do that here.

3. The DVD has already been mastered in Superbit for its video and the resulting audio tracks in DTS and Dobly Digital. But why not go the last step and have it mastered in THX. A little more thought could have gone a long way for the fans. Perhaps it is reserved for the agine film negative for a "20 Year Retrospective"? Save the film while it is still intact!

4. They talk about Eric Serra, the music composer for all Luc Besson directed films. (Danny The Dog/Unleashed doesn't count because it isn't directed by Besson) as part of the Fact Track. But they fail to mention the fact in the powerful ending of the film where Mathilda plants the, umm, plant. We all know that it is Sting's "Shape of My Heart", but what we SHOULD know is that this is obviously another version and can only be found in the guitarist's (Dominc Miller) album - Shapes. A version worthy of obtaining. A fact worthy of mentioning.

- As I said, an excellent purchase. I can't wait for them to produce a Deluxe Version for Big Blue. And can't begin to think how this will look like when produced in the DVD High Definition format.

Until the next special edition comes out, this is something to cherish and enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Thank you!
Review: I've been a fan of Luc Besson's "The Professional" of years and the original DVD was one of the most charished in my collection. So imagine my excitement when I picked up my copy of the Deluxe Edition. It was a joy to see the interviews with the cast, especially some of the casting outtakes of Natalie Portman. Her masterful acting is without a doubt the driving force of the movie and I can't fathom anybody else playing the role of Mathilda. But the draw of the dvd is the extra footage, which doesn't disappoint. We get to see Leon show Mathilda the ropes of the Professional business and a touching scene when Leon uses some of his money from Tony to take Mathilda out to a fancy restaurant. There are some instances where it's easy to see why some footage was cut. In one part Mathilda offers to lose her virginity to Leon. I thought this was pushing their relationship in the wrong direction. I guess Luc thought so also and cut it from the final product. A downside to to losing that scene is that we see that Leon refuses her and gives us a glimse into his past and why he came to the U.S. Everyone involved in this film was amazing, from Luc to Natalie to Jean to Gary. The cut and uncut versions of the film are great additions to any DVD collection but I'd recommend this version because it's the way Luc intended it to be. If you love great film making, action, and acting then you must own "The Professional".

Rating:
Summary: Really great new EXTRAS!!!
Review: I'm a HUGE Luc Besson fan, so I couldn't wait for this DVD to come out. And I think the new Extras on this DVD are very cool -although not quite what you might expect for a Leon DVD. There's a full length conversation with Natalie Portman in which she talks about making the movie, in detail, how her parents were against it at first, what conditions they made for her to make the movie, etc. Then there's a companion documentary with Jean Reno -- in which you get to hear about his growing up in Casablanca, how he got into acting, his relationship with Besson. The piece really has the feel of an in-depth, intimate conversation with this enigmatic star -- and is beautifully shot. This piece also includes some rare photos of the star - including childhood shots of him as a little boy in Casablanca. Any fan of Reno or Portman will love this DVD. The real big feature is called the Ten Year Retrospective - where you get to meet many cast and crew members (Ellen Greene, the DP, the Fat Man, Michael Badalucco, the Costume Designer, editor Sylvie Landra) - shot all over the world - the Producer stands in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Michael Badalluco stands in front of the Statue of Liberty, the editor sits in a beautiful cadillac outside a hollywood studio - and they each share their very best stories about making the movie (including what REALLY happened at a not-very-successful test screening during which the audience laughed). Lot's of really good inside scoops here. (Including a rare appearance by French actress Maiwenn, who claims that she was 12 when she met Besson and 15 when she fell in love with him - "so in a way, this is my story" she says. The show ends with an incredible shot of the cast celebrating Natalie Portmans very final shot and the cast dumping huge amounts of confetti on her in the middle of the shot. It's also revealed just how they did the movie's amazing "rocket shot" in the climactic final scene. All in all, very rewarding - 3 really interesting and engaging pieces. (Oh - and there's an interesting trivia track too).

Rating:
Summary: Superbit / "Uncut International Version"
Review: The Superbit version has the same extra scenes as the "Uncut International Version". Amazon has it accurately labeled, but the packaging is not obvious. Both are 133min instead of 110min. The non-Superbit version has a couple extras like theatrical trailers and talent files. If you want those extras, get the non-Superbit version. If you don't care about those extras and are more of a quality freak, get the Superbit version. The film content is the same either way.

Two scenes deal with Leon buying a dress for Mathilda. One shows Mathilda threatening to possibly kill herself (Russian roulette) to force Leon to admit he cares about her. There is a scene showing Leon taking Mathilda on her first cleaning job. Another involves Leon taking Mathilda to an upscale restaurant, and Mathilda makes a minor scene trying to kiss Leon and drinking champagne. Then there is a sequence where Leon takes Mathilda on a series of cleaning jobs. In a later scene, Mathilda implies that she wants Leon to be her "first", and then Leon tells her the story of his first love (and first cleaning job), and Mathilda gets Leon to concede to start sleeping (only literally) with her.

Most of the extra scenes start at around 68min. They are integrated smoothly and are fully finished; it sounds like these scenes were in the original theatrical release for European markets, so they're only "extra" to the U.S. If you appericate the film, the extended version is definitely worth it.