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starring Edward Fox Terence Alexander Michel Auclair Alan Badel Tony Britton

Directed by Fred Zinnemann

ISBN/ASIN: B00005225B
Release Date: 2003-08-11
Sales Rank: 2639
Average Rating: 5.0

Media: DVD
Format: Dubbed PAL Widescreen
Audience Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Product Group: DVD

Amazon.co.uk Review

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

Customer Reviews: Average Rating: 5.0 out of 5

Be in no doubt ...: Rating: 5 out of 5

At my English prep school in the mid-80s the Day of the Jackal was approved viewing for the boys, despite its adult themes, because it offered up a role model of how an English gentleman should behave. Edward Fox is perfect in the lead role: impossibly dapper and handsome, emotionally cold, well organised, hates the French and travels in style. The Day of the Jackal is a beautifully shot film, full of glossy mid-70s Europe, summer, good clothes, cigarettes and hotels. It tells of a cat and mouse game between an assassin and the French security services out to get that assassin, but with little information to go on. I have found this to be one of few films that reward repeated viewing. Enjoy.

GO MAN GO!: Rating: 5 out of 5

A brilliant film which had me on the edge of my seat all the way through. If you are not willing on the killer with every ounce of your being by the end of the film you're not human in my opinion.

Simply Fantastic: Rating: 5 out of 5

Why oh why cant they make films like this anymore!
All this hollywood blockbuster rubbish is like watching the output from a sausage production line. Same stories, same direction, same characters, same ridiculously fast frame rates, same annoying background music, where has the film industry gone wrong? What has happened to individuality? Where has the creativity gone?
Any film producers out there please, please, please watch this film!
The characters are not one dimensional like most characters in todays films, they have depth and realism, the camera men do not have st.vitus dance, the film does not jump from one time zone to the other all the time and there is absolutely NO BACKGROUND MUSIC. Why do all modern films have to have distracting music throughout every second of the film. This film has no music in the background at all and this makes it captivating and gives it tension. Background music does not add anything to a film, it takes it away. All the good films have little or no background music.
This film is a masterpiece, every scene is relevant to the story and it never wanders off into aimless subplots or delves into pointless background psycho-babble on why the hard-working cops marriage is struggling because hes so overworked; piffle! How cares, this garbage is just to pad out the film. "The Day of the Jackal" uses none of these pathetic cliches, it is an individual, unique, non-American, brilliantly acted, believable and gripping thriller. The pace is relentless but not manic as with most lesser thrillers, it flows brilliantly and has a European atmosphere that is such a thrill to absorb and so refreshing after enduring the pitiful, wise-cracking, Yankie drivel that Holywood spews out! If there are any film makers out there watch this film and study it in detail. Please observe what you are doing wrong and get your act together. I am saddened to think that despite new technology, which seems to have destroyed modern film making, film producers are incapable of producing films like this. My motto has always been "Special effects maketh not the film" Notice that this film not only has no background music but no special effects either, am I the only one that can see this?
None of the rubbish that is in modern films is in this film at all and yet it's a classic, why? because most modern films are rubbish by comparison.

Super nova amongst films: Rating: 5 out of 5

Forget the tacky Hollywood remakes, they simply cannot capture the magic of a film like this. The cast list reads like "Who's Who". James Fox shines as the perfect assassin, and Michael Lonsdale is wonderful as the senior detective who is relentless in his pursuit. The remainder of the cast are spectacular and are the cream of the acting profession.
Knowing that our hit-man will not acually succeed, does not dampen our enjoyment.
This is a film one does not tire of.
Brilliant.

Superb: Rating: 5 out of 5

This excellent film from 1973 features Edward Fox as The Jackal. A man who is paid 1/2 a million dollars to kill Charles De Gaulle, the then President of France. This has a top notch cast including Maurice Denham, Cyril Cusack, Derek Jacobi, Donald Sinden and Michael Lonsdale. Perhaps the best of the cast is the impassive Lonsdale (who was the Samurai maker in Ronin 24 years later) as Lebel, the man who is tasked with stopping The Jackal.

This is very well directed by Zimmerman, who shot the film on location in Paris and London. The film never lets up and is a slow burning explosive ride from beginning to end. Be warned this is not a modern day action thriller, you won't find whole buildings exploding or unrealistic car chase carnage. This is shot in an almost documentary style, which should not put you off because like a number of other films from the early 70's (The French Connection/Godfather films spring to mind), this is a really entertaining film that you will want to see again and again.

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