The Assassin
(Point of No Return)
Based on the French film by Luc Besson La Femme Nikita 1990 about a hired assassin, this remake direcated by John Badman Dracula and Wargams brings this version a harder update with all the gripping suspense to the final conclusion. Starring Bridget Fonda, as Maggie, a troubled girl with a murderous killer instinct and a bad habit has been ordered to be injected with a lethal ignition.
When awaking in a strange room, the door opens and enters Gabriel Byrne, as Bob a government recruiting agent who soil purpose is to have Maggie trained has for special operations. Bob gives Maggie, a choice from which where there is no turning back too, work for us an assassin or the alternative will be a bullet to the head!
Image: Looking slightly pale which has nothing to do with the age of the film, but more so the DVD authoring transfer, I would welcome a fresher transfer when Warner
Bros ever get around to doing it, or a simple special edition would suffice.
I’m Victor. I’m the cleaner.
Victor the cleaner, The Assassin 1993
Framed in the scope 2.35:1 aspect ratio, chapter 25, the cleaner, when Victor played by Harvey Ketel, arrives at the hotels interior entrance looked has if it had fog filter placed over the lens. The exterior shots where the cleaner uses some rather unsound methods to dispose body parts down to the nap! Was brightly lit, Bridget face looked so beautifully elegant under the natural light, “Jesus Christ!” “What are you doing?” the green leaves in the background slightly out of focus and the palm trees behind Victor looked good as well.
The pastel blue sky in chapter 12, Venice California, there’s lots of street life activities going on and lots of bright colours of graffiti art work on the sides of buildings stood out very well.
Sound: As Bob, c0cks back the slide of the pistol and with the sound effect aimed directly towards the centre channel leaving the LFE.1 inactive it this point, you can never tell where the lows are going to come from!
“Rule number one: Never chamber the first round.” That’ll slow you down for a while…
…“Maggie for Margaret.”
Bob, the Assassin 1993
Weaponry sound effects in the underground of this secret government covet organisation, was fairly punchy with recoil being produced via the LFE.1, and milder low frequency sounds covering the three-screen!
Nina Simone: Birds flying high, and the low level ambient sound of the ocean with a seagulls flying around sound very warm along with the gentle breeze air blowing in though the open bay doors looking outwards over the ocean bay.
The slow but rapped hotel explosion blasting out the top floor in a fiery blitz of destructive force comes in at around 111dbc weighting, as Maggie, opens the drivers side window and realizing what she’s just done is somewhat shocked at the world she’s in! As the sound pans over to the split-surrounds where Maggie, is looking up to the rumbling sound roars with a sonic sting of violas and violins and some heavy precision.
The assassination which takes place from the bathroom that overlooks a street, has a high level of score that builds up too a very tight tension, where Maggie, almost never goes though with the assassination! Dialogue that raises over the radios headset, is nervous not knowing who’s on the other end, “The Woman in white.” As the score gets higher in level, and as Maggie, tries to concentrate on the target "The woman in white I said.” with three muffled shots under the high raised score, and the target falling to the ground with a lot of confused people on the opposite side of the road, with the piano and some synthesized instruments that slowly ends the scene at 100dbc with a sick feeling to the gut.
“I mean it!” I’m though I’m out!”
Maggie, The Assassin 1993
With the tables starting to turn, Maggie, is showing weak signs, and the level of loud dialogue in Bob’s office reaches 82dbc, without any distortion what so ever. The low thundering that rumbles beneath the scene in Bob’s office shows just what kind of person he really is, and Maggie’s heart sinks with disbelief as tears flow from her eyes, she’s got no choice but to carry out orders or else.
Listen! Which word don’t you understand? There is no “out.” There is no “though.” there is no out!
Bob The Assassin 1993
As Maggie, makes a run for it after retrieving the information and coming face to face with one of the bodyguards where some hand to hand is exchanged, the violent kick is fairly thunderous and furious down to 40Hz and some fast paced score by Hans Zimmer, keeps this action going fast as Maggie, brings her knee up high and renders the bodyguard with sharp body blow that puts him down! With a second bodyguard coming at Maggie, then swings her whole body around to deliver a devastating whipping smack to the face that is just marginally higher then the first one, which is also down at 40Hz and finally jumping as high as she can, and giving him a second kick to the face practically renders him useless, and thus making her escape seem all too easy.
With body blows and punches coming in at 98dbc and 100dbc weighting on the Eltax A-12 R sub bass extension, and via simply sending the centre low end mix over to JBL 4645 and slamming into your chest at 105dbc and 107dbc weighting, makes I more exciting. There is a huge whollop that knocks you back into your seat with some hard hitting edge of the seat punches that places you in the middle of the action! The punches are so far exaggerated than real life it’s the closet approximation of being there!
Sending the low end extension back to the Eltax A-12 R where it can measure up to the same sound pressure or if I wanted less when passing the centre signal over to the JBL 4645, I could have balanced it, if I wanted too.
Using the mixing board to balance the two equal low end centre channel signals and sending them to both the Eltax A-12 R 12” and the JBL 4645 18” the impact climbs to 108dbc weighing, with the same body punches and blows to the face! The range was also tighter then before, feeling more like the 8th round in the boxing ring! With a few more tweaks on the mixing board I brought the level up to 109dbc weighting, but with the level peaking at 0dbVU on the meter I really don’t want to go any higher! In fact what I could do is increase the level of the amplification power to the Eltax A-12 R 12, and grandly turn the level back up for the JBL 4645 18” where it is operating at a normal level within it’s technically tolerances!
As the car looses control and partly hanging over a cliff, Maggie fights for her life has the deranged and psychiatric cleaner tires to kill her in a fanatic fight. As the cleaner grabs her by the throat, Maggie, forces his arm against the rear turning wheel, with a gritty friction of rubbing of rubber and yelling against the cleaners arm as he yells out in one last attempt of pain, the car eventually falls over the cliff taking the cleaner with him.
The cleaner’s dead…and umm …and the girl is…the girl is…the girl’s dead, too.
Bob The Assassin 1993
In a word: it’s a well put together remake, touching with a sexier class of gunfire of hard hand to hand combat and explosions!
Extras: None
Technical details
Certificate: 18
Region 2
Aspect ratio: scope 2.35:1 Panavision® (anamorphic enhanced)
Colour: Technicolor®
Cinema sound realise: 35mm Dolby Stereo (SR-D) type
DVD sound realise: Dolby 5.1 with (split-surrounds)
Year of realise: 1993
DVD year of realise: 1999
Ratings
Picture 8/10
Sound 10/10
Overall rating 9/10
Presentational playback
Fader: 0db THX reference level
Sound system: JBL
Sound indicator: Dolby 5.1
Maximum loudness: 111dbc!
