Amazon.com

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 ... Read more

Reviews (72)

Why can't they make movies like this any more?
Rarely does a movie do justice to a book, but Fred Zinneman's production of "The Day of the Jackal" is wonderful adaptation of Frederick Forsyth's novel which, I continue to believe, is one of the greatest thrillers ever written.

It's hard to put a finger on what exactly makes this film great: excellent performances by relatively unknown actors, a wonderful plot, fantastic location shooting or a complete desire to avoid the bells and whistles, special effects laden movies that are all that makes up the "suspense" genre of films these days. Like other reviewers have said, be this the first or the fiftieth time that you watch this film, you will be left on the edge of your seat with its "cat and mouse" plot of the search for a lone assassin hired to murder President De Gaulle. The young Edward Fox is brilliant in the title role and the supporting cast excellent.

If anything, this film proves that you do not need big named stars, explosions around every corner or computer generated effects to make a fantastic film. The only downside to watching this film is that you realise that the movie industry just does not make films like this any more.

Highly, highly recommended.

ONE SHOT IS NEVER ENOUGH !
Fred Zinnemann's THE DAY OF THE JACKAL is not the kind of thriller you are familiar with nowadays. For once, french actors don't look silly and have the terrible task to trace Edward "The Jackal" Fox who gives an award-deserving performance.

DAY OF THE JACKAL made me think of these cold war spy movies of the seventies. Do you remember ? We had the impression they were filmed only in green and blue, the characters didn't speak much leaving to the audience the task to understand the plot by itself. You will feel this kind of atmosphere in this film with the difference that Zinnemann worked with a solid gold screenplay.

The final scene, the day of the jackal, is about 30 minutes long and is already part of Motion picture History.

A few problems with the images ; white spots, images standing still during 1 or 2 seconds. The sound is, in my opinion, the best we can expect from a 1973 movie.

A DVD worthy of multiple viewings.

Excellent adaptation from Forsyth's novel. A winner!
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!

A First Rate Spy Thriller

Not so much "spy" as "assassin," though, for Edward Fox is cast as an assassin, doing a job that will earn him his retirement. He is to kill President Charles de Gaulle, "le Grand Charles" himself, in Liberation Day, as we eventually find out--but not until much later in the film.

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

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

If only it had had a happy ending
_Day of the Jackal_ is one of the best film adaptations of a book ever done, the directors managed to keep the vital elements of the plot and the pacing of the book and successfully transfer them from one medium to another. When I read the book after seeing the movie I was amazed at how much they had managed to keep. Edward Fox was perfect as the Jackal, it's a pity that he's ended up starring in so many bad films in his career as he is truly a fantastic actor. There are some wonderful moments of irony such as when the leader of the French terrorists says that no soldier of France will ever raise a weapon against him and then is shown being shot by firing squad the next day. The only thing that would have improved this movie is if the Jackal had succeeded in blowing Charles DeGaulle's head all over the pavement in Paris, I mean really, the guy goes to all of this work and fails in the end, and come on, he's trying to shoot DeGaulle, it's not as if he was attempting to shoot a decent human being or something, heck, even Eisenhower and Churchill wanted to shoot DeGaulle because he was such a useless, vainglorious prick. ... Read more

Reviews (141)

Does not do justice to this musical
I originally saw Jekyll & Hyde when it first was created here in Houston and have seen it live several times, before and after it went to Broadway and it is my all-time favorite musical, bar none.
So, even though this production had none of the cast I had seen, I figured the musical was so awesome that it would be good regardless.
Well, I was wrong. The songs I loved are there, but this cast doesn't begin to hold a candle to the ones I had seen live and David Hasselhoff is terrible. And the girl playing Lucy can't begin to hold a candle to Linda Eder, who I saw originally create the role. I could barely finish watching it.
Don't waste your money. Instead buy the CD of the original cast and just imagine the visuals in your head.

