Leon (The Professional) Uncut International Version: Superbit DVD Review

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Title: Leon (The Professional) Uncut International Version: Superbit

Region: One

Genre: Action/Drama

Stars: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, and Danny Aiello

Writer: Luc Besson

Director: Luc Besson

Feature length: 133 minutes

Languages: English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Subtitles: English Captions and Closed Captions and French, Portuguese, and Spanish Subtitles

Packaging: Keep Case

Chapter Stops: 28

Sound: DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 1994/DVD Release: 2003

Theatrical Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Home Video Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

When Luc Besson's "The Professional" opened in the United States back in the fall of 1994, the film was critical and financial success despite being overshadowed by Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," which at the time was sweeping across the country like some bad flu. Everyone had "Pulp Fiction Mania" on his or her minds and as a result, "The Professional" did not have the sort of impact it had in France where the film was playing uncut and under it's original title, "Leon" 24 hours a day.

Word of mouth and home video finally bought "The Professional" to a larger audience where it became a strange mix of art house, action, and cult film and a mythology developed around the film's presentation and the individuals involved. This mythology was in fact true and not gossip as is usually the case with media success. The film bought the work of Luc Besson to a mainstream audience that would grow wider when his sci-fi action hit "The Fifth Element" hit theaters years later, and it also bought the acting talent of Jean Reno to the attention of many filmmakers resulting in a string of successful action pictures featuring Mr. Reno that included the theatrical version of "Mission Impossible", "Ronin", and the 1998 American version of "Godzilla," which seemed to really capitalize off of his "cleaner" image by casting him in a role a French Secret Service Agent out to clean up the mess their nuclear testing has created.

Probably the biggest success in the film has come from the dynamic Natalie Portman, who at the time was barely a teenager and has since blossomed into one of the most sought after talents working in film today. "The Professional" was her feature film debut. The most interesting anecdote about "The Professional" though was the sought after international cut of the film that was deemed too inappropriate in the United States and so the film was cut down and re-titled "The Professional" to attract action film fans. For years to follow the only way anyone could see the uncut film was by purchasing a Japanese Import Laserdisc or by ordering an import tape or DVD and hope they could watch it on a region free DVD player or an expensive PAL/SEACAM compatible VCR. Then in 2000 Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment finally released the extended cut on DVD for region one consumers.

I thought the American film was good already, but after I saw the Uncut International Version of "Leon" on DVD, I could never sit through the American edit ever again. "Leon" is simply fantastic. Comparing "The Professional" to "Leon" is like comparing "Point Of No Return" to "Le Femme Nikita." There is no comparison and in both cases Besson's version blows away the American counterpart and/or edit.

The story is a love story in the truest form. Leon (Reno) is a professional hit man or "cleaner" that takes jobs for a Mafia Don (Aiello) out of New York's Little Italy. One day, a group of crooked DEA cops lead by Actor Gary Oldman, in a deliciously warped villainous performance, murders the entire family of little Mathilda (Portman), who finds solace in Leon, who takes her into his apartment, saving her life.

Together, they each grow as human beings and develop something of a father daughter relationship and something of a pure and un-acted upon love, honor, and mutual respect for each other. Mathilda longs for vengeance against the DEA officers who murdered her family, particularly her little brother, and is taught the art of professional "cleaning" while teaching Leon to read and gradually breaking down his barriers to a point where they are almost star-crossed lovers even though their intimacy is never physical. However, it is these points of emotional intimacy between a minor and an adult as well as a sequence of scenes where Portman accompanies Reno's character on a series of hits that probably were deemed unsuitable for American audiences.

However, these scenes and the extension of others develop the characters more and add some needed logic to some of the film's more fantastic events. In short, "Leon" uncut is the only way I recommend seeing this film.

This new Superbit DVD edition of "Leon (The Professional) Uncut International Version" delivers an even greater anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer that shows no signs of compression grain whatsoever and looks very detailed with solid colors. The soundtrack choices are in English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound or English Dolby Digital 5.1 and the mixes are excellent with composer Eric Serra's score, the effects, and dialogue all with a discrete style that is quite compelling. English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and French, Portuguese, and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded onto the DVD as options too.

Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment’s DVD release of "Leon (The Professional) Uncut International Version: Superbit" is available now and I highly recommend checking it out.

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