The Professional

Rating:
Summary: THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED TO SEE!
Review: Yes! I own the original VHS edition. Yes! I've seen it many many times. So why did I purchase another copy? Two reasons: One, my VHS copy was wearing thin. Secondly I heard that there was a lot of additional footage.
For those who had seen this before and were possibly confused, here is what you need to see. The twenty-four minutes are all together, one long series of scenes that make things fit better, and explain these wonderful characters more. You can now see where the real interest in Ms. Portman really came from. What was once a great movie in my eyes has reached the level of near-classic. It all makes sense now, yes...

Rating:
Summary: The Professional is a work of art!
Review: This is one of my very favorite movies. It tells the story of a 12 year old orphan, Mathilda (Natalie Portman) who is taken in by a emotionless hitman named Leon (Jean Reno), when her family is killed by ruthless and insane DEA Agent Norman Stansfield (Gary Oldman).
Probably the most dramating action movie I have ever seen, The Professional is the story about a girl who's troubles are just beginning, who is adopted by the man who knows only troubles. Leon has lovable quirks: he has a potted plant that is the only special thing in his life ("It is like me," he states, "It has no roots.") and Mathilda is a lifelike and realistic character. Even though Leon is a hitman, he seems like a lesser evil and pales in comparison to the venemous insanity of Stansfield.
Reno brilliantly acts Leon's part and Portman steals the show with her astounding portrayal of Mathilda. Gary Oldman, one of my favorite actors, sends chills down the spine when he takes drugs and then rasps about insects in the grass and beethoven, and when he screams in the face of his men to "Bring me EVERYONE!!!"
I definitely reccomend The Professional for everybody except small children (there is no really graphic violence, nudity or sex.)

Rating:
Summary: A work of art!
Review: This movie was so beatifully made, it is truly a work of art. The choreography, the performance of the actors, it created one of the least-known best action movie out there. It is very different from other movies of the same genre, but that makes it truly beatiful and brings it it's greatness.

I first watched this movie on a movie channel in Japan, so it showed the international version of the movie, simply known as Leon (U.S. version was known as 'The Professional'), and I was absolutely in love with this movie. I went out and rented the movie from the shoppette on base, but it was the U.S. version that I rented out, and I was disappointed in seeing that so many key scenes were deleted. In fact, when I was watching it, I was suprised that the final scene was reached already, and that the final scene was much shorter than I remembered. I found out that they cut 23+ minutes from the international version that I saw, and that changed the whole beauty of the movie. It lost alot of flavor in that 23+ minutes. I am so glad that they finally released the international version on DVD in the U.S., it brings back the greatness in what Luc Besson intended.

I truly rank this movie as the best movie I have ever seen. In my top three, this would definitely be number 1, and to round out 2 and 3 would be Pulp Fiction and maybe Armageddon or The Rock. If you enjoy the action movies I mentioned, you'll definitely love Leon: The Professional.

Rating:
Summary: From death to life
Review: Emotionally dead hitman (but not totally dead--witness the scene in the theater at the beginning of the movie) is brought back to life by his love for a young girl. This is an impressive tale about redemption through love. Reno and Portman give fine performances. Oldman does too, for that matter, but he really chews up the scenery, even more than he usually does. And yes, the added footage does add quite a lot to the movie. Too bad the extra scenes weren't added in the original American release.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!!!
Review: I must say that this is truly one of the best Action/Thriller movies I have ever seen. Jean Reno is superb, great actor. A must-see for all action fans!

Rating:
Summary: Revisiting a favorite
Review: I only recently viewed the DVD release of one of my favorite movies, "Leon," aka "The Professional." The DVD version was a real treat; I got to see the scenes which were removed from the domestic release. I don't know why the domestic distributor would remove these particular scenes. They helped explain and deepen the relationship between Leon and Mathilda. This must have been their way of "dumbing-down" the movie for us moronic American moviegoers.

Bottom line: if you've seen only the domestic version of this movie, you owe it to yourself to see the European version. It only makes a great movie better.

Rating:
Summary: A good but fatally flawed action film.
Review: This film has become a huge cult classic since its release in 1994 but I am sorry to say (for those who love it) that I am not a part of that cult. Although the film is at moments very thrilling and very interesting it does have fatal flaws and elements to its story that bring the whole thing down. Is it a good action film? Yes. Is it worth seeing? Yes. Does it deserve the four and five star reviews? No.

The main flaw is the age of Natalie Portman and her character. I assume that most got past this but I myself could not wrap myself could wrap my mind around a twelve-year-old doing these things. This thought was always in the back of my head as I viewed this film and it was a flaw that brought the movie down. Portman was excellent but she should have been a few years older. Her age doesn't ruin the movie it merely lowers its impact and credibility.

Jean Reno's performance is the highlight of the film and the film is worth seeing for him alone. He really makes this cold, hard killer he plays human and the scenes between Portman and him are great if only for the nervousness in the air between the two created by Reno. Every time he spits his milk is a classic moment. Gary Oldman's performance as the crooked cop is at times good but most of the time it borders dangerously close to overacting and this is crippling to his character. It is hard to get a reading off of him.