FANTASTIC !!
I THINK JEKYLL AND HYDE THE MUSICAL IS THE BEST MUSICAL AND SHOULD BE GIVEN A GRAMMY.

thrilling live broadway at it's best!
after seeing this in high definition tv, twice this month, i had to buy the dvd! i think it marvelous. david does a splendid job in spite of some of my co writers here, and the ensemble, emma, and especially lucy (who tares the house down during her curtain calls) are all absolutely splendid! there are great musical highlights that do stop the show cold, esp. in his eyes, the facade, and david's dual personality aria that also gets sustained bravos from the packed new york audience, etc. it is a very intense, highly entertaining show now on a great looking and great sounding dvd! not to be missed, especially for real theatre lovers.the score is so full of dynamic show stoppers, it's hard to count, but i thought it marvelous bravo!

The trivial opinion of an IU voice major
There are MANY things I could say about this production. Many of them are very negative, namely the less-than-decent (to be polite) singing of "pop sensation" David Hasselhoff. I must admit, he certainly HAS come a long way from "Baywatch", but I would definitely not go so far to say that musical theater is his forte. The show is not one of my favorites, but most of the cast is fairly strong, namely George Merritt, who spent a number of years with the Metropolitan Opera. All of the music is well-written; there are just far too many repetitive ballads (lovely music, just slighty "draggy" -- 3 key changes per song, minimum haha). The show has grown on me since I bought this video, but it is still painful to watch Hasselhoff butcher "This Is the Moment". His performance as Hyde is definitely stronger than that of Jekyll (which is very forced, even cheesy), and the show gets better as it goes on, however, I doubt it will ever be a "classic". It's a shame Anthony Warlow couldn't have been part of this cast. If you're already a fan of the show, or have no background in singing or theater, I'd recommend this product (As Hasselhoff's performance is unlikely to mar the opinion of a true"Jeckie" or an untrained ear).

Wonderful doesn't even come close. It's Fabulous.
Though I am unable to attend theater anymore, I do love to be able to watch what is available on DVD or VHS. I was really surprised with David Hasselhoff's lead in this classic hit, "Jekyll and Hyde, The Musical".

I admit that I had never before heard him sing but really, he does have a very strong voice and did a wonderful job as the leading man playing a dual personality. You get the REAL feeling that he truly is two people!

The rest of the cast are outstanding. Coleen Sexton (Lucy Harris) and Andrea Rivette (Emma Carew) had amazing voices and complimented each other very well during duets. George Merritt (John Utterson) was perfect in his role as attorney and friend. I was extremely pleased with his performance and the narration as well as the narration provided by Barrie Ingam (Sir Carew).

The musical score was outstanding, the vocals were amazing, and the acting will keep you on the edge of your seat. Emotions definitely go from one extreme to another going through sheer romance, extreme animalistic lust, simple friendship, and forever unconditional love.

This one is a keeper. It is definitely a work of art for your collection. I have purchased two copies, one for my own collection and one for my mother - who also is a theater buff but, like myself, is not able to attend the theater itself anymore.

As David proclaims during his speech, he has most certainly "come a long way from the beach and the talking car". It was his moment to shine and shine he did. I only hope he will continue on his theatrical quest. ... Read more

Reviews (47)

A Real Disney Winner for the Whole Family!
What a clever, fun little movie this is! I enjoy it just as much as my 3-year-old son, and we love to watch it together, over and over. My favorite aspects are that it's an interesting story (a classic "mystery") with intelligent characters & clever dialog. There are no gratuitous sidekick characters, no meaningless song & dance numbers.... everything fits together perfectly in this movie. I initially wondered if my son would lose interest in the wordy, British-accented main character Basil, but nothing about the movie was over his head. Even the villians (including a delightfully mean rat, voiced by Vincent Price) didn't overwhelm him. Overall, "The Great Mouse Detective" is thoroughly enjoyable for everyone!

I've finally bought it on DVD!
That's right all you fans of Disney and of this movie, the long awaited DVD of this movie has finally arrived and ready for you to own it.

This 1986 Cult Disney Classic is about a Detective Mouse named " Basil" with new assistant " Dawson" who must find out what clever scheme that his foe " Ratigan" ( voice of Vincient Price) is up to and must reveal the secret of what he is planning to do with London.

a Brilliant and unique animated feature full of incredible animation and it first uses early CGI for some scenes, this is a movie worth owning for Disney and Animation lovers cause on Repeated viewings it never bores you.

