Thanks for the memories!

Powerful

I wanted to but couldn't!

Absolutely Fantastic

***SPOILERS*** A bit overcomplicated and confusing spy thriller involving US Navy Lt. Commander Cuban born Annibal Ramirez, Adian Quinn, who's recruited with a little bit of arm twisting by the CIA and Israeli Mossad to play the part of Carlos the Jackel in that Annibal is the spitting image of the notorious assassin. Behind all this cloak and dagger stuff is Paris CIA Director Jack Shaw, Donald Southerland, who has it in Carlos for strictly personal reasons! That's when back in September 1974 Carlos, disguised as a 1960's type of hippie, slipped right through his fingers and ended up blowing up a Paris café with Shaw, who survived the blast, being in it!Shaw with the help of Mossad Agent Amos,Ben Kingley, teach Ramirez all about Carlos' quirks and habits as well as his style, rough to the point of almost killing his partner, of lovemaking and send him out to Libya in a plot to have him make his backers, the Soviet KGB, think that he's about to turn on them and join the other side": The USA and its Western allies! This all has Ramirez end up killing a number of French Secret Agents, who raided his love nest, who mistakenly think that he's Carlos. Carlos himself in thinking he's being set up has one of his henchman Japanese assassin Koj, Von Flores, travel to Paris to knock off his girlfriend Agnieska, Liliana Komorowaka, who mistook Ramirez for himself whom Carlos feels betrayed him to the French Secret Service. Ramirez together with Shaw and Amos who just happened to be in Paris at the time of Agnieska's murder is later confronted by Koj who realizes, by Ramirez not knowing the right code word, that he isn't Carlos who then takes him, with a gun pointed in his gut, to a airport mens-room in order to knock him off! It's then that Amos comes to Ramirez's rescue by not only taking out the surprised Koj but taking a bullet or two for him at the same time!***MAJOR SPOILERS*** Meamwhile the KGB smells a rat in Carlos in him suspected of working for American intelligence,the CIA, and raid his pad outside East Berlin in order to take him in for questioning. This lead to a free for all shootout at Carlos', who was buff naked at the time, love pad where he's later run down by Ramirez who together with his boss Shaw were outside watching the whole spectacle. With both Carlos & Ramirez slugging it out Shaw not knowing which is which ends up shooting and seriously wounding the wrong man, Ramirez, with Carlos, now with his clothes on, getting away! The film ends in a confusing note with Ramirez now fully recovered from his wounds back in the states reunited with his wife and young son and Carlos now a man not only without a country but wanted by his former employers the KGB who've got a 50 million dollar or ruble contract out on him. We've still got a big surprise coming at the end the movie that's not at all lacking in surprises but by the time it hits us were just too numb or punch-drunk,in all the surprises we've already seen, to both notice or appreciate it!

So once again do we have "The Jackal " as the main theme of a movie. Only this time it is the actual terrorist who is the center of attraction.A movie which tries hard to weave the elements of fact and fiction together but fails to do so convincingly.The story revolves around the life of a Naval Officer from the U.S. who as luck would have it, looks strikingly similar to The Jackal.With this the story moves on as various international intelligence agencies indulge in a game of cat and mouse to do their bit.With slightly type-cast acting and characterisation , not to mention the fantastically sketched out plot the movie somehow doesn't dissolve in the tummy.On the whole the movie has many bright spots in terms of the story and technical aspects but fails to come across as a superb thriller due to hastened plot progression and disproportionate reel allocation to relatively less important and insignificant features of the storyline.

A rather good action thriller, but I would have preferred if it was a little more realistic. They tried in some places to go for it, but not all the way (probably for commercial reasons). It's a pity really, since this is a well made movie, but one that had the potential to be much more. If they had made it more realistic, and by that I mean with less James Bond-like shoot-outs, less beautiful women, less funny communists, etc... this motion picture could have been excellent. They just had to use more of the truth and they would have made something much better. The screenplay does cunningly use small parts of the truth in constructing the fiction that this film really is, but this is not nearly enough. I do not believe that they should have made a documentary, but a little less 'artistic creativity' would have actually been 'more' in this case.In other, the camera and sound are also not exceptional which further detracts from the viewing pleasure. All in all, an above average movie, but nothing more.

I will not comment on the story as such. I agree with most peoples comments that this is a good all round action movie with a well told story and good acting.This film deserves 100% for cinematography for its opening sequence. The opening shot is stunning and I have not yet figured out how they did it. The movie is worth watching for that shot alone! A pity therefore that the DVD that is currently out is just the movie and no information is given as to the making of the film. Let's hope somebody comes up with the special edition.And the even better thing is that the opening sequence also becomes the ending leaving you totally guessing! Great stuff. A must have for a collector of classic film moments.