Leon - The Director's Cut [Blu-ray]

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Richard Schickel of Time magazine lauded the film, writing, "this is a Cuisinart of a movie, mixing familiar yet disparate ingredients, making something odd, possibly distasteful, undeniably arresting out of them". In the version released in India, the censors insisted on cutting certain scenes which included Matilda smoking on the stairs, a man pressing the breasts of the woman, 50% reduction in expressions on Stansfield's face after he consumes the drug capsule, 30% reduction in the shootout in the flat, the shooting by Stansfield at the dying man crawling on the floor, the scene where Leon teaches Matilda to use a telescopic gun and the subsequent visuals of her actually selecting a target and killing him ruthlessly in accordance with the shooting lesson, and Matilda's lines "He is my lover' and 'Shut the fuck up', before giving the film an A (adults only) rating. Unquestionably, Leon is an absolute masterpiece with some jaw-dropping performances from Natalie Portman, Jean Reno, and a turned-up-to-11 Gary Oldman. The first line in the lyrics, "this is from Matilda", refers to Léon's last words, shortly before his grenades detonate and kill Stansfield.

The surround track is vibrant and effective, keeping the dialogue clear throughout, while emphasising the action, making for an immersive presentation.She says "When Luc Besson did Léon, the story of a 13-year-old girl in love with an older man, it was very inspired by us"; Besson met Maïwenn when she was 12 and he was 29, and he officially started dating her when she was 15, the legal age of consent in that country. For those not familiar with Leon, the basic crux of the matter centres on clinical hitman Leon (Reno) and young Mathilda (Portman).

In that case, you’re likely wondering just why this new release of a 25-year-old film would be worth your time.When Léon is out on a job, Mathilda fills a bag with guns from Léon's collection and sets out to kill Stansfield. I had an issue with my check disc in that the Director’s Cut drops out of sync between 85:03 and 88:22. Léon is a hitman (or "cleaner", as he refers to himself) working for a mafioso named "Old Tony" in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York City.

It is the most electrifying performance I have seen from Gary Oldman, this edgy, wired, unpredictable sociopath. At first, Léon is unsettled by her presence and considers killing her in her sleep but he eventually trains Mathilda and shows her how to use various weapons. In what is essentially an exercise—a slick urban thriller—it seems to exploit the youth of the girl without really dealing with it. Interview Jean Reno lasts 6:44, and Interview Eric Serra lasts 10:03 and these two featurettes are in HD. English audio track with optional English subtitles, and I have to say that the film looks spectacular.

There’s a safety in the realisation that Leon is unable to pose any kind of threat to a 12 year old child.

Léon killed the father in revenge and fled to New York, where he met Tony and trained to become a hitman. It’s left to niche entertainment like anime, to try and emulate it, but they’ll never have quite the same impact. Léon: The Professional [a] is a 1994 English-language French action-thriller film [6] [7] [8] [9] written and directed by Luc Besson. Oldman is the least inhibited actor of his generation, and as this deranged detective, he keeps absolutely nothing in reserve.The site's critics consensus reads, "Pivoting on the unusual relationship between seasoned hitman and his 12-year-old apprentice—a breakout turn by young Natalie Portman—Luc Besson's Léon is a stylish and oddly affecting thriller. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 74% based on 66 reviews, with an average rating of 6. He picks up a 12 year old girl after she is orphaned in a brutal fashion, takes her in, and starts to teach her his trade, how to kill, even taking her on jobs. The majority of said footage further shines the spotlight on the moments shared by Leon and Mathilda, which adds a few nice touches to the overall narrative of Leon. That doesn’t mean that they’re not enjoyable, mind, just there’s no new material for long-time Leon fans to sink their teeth into.