The DVD is fantastic, it's got good features like two Cartoons, Behind the Scenes footage, Scrapbook, and the Picture is absolutely perfect without no single Dirt or Grain to appear and the Sound is phenomenal, this is a must own Disney DVD.

Why rated G
This is one of my favorite disney movies,i think that the song 'Goodbye so Soon'could be used in younger classes at the end of the day when its time for the kids to go home,however i don't think that this movie should be rated G,there is a scene in the movie showing mice smokeing and drinking it should of been rated PG.

Smart, Fun, and just plain excellent!
My first memory of this movie was when my Dad rented it from the video store for us kids. I don't remember my mother watching it with us, but I do know as a child it fascinated me, and my Dad actually got into it, too. My sister and I were looking to expand our DVD collection of good movies without all the garbage that most "adult" movies have. We thought of this one and found it at Wal-Mart. After watching it again, I can say it was just as thrilling! The voice talent, Vincent Price included (since I am a big Batman fan and enjoyed his rendition of egghead), carried well through the movie without sounding the least bit fakey. The take on a mouse detective named Basil of Baker Street living inside the home of the real Sherlock Holmes is one of the smartest movie ideas ever. The plot never slows. The movie progresses at a good clip and keeps you interested. The humor and climax are totally original. Nothing completely predictable and nothing borrowed here. Adults will love this just as much as kids. It's one of those movies that's simply good all the way through.

KITKA

One of the better Disney films of the 1980s.
Full of adventure and mystery, in this film, Disney takes a slightly more sophisticated turn and the outcome is really enjoyable. The film has really nice animation especially the scene atop Big Ben. The voice talent is great, especially the dastardly Vincent Price. The villain is good, and very malicious and powerful. The DVD is really good as well. The movie is in a new letterbox treatment- very nice. I highly reccomend this film for anyone who loves the Disney film genre. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In the mid-1960s, with Dalekmania sweeping Britain, BBC TV's Doctor Who materialized on the silver screen. Doctor Who and the Daleks replaced William Hartnell with Peter Cushing and remade the Daleks' TV debut with a much bigger budget in Technicolor and Techniscope. With his two granddaughters, Roberta Tovey and Jennie Linden (and Roy Castle along for comic relief), the Doctor becomes an intermediary in a conflict between the robotic Daleks and angelic Thals on the almost-dead world of Skaro. A huge hit on release, the film remains an enjoyable, well-produced family adventure, though somewhat lacking the menace of the TV original. --Gary S. Dalkin ... Read more

Reviews (23)

Unless you're a collector, avoid like a rusty Dalek.
As with a lot of remakes, this is more a parody than a an attempt to improve on the original. The TV series version was a gripping and involving story of a post-nuclear holocaust world in which the aggressors had become peaceful humanoids and the victims had become paranoid creatures dependant on machinery.

This film version however, is a toy-like movie filled with multi-coloured Daleks armed with fire-extinguishers, a city of lava-lamps and shower curtains, a fake-looking forest and Thals in comical make-up. Doctor Who (as he's known in this film, played by the usually dependable Peter Cushing) has none of the charisma of Bill Hartnell's Doctor, the Daleks barely manage to exterminate anyone but each other, the Tardis interior looks like a junkyard and the attempts at humour are just pathetic.

If you're a five-year-old who's never seen the TV Dr Who then you'll probably love all the pretty colours and...uh, daring exploits. If, on the other hand, you're a fan a serious sci-fi, then this is one to avoid.

Awarded two stars, but only because the soundtrack's nice.

ON TIME AND WITH PLENTY OF SPACE
As fans of DOCTOR WHO will tell you, DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS with Peter Cushing is less about DOCTOR WHO than the DALEKS - and that's exactly how it should be. A vivid full color, widescreen adpatation of Terry Nations script THE MUTANTS (commonly known now as THE DALEKS) for the DOCTOR WHO television series, this is a bright and entertaining film that manages to skirt the line of family fun with the stark horror of the Daleks. A clean and clear transfer of the film, coupled with solid sound and excellent menus is accented with a host of speical features - the best of which is the entertaining feature length commentary with Jennie Linden (Barbara) and Roberta Tovey (Susan) moderated by Jonathan Sothcott which goes into the background of both the movie, the series it was based from and all the actors involved. Not to be missed. For fans of the series, DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS is a must for any collection, for the casual viewer, it's a timeless piece of sound and fury which will not disappoint.