Luc Besson's directing is very good with many exciting action scenes (although some veer a little too close to cheesy) and neat little bits of camera work such as the very beginning stuff and the final battle. He has an obvious sense of story and I believe the film is exactly as he wanted it. I have not seen "La Femme Nikita" or the international version of this film but I hope to soon.

So all in all the film is good but with a few major flaws that are always in the back of your mind and bring down the films impact. It is not worth four or five star but I would give it a good three and a half stars for sure. Definitely give it a try and see for yourself

Thanxs...

Rating:
Summary: Great performances all around
Review: This is the best action movie ever, probably because it's not really an action movie. Even though in the action aisle at the video store, the story is really centered around the realationship between Mathilda (Natalie Portman) and Leon (Jean Reno). Leon has to take Mathilda under his wing after her entire family is killed by the corrupt DEA officer Stansfield played by none other than the evil Gary Oldman.

The character development is nicely paced, and Leon and Mathilda slowly grow on each ohter. Leon acts like a father to Mathilda, and she confuses that with romantic love. She has a crush on him, and is very open about it, which makes for some very funny scenes.

Natalie Portman steals the movie (as she usually does) with her great performance. While watching her I was thinking: Where does a 12 year old get this from? She was amazing. Jean Reno as also acceptional. His acting very subtle, which worked well with the role. Gary Oldman, yet again, played someone bad. But he did it so well that you really hated him.

This is definaltely one of the greatest movies of all time. it introduced us to the wonder that is Natalie Portman.

Rating:
Summary: The International Version Proves That We Americans Are Crazy
Review: I loved the edited version of this film. Really loved it. But compared with the uncut Leon, The Professional is terrible. I can't overemphasize how much those cut 24 minutes add to the story.

Leon is one of my favorite movies. At its heart is an archetypal story. (Don't read the following line if you don't want a mini-spoiler.) The film is about a man who is dead when alive and then dies once he learns to live. The basic story has been told many times before, but that doesn't detract from the power of this film.

Natalie Portman, in her first and arguably best performance, displays an emotional range that is stunning (and at times disconcerting) to see in a 12-year-old girl. She has the power to make you _believe_. There are few actors out there who can so effortlessly convince the viewer that what they are seeing is real. And this from a 12-year-old!

The American version excised the heart of the relationship between the two main characters, Leon (Jean Reno) and Mathilda (Portman). It cut out Mathilda's displays of nascent sexuality even though _nothing happens_. Leon is far too good a man to lay a finger on Mathilda in that way, yet American test audiences complained, so the film was cut. In the process they also axed several important scenes, such as Leon explaining what led him to become an assassin, which in the American version was hinted but then never developed. The International Version also shows us why and how Mathilda would be gutsy enough to actually go after the man who murdered her family. The 24 minutes that were cut from this film were essential to the story in so many ways.

The remarkable thing is that I loved the _other_ version!

If you loved, liked, or even just enjoyed The Professional, then I strongly suggest you see Leon -- it is worlds better.

Rating:
Summary: An Assassin, a Cop, a Girl and a Plant.
Review: As I do in almost all my reviews, I'll begin with a little statement about the director of "Leon", Luc Besson. I only saw two other movies of this man, "The 5th Element" and "The Messenger" aka "Jean of Arc". While I had fun in all of his movies, this is his best from the three, and in comparison, the others are VERY weak.

One of the movies greatest assets are its actors. Jean Reno in the title role of Leon is very convincing. His acting is very subtle, which makes his final scenes very strong.

Gary Oldman, of course, is in one of those roles that was just written fro him. I feel a smile coming up on my face whenever I see him in a movie as a "baddie".

Natalie Portman is the person who really makes this movie shine. Am I the only one who thinks that she should act in a few more independent movies? I am a Star Wars fan, but I'd much rather see her in a Coen Brothers, Wim Wenders or Spike Lee movie. Her performance in this one is very moving and very believable. Very good, very, very good indeed.

Danny Aiello is also in the movie, but he is just that: He's just there. Oh well.

The story is nice. A little controversial, I guess: Teaching a little girl how to be a killer, etc. I like to see it as a redemption tale, of how the assassin learned to love, to put it in a corny way.

I like the image of the plant. It's one of those things that can be discussed. Does it symbolize Leon? Mathilda? Redemption? Hope? Or is it just nothing? Whatever it is, it's one of those things that will remain in my mind as a strong element of the movie.

What about Luc Besson? Well, I like to think that he is a bit too influenced by pop culture, which I say mostly depending on some the costume scenes and conversations, moreover by "The 5th Element" in total. Yet he handles the entire movie very well, and he tries hard not to rush the relationship between Mathilda and Leon. Overall, he has a very odd sense of both humor, drama and general pace, which makes his movies interesting and a nice change from the usual.

Eric Serra's music is great. Just great.

In total, I would gladly recommend this to everybody. I doubt anybody would dislike this movie actually. It's kind of like The Shawshank Redemption in that respect. I doubt it's possible to hate.

Luc Besson though is another matter. He has potential- I am sure- to make a movie so horrible that it even surpasses Pearl Harbor. I hope not- I doubt I could survive something worse than that movie.

But I would definitely recommend this one.