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From Amazon.co.uk
With its high-intensity plot about an attempt to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle, the bestselling novel by Frederick Forsyth was a prime candidate for screen adaptation. Director Fred Zinnemann brought his veteran skills to bear on what has become a timeless classic of screen suspense. Not to be confused with the later remake The Jackal starring Bruce Willis (which shamelessly embraced all the bombast that Zinnemann so wisely avoided), this 1973 thriller opts for lethal elegance and low-key tenacity in the form of the Jackal, the suave assassin played with consummate British coolness by Edward Fox. He's a killer of the highest order, a master of disguise and international elusiveness, and this riveting film follows his path to de Gaulle with an intense, straightforward documentary style. Perhaps one of the last great films from a bygone age of pure, down-to-basics suspense (and a kind of debonair European alternative to the American grittiness of The French Connection), The Day of the Jackal is a cat-and-mouse thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat until its brilliantly executed final scene (pardon the pun), by which time Fox has achieved cinematic immortality as one of the screen's most memorable killers. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.com Essential Video
With its high-intensity plot about an attempt to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle, the bestselling novel by Frederick Forsyth was a prime candidate for screen adaptation. Director Fred Zinnemann brought his veteran skills to bear on what has become a timeless classic of screen suspense. Not to be confused with the later remake The Jackal starring Bruce Willis (which shamelessly embraced all the bombast that Zinnemann so wisely avoided), this 1973 thriller opts for lethal elegance and low-key tenacity in the form of the Jackal, the suave assassin played with consummate British coolness by Edward Fox. He's a killer of the highest order, a master of disguise and international elusiveness, and this riveting film follows his path to de Gaulle with an intense, straightforward documentary style. Perhaps one of the last great films from a bygone age of pure, down-to-basics suspense (and a kind of debonair European alternative to the American grittiness of The French Connection), The Day of the Jackal is a cat-and-mouse thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat until its brilliantly executed final scene (pardon the pun), by which time Fox has achieved cinematic immortality as one of the screen's most memorable killers. --Jeff Shannon
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent adaptation from Forsyth's novel. A winner!,
By
This review is from: The Day of the Jackal (Widescreen) (DVD)
Why not the jackal?This is the answer given by the hard and cold assasin who signs the agreement to kill De Gaulle. The story runs through a set of historical issues who are part of the story. A group of officers decides by themselves to revenge the lost honor of France due the fact about the independence of Algiers. Edward Fox - one of the best actors of his generation - played with sublime perfection the demanding role of the Jackal. So from the first images of the film you'll be engaged with this chess film. All the movements of this exceptional mind are guided by an amazing sense of hunter behavior. He acts like a western samurai , without blinking , he kills when the circunstances don't let him other choice. The feelings don't exist in this professional. You are invited to presence an authentical tour de force. And since the moment an important link is arrested , your histamina and cold sweat will invade you. The efforts of Le Surete for following any possible clue leads to an unforgettable mind game to spark the human chase since the moment the Jackal decides to go ahead with the plan and drive to France from Niza. The rest of the story runs for you when you acquire this legendary and hair raising punch thriller. And once more you'll admire how the famous film maker Fred Zinemann could win with this story. The locations and the sense of the drama are extraordinary made. And the words are not enough to describe the countless sequences of hard beating you'll experience. A perfect film and believe me ; you won't feel the 140 min of the picture. This is the first and best version!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent movie,
This review is from: The Day of the Jackal (Widescreen) (DVD)
I first saw this movie many years ago. Based on a novel by the same name by Frederick Forsyth, and while it was not a huge box office success by today's standards it was well received. I was pleased to discover it was available on DVD. It has some great actors, some of whom were well known but early in their careers such as Michel Lonsdale and Derek Jacobi and and Edward Fox, who plays the Jackal, a well known actor.The story in today's setting is a bit dated, revolving around political intrigues and an assassination attempt on Charles de Gaulle (former president of France from the end of World War II to the 70's for those too young to remmeber him. Nevertheless it is a well done drama, if at times slow moving by current standards. Younger movie goes will see the resemblence to the 1997 movie The Jackal starring Bruce Willis and Richard Gere et al. The 1997 is a modernized and updated remake of the original. Overall an excellent movie, if not quite up to the explosive action "standards" of modern films, and well worth watching especially for those who like the modern remake for some perspective on how things were shuffled in the remake.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A First Rate Spy Thriller,
By
This review is from: Day of the Jackal (VHS Tape)
The killer goes through many personalities, disguises, and changes, and manages to kill a few innocents on the way to his final conquest. He is unknown to the gendarme, who are on his trail early, with the help of an informer on the inside, but eventually his appearance becomes known to them--and even then, in spite of an alert commissioner of police in Paris who is every bit his match, Inspector Lebel (Michel Lonsdale)--he almost makes his kill. Had he done so, of course history would have had to be re-written because of a movie, an unlikely event--so we knew that he would fail, but still the plot was so well played that the suspense was never lost. Written by Frederick Forsyth and directed by Fred Zinneman, perhaps this film was predestined for greatness, but in any case it is one of the great ones. Joseph (Joe) Pierre
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