GOOD DOCTOR - GOOD MOVIE!
"Dr. Who and the Daleks" is a fine film version of the television classic! A great addition to anyone's science fiction film collection! Grade: A-

where is continuity?
Dr WHO and the Daleks- It was altogether a good feature but the writers have changed the characters around from the original series, which really throws a Doctor Who fan off guard. It is obvious they did this to help those who had never seen Doctor Who before get in to the story. It was as if Disney had a hand in this retelling.
For starters The Doctor is now the inventor of the tardis and seems to be from earth rather than Gallifrey. Susan has regressed in age and Barbara is not her teacher but rather her sister, while Ian (also supposed to be Susans' teacher) is Barbara's clumsy slapstick boyfriend.
In my opinion the writer was either too lazy to think up an ingenious way to keep the storyline in tact, or was kept from doing so by executive types. We should all know how those guys get when profit is involved.
Aside from the fact they butchered the relationships between the Doctor and his companions the story kept true to the first meeting of the Daleks as in the original series.
After removing the thought of Barbara being the Doctors' granddaughter and constantly reminding my self that she and Ian were Susans' teachers; and Susan just looked extremely young for her age, it became quite enjoyable. However if you must see this story look for the William Hartnell, black and white version first, they are essentially the same story.
In conclusion, maybe for the family; my seven year old son preferred the Peter Cushing version, so I am led to believe it may be more enjoyable for the whole family.

Daleks and the Doctor on a bigger screen
This was the first of the two big-screen adaptions of Dr. Who - with bigger and better special effects than on the show, though taking a different course as to the Dr.'s character. On the show, the Doctor is an alien - a member of an advanced race of humanoids who live extremely long lives, can regenerate their bodies under circumstances that would kill normal muggles like us, and have mastered the science of space-time travel. Carousing through the cosmos, the Doctor's ship is incredibly huge on the inside (actually limitless) but on the outside can look like an object of any size - in the Doctor's case, a London Police call box. Frequent travels brought the Doctor into conflict with the Daleks - machines housing horribly (and never seen) natives of the planet Skaro who descended from the mutated survivors of a global thermo-nuclear war. The most popular of the Doctor's TV-foes, the Daleks were the natural choice to share his leap to the big screen.

While the Daleks' story is unchanged for the film (cold conquerors of a dying world), and though this flick otherwise follows the plot of the serial in which the Daleks were introduced, the flick otherwise changes the Doctor's story. Now, instead of being a time-lord, the Doctor is a curmudgeonly human inventor (named "Doctor Who" - the characters who are his granddaughters are never mentioned by that name) who manages to construct a crude space-time machine which is bigger inside than out, and just happens to look like a Police call box on the outside. Accidentally sending the time/space ship on its way - the Doctor and crew (his two granddaughters and the older one's date) - vanish from Earth and wind up on a blasted alien world. The Doctor tricks his passengers into going out exploring - he's too much of an adventurer to pass the alien world up. When a huge (and seemingly abandoned) city looms nearby, he goes to investigate, hoping - he tells the others - to find extra mercury for a critical fluid link. Instead, when the city proves to be home to nasty sounding Daleks, they are all captured. The Doctor is then forced to learn the nature of these mechanized creatures and find a way to escape and link up with the Thals - green-skinned descendants of the Daleks' ancient enemies. Though the Thals are stubbornly peaceful, you know that the Doctor will lead them to rise up against the Daleks.

This was a great flick - not quite faithful to Who-lore, but confident in its own way. Cushing is an unforgettable Who, though he could have done with the TV incarnation's more hard edged (here he's a kindly old guy with a child's sense of adventure). Being a human inventor raises some questions, but none that get in the way of the fun, and anyway sticking to the TV-show's premise of the Doctor's being a time-lord would complicate things (the story would have to explain his origin AND the Daleks') The Daleks, on the other hand, are faithfully translated to the big-screen - their huge city, their screeching voices and their fascist-style cruelty fit them to a tee (if anything, the movie Daleks are even louder here) The flick ends on a climactic battle that won't dissappoint. ... Read more