Who thinks Willis was great as the bad guy? - The Jackal (1997) Discussion

[–] sladak 20 years ago

I totally agree with you rumpelstiltskin-1. Bruce Willis was great. The thing I hated was that I knew almost from the beginning that richard g. would kill him and that the assasination wouldnt succeed. The typical bad vs good, happy end movies....

reply

[–] cloudbase455 20 years ago

too true. bruce willis was cool as the jackal.
i think we all knew how it would end - 'good' guy kills the bad guy, though i think we would all have prefered bad guy kills the good guy. sometimes these happy endings do p*ss me off a bit. how about some more 'good guy dies at the end' films?

reply

[–] CptHowdy87 9 years ago

I totally agree with you rumpelstiltskin-1. Bruce Willis was great. The thing I hated was that I knew almost from the beginning that richard g. would kill him and that the assasination wouldnt succeed. The typical bad vs good, happy end movies....

More than 10 years too late......but maybe movies aren't your thing buddy.

reply

[–] silental 19 years ago

Yes, Willis was great.

Silent Al

reply

[–] Dalif 19 years ago

As with you guys, I felt the inevitable good wins over bad ending. I would have loved for Willis to beat Gere down. I dunno why, but Gere just pissed me off a lot in this movie. I've never been a Gere fan, but this time, he was just well annoying. At least that russian chick snuffs it.

---
It basically gets down to this: you either get busy living, or get busy dying.

reply

[–] DabacTSP 19 years ago

I think the only thing that separates this horrible movie with the bottom of the sea is that interesting fact that Bruce was playing bad guy, not so typical for him. I had the post about that issue
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119395/board/flat/28604619?d=28604619#28604619

Movie remakes compared to original
http://www.movie-remakes.com

reply

[–] laslopaniflex 19 years ago

The so called "goodie" played by Richard Gere was a 'lovable' IRA terrorist. Last seen bombing schools and churches...

I would have preferred "The baddie" Bruce to wipe the floor with him...

reply

[–] rich_1874 19 years ago

actually the ira never bombed any schools or churches so get the facts straight

reply

[–] heuer88 18 years ago

it also would have been funny to see hilary get taken out in the movie

reply

[–] Lach-Graham 18 years ago

Lol. Nah, it'll take more than the Jackal to stop Hillary's campaign.

Looking for some happiness, but there was only loneliness to find

reply

[–] fashion103 18 years ago

>>actually the ira never bombed any schools or churches so get the facts straight<<

No, but they did blow the *beep* out Bridge Street in my home town of Warrington, killing two young children out buying presents for their mothers just before Mothers Day. Before you get all dewey eyed about their crusade, let me tell you, schools or not, seeing a young child get blown to pieces is about as harrowing an experience as I care to see in my life time.

Army barracks, politicians etc you can understand. But targeting a small town, knowing that the victims would be children...well, you tell me where the moral high ground is in not targeting schools there.

R.I.P Tim Parry and Johnathan Ball

"You're fakin' nicked me ol' beauty!"
John Cleese, The Life of Brian

reply

[–] Too313 17 years ago

I agree with you. He just was so preening or something. Gere needed to die. If he had rushed the stage and pushed the first lady off and then got it I'd have been happy. But no. Of all the people he has to live. Man.

reply

[–] Moester 13 years ago

I liked Bruce in his role. I would've prefered if he had got Gere in the end. I think the bad guy should've won, he was smarter than them all.

reply

[–] inspectors71 18 years ago

Usually I try not to be insulting of the opinions about films by others, but . . .
Good God Almighty, are you even vaguely aware of how truly awful "The Jackal" was? Did you see the original or read the book? Can you read?
The Jackal is a self-absorbed, Hollywoodized, Bruce Willised pile of idiocy, designed for and enjoyed by . . .
idiots.
Next we'll be reading about how great the Die Hards and the Lethal Weapons are. And Jean-Claude Van Damm is a great actor, too!

"You eat guts."--Nick Devlin

reply

[–] Sakujo 18 years ago

Die Hard and Lethal Weapon 1 and 2 are great.

Anyway, Willis was indeed an enjoyable villain. And yes i saw the original. Yes, this Jackal is Hollywoodized, Bruce Willised pile of idiocy. Willis was still good. As i said on The Day of the Jackal board, it's mainly becouse of his hair. You know that hair's up to something.

reply

[–] Big333223 18 years ago

You know that hair's up to something.

Too true.

I agree with the OP, that Willis was a great villain. I actually came on this board to ask if this was a remake of The Day of the Jackal. I figured it was, but the plot was very very different. I am to assume from the comments on this thread that it was?

- Don't tease me about my hobbies, I don't tease you about being an assh*le.

reply

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] franzkabuki 10 years ago

The first two Lethal Weapons and at least the first Die Hard are excellent action movies, mang. No need to diss those.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

reply

[–] CptHowdy87 9 years ago

Next we'll be reading about how great the Die Hards and the Lethal Weapons are.

Are you saying they're not great?

Crazy talk.

reply

[–] Cult_of_Kibner 8 years ago

Good God Almighty, are you even vaguely aware of how truly awful "The Jackal" was?

You don't seem to be aware what a truly awful movie is. The Beast of Yucca Flats is truly awful. The Jackal is just mediocre.

Usually I try not to be insulting of the opinions about films by others, but . . .

Not sure why you felt it necessary to start.

reply

[–] mike_the_bloody 13 years ago

He's awesome as always in this movie. Definitely one of his underrated performances

"I'm just a happy camper! Rockin' and a-rollin'!" - Patrick Bateman, American Psycho

reply

[–] koffeenkreame41-1 10 years ago

He's awesome as always in this movie. Definitely one of his underrated performances

Agreed.

"I'm the ultimate badass,you do NOT wanna f-ck wit me!"Hudson,Aliens😬

reply

[–] franzkabuki 10 years ago

It was a terrible performance - throughout the whole thing, there was no "Jackal", just a smugly smirking action hero Willis on screen, bouncing from one ridiculous hair piece to another every ten minutes. Edward Fox in the original was a cool, calculating, understated and outwardly unremarkable professional who could project more threat with a momentary glint in his eyes than Willis could with 2 hours of self satisfied mugging (and in the end, he just turns into a cackling Hollywood psycho, anyway). Willis has generally proven to be a capable actor, but this must go down as one of the low points of his career.

But then again, it was an uphill battle for everyone involved, trying to make the best of a terrible script, in a dumb run-of-the-mill Hollywood action movie. They sure set an excellent example of how to f-ck up a true masterpiece of suspense/action cinema with a corny, audience pandering remake.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

reply

[–] eddysl12 10 years ago

I loved Willis in this and yes I have seen " The Day of the Jackal " several times. Both are great films.

Bruce after all his good-guy hero roles was DYING to play a bad guy, he really enjoyed playing the part and it showed.

reply

[–] manram24 10 years ago

Definitely. It's one of his best roles.

Y'know, I could eat a peach for hours