A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

The FBI, CIA, US Army, traitors, mutants, freaks and little girls couldn't kill GOLGO 13; but one piece of dreadful CGI could kill this whole movie.Ok, that's not entirely true; this film has as many flaws as GOLGO has enemies. But the CG helicopters were unnecessary and embarrassing to watch. The film was made over twenty years ago and technological limitations hindered the makers. I can see what they were trying to do: flexing their computer muscles with a novel new method of animation. But I don't watch Manga to see its artists push the boundaries of their technology. I want cool characters, cool story and above all, cool visuals. Shiny 3D helicopters: not cool visually.The concept is a good one: 62 year old Adonis-figure, Leonard Dawson, hires the world and his mother (or in this case granddaughter Emily) to kill the assassin who took his son's life: a man 'devoid of human sentiment'. It's in the execution that the film is found wanting. Freeze-frames are used far more often than would have been effective; and are infuriating during action sequences. The final sequence lacks so much dynamism that it becomes neither tense nor exciting; it's just a chore to sit through (and only real Manga-heads would).The movie's got all the ingredients too: the star is one cool Mofo, 'Indestructible to his enemies and irresistible to his women', and there's more guns and fast cars than you could shake a stick at (but, then, why would you want to shake a stick at them in the first place?). It's just the way these ingredients are prepared that doesn't do the recipe justice.The stand-out sequence is easily the Hughes assassination: we're given an early example of the bullet-following camera tomfoolery that's all over the big American movies of the modern day. There are a few other great visuals too: like GOLGO's dead informant, spinning in his chair while our hero looks on, or Leonard Dawson receiving a mid-air kill-shot.These memorable moments and a few surprisingly decent plot twists work in the movie's favour but the overall lack of quality makes this a disappointment; and fairly difficult to watch.Also, this is one of the few Manga that would have worked much better without a supernatural element but its makers obviously couldn't resist the urge.4/10 - The vast improvements in the quality of animation that have been made since this movie's 1983 release make it unimpressive viewing. Still, there're some good ideas in there: watch it and ponder what could have been.

One of the best in adult anime, this one has it all. A taciturn, near unstoppable assassin, a rich man who want's the assassin dead (and is willing to let one of his paid killers rape his own daughter in law!), a bunch of crazed killers and a dedicated cop out to get him. Golgo 13, Duke Togo is the worlds greatest assassin, but in this, he's the hunted. Very realistic and grim, this is not for children. Watch for the scene when he shoots a guy THROUGH a skyscraper, especially for the shadows thrown by the beer sign he's under! Superb film!

TAG-LINE (EUR): "Leonard Dawson is the richest man in the world...powerfull people makes enemies...if an enemy becomes a problem...then someone calls the proffesional, codenamed: GOLGO 13. The proffesional is about to be tested...to his ultimate level...how long can the Proffesional last? Hard hitting action as the Proffesional faces his ultimate challenge."This film got too little publicity at the time, and deserved more recognition. I dont understand why the media failed to recognise this anime, before the Western release of AKIRA. And personally, I think it was unfair. Even today, the detail in the artwork, and the fluencey of animation is astounding. Never before have I seen a more detailed drawn anime. The animators sorted everything from the rendition on the gun lenses to the air-brushed shading to give the guns a more metalic look. Another notable thing about this film is the use of CGI graphics to add extra realism to the atmosphere, something which was unheard of, and thought impossible in 1983. Golgo 13 demonstrated this way before Akira came into the public domain. Many of the anime today are drawn sharp, and unimaginatively, e.g. Pokemon, but it's always the "old sckool" anime that retain high standards in the art-work. The plot is just something that noone would have expected from animated production: A man supposidly hunting down another man for the murder of his son, but in the end it is revealed to the viewer his actions were purely for the sake of passion. I especially liked the idea of a spoiled-pretty woman hiding behind the guise of a ruthless crime-mobster, too which noone expected to be "Doctor.Z" The film is a worthy adaption to Saito's comic series, and thankfully it didn't have a crummy television series, with drab animation. The story alone portrays the more explicit, cold violent world surrounding the guise of a lone-Japanese pre.James Bond 007 who is UNLIENCED to kill. Golgo 13 kills purely for a living, and the mystery behind his cold, seemingly-cyborg character, and the fact that his soul is void of human sentiments and ultimately, emotion adds further interest & suspision to his past and true motives behind the killing game. Definately worth a watch if your a fan of Japanese cinema or anime, but may seem a bit dull for those of you who are used to John Travolta/Nic.Cage shoot'em ups where the guy gets the girl and the bad guy dies, etc. A far from lame story. *8/10*

The Professional was an incredibly awesome action film, packed with guys getting gunned down, and lots of chicks in black bikinis. The story in The Professional was much much better than in a lot of those James Bond films. Those animators are good with those pencils; their technique! Wow! Apparently, this movie was one of the first to use computer animation, but it was pretty much squat compared to what they can do now. Still, this movie will persuade you to want to be a spy, because this job has all the extras! Don't worry, all you animal lovers, because no real animals were hurt during the making of this film. It's just a film. For a good time, watch The Professional. It is, like, so cool. Rating: 10/10 ( Anyone else think this movie's disturbing? Just say Golgo if you do.)