Please don't spend money on this.

It is a performances centric movie

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

France, 1963. A group of disgruntled army officers have banded together and formed an organisation called the OAS. Their aim - to kill President Charles de Gaulle. After several failed attempts and the trial and execution of several of their leaders, the OAS hire an assassin in a final attempt to complete the task. He is The Jackal.Superb thriller - a great adaptation of the Frederick Forsyth novel. Very intriguing and engaging. While the coverage of the Jackal himself is interesting, what rounds it off perfectly is the police angle. We see the investigations, on both sides of the English Channel, the ingenious hypotheses and cross-examination of data and the painstaking grunt work.Director Fred Zinneman also builds the tension well and the conclusion is not at all predictable. Add in a decidedly unglamourous lead detective, Commissioner Lebel, and you have a very plausible, gritty, accurate-feeling movie. No flashy stuff, just a great story, well told.

Avoid the awful 1997 remake. Neither Bruce Willis and Richard Gere can hold a candle to Edward Fox and Michael Lonsdale. This older movie is the real deal and an espionage classic in it's own right.The Day of the Jackal (1973) was directed by Fred Zinnemann. His previous film, A Man For All Seasons, won him two Oscars (best director, best picture) and four other Oscars including best screenplay. Zinnemann was at the top of his game when he made this movie.It is France in the 1960s. Algeria is still in French hands, but the local population clamours for independence. Opposing this is ultra right wing French nationalist terrorist cell, the OAS.In the movie one of its military leaders makes the ludicrous claim that the French have always lived there, revealing how pathologically disturbed right wing politics can be. The OAS has so far failed to stop the Algerian independence effort, both facts proving that while the OAS might be a formidable force, its leadership is totally xenophobic and somewhat eccentric; angry men out of touch.Their group however is made up of current and former French officers, so they are not without resources and manpower, some of whom are willing to die for their violent cause. After French President Charles de Gaulle moves to quite rightly hand back Algeria to the Algerians, the OAS of course see this as an outrageous betrayal and immediately set about hiring an assassin to murder him. Enter Edward Fox as wily hit-man "The Jackal". He cares naught for politics. He does however care about this one last retirement score, evading authorities and staying alive long enough to enjoy it. This is Edward Fox's best ever performance. The decision to cast him as the sharp eyed determined yet unassuming assassin is one of the great casting decisions in cinematic history. His every movement, expression, however subtle, tells you at a molecular level what this character was born to do - hide in the general population patiently and strike fast when the opportunity presents itself and then escape quietly before anyone is aware he was ever there. Fox has a small unassuming frame so as not to obviously intimidate anyone, where a larger man is more likely to be remembered. He looks like a Hitchcockian "every man"; he blends in smoother than coffee in milk, entering and leaving unnoticed everywhere he goes. He doesn't have Jimmy Stewart's height to stand out in a crowd, or Cary Grant's memorable dashing good looks. He is however nondescript and lethal.No one is ever able to give a description or remember his several fake names. Even the police overlook him. Fox's performance is just sublime. His calm demeanor and well groomed appearance belies his lethality and puts everyone quickly at ease; Always the consummate professional.The man assigned to hunt him down is the best detective France can muster, Commissioner Label played by bilingual French born Michael Lonsdale. This is one of the best mirror image portrayals of villain and hero in movie history; They are both as cunningly efficient and determined as each other. Based on Frederick Forsyth's novel of the same name, both he and director Zinnemann left no stone unturned in revealing how The Jackal prepares for the hit. It's the hit-man version An Actor Prepares. This is a brilliantly written, directed and acted film. If you like espionage films about assassins, this is the best movie around bar none. The Day of the Jackal (1973) deserves a criterion bluray edition. Please help that effort by emailing distributors if you can. Thank you.

Based on the novel of the same name by bestselling novelist Frederick Forsyth, the film is about a professional assassin known only as the "Jackal" who is hired to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle in the summer of 1963.Though the assassination attempt on Charles de Gaulle and subsequent capture, trial and execution of Jean Bastien-Thiry a member of the militant French underground organisation OAS really happened, the part about the remaining OAS leaders hiring a contract killer codenamed the Jackal is purely fictitious and never happened in real life. The film spans the period between the time the attempt on Charles de Gaulle's life is made up to the time the Jackal gets his chance to take him out. The excellent administration of Charles de Gaulle manages to discover that a second assassination attempt would be made and immediately set up a task force with detective Claude Lebel (Michael Lonsdale) heading the investigation in the hope that they can catch the Jackal before it it is too late... An excellent cast, script, background sound effects and photography make this film one of the best in its genre.Other films based on Frederick Forsyth novels: The Dogs of War, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol.

First off, there are Literally Thousands of Movies out there with lots of Gunfights, Explosions, Sexy Ladies, Fisticuffs and Expounding Musical Scores, this is not one of them. It decides to take an Approach of Clean and Cool Detachment. A Docu-Style that is as Refreshing as it is Riveting. It is a Compelling Piece of Cinema in the way it is so Meticulous and Calculating. Heavy on Detail and the Pacing, Editing, and Exposition provide the Suspense and the Drama. The Film Effortlessly Divides the Story between the Assassin and Law Enforcement with Crisp, Lean, Dialog and the Action comes from Preparation, and like the rest of the Movie, there is nothing that is Padded or Unnecessary.Its Tension is in its Restraint as both Sides are Increasingly Clever and Resourceful as Things move along with the Elegance of a Streamlined Sports Car. Minimalist in Style but not in Production, it Masks its Difficulties with an Anti-Style that becomes Hypnotic and Attains a Style of its Own. No Visceral Attempts are made but they are Forthcoming. No Pretensions as the Taut Tempo comes from the Technicalities and both Protagonist and Antagonist are as Cold and Calculating as they need to be. This makes for a Fictional-True-Crime Thriller that is a Heartless but Palpitating Picture.