From My Mind

The Day of the Jackal (1973)


Point of No Return (1993)


The Professional (1994)


Pulp Fiction (1994)


The Specialist (1994)


Assassins (1995)


Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)


The Jackal (1997)


Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)


Kill Bill (2003/2004)


Mr & Mrs Smith (2005)


You Kill Me (2007)

Perhaps it's weird, but I've always loved movies about assassins. My fascination can't be completely unique, because there's an assassin film genre! Here's a handy list of some of those films.

I know I've forgotten some, so feel free to suggest others, and I'll add them to the list. There's a couple recent ones whose names I can't quite dredge from memory, but I'll more as I think of them.

This list is not about the quality, so the one rule is that the main character(s) must be the assassin(s).

The Mechanic (1972)

Charles Bronson as an assassin working for an organization. Jan-Michael Vincent as his supposed student. Film ends with a bit of a twist. wiki imdb

The Day of the Jackal (1973)

Edward Fox as the freelance assassin that tries to kill France's Charles de Gaulle. A classic film and one of the best of class! Later remade as The Jackal with Bruce Willis as the assassin. Based on The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. wiki imdb

The Eiger Sanction (1975)

Clint Eastwood as a mountain-climbing assassin. George Kennedy as his handler. Based on The Eiger Sanction by Trevanian. wiki imdb

La Femme Nikita [aka Nikita] (1990)

Anne Parillaud as a former cop-killing junkie turned French Intelligence assassin. Jean Reno has a short-lived role as ‘The Cleaner’. Remade in the USA as Point Of No Return with Bridget Fonda as the assassin. Directed by Luc Besson (see also The Professional). wiki imdb

Point of No Return (1993)

Bridget Fonda as the junkie turned assassin by Gabriel Byrne. This is the American version of Besson's La Femme Nikita. Also has Miguel Ferrer, Dermot Mulroney, Anne Bancroft & Harvey Keitel. Directed by John Badham. wiki imdb

The Professional [aka Léon] (1994)

Jean Reno as an expert assassin. Gary Oldman as the over-the-top killer, and Natalie Portman as the orphan who forces Reno to teach her. Directed by Luc Besson (see also La Femme Nikita). wiki imdb

Pulp Fiction (1994)

John Travolta & Samuel L. Jackson as assassins working for gangster Ving Rhames. A modern classic that includes Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette & Christopher Walken. Directed by Quentin Tarantino (see also Kill Bill). wiki imdb

The Specialist (1994)

Sylvester Stallone as an explosives-using assassin. Sharon Stone as his vengeful client; James Woods as his nemesis. wiki imdb

Assassins (1995)

Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas as rival assassins. Julianne Moore as Stallone's love interest. Script by Andy & Larry Wachowski; directed by Richard Donner. wiki imdb

Beyond Hypothermia [aka Sip si 32 doe] (1996)

Chien-lien Wu as a professional female assassin with no name or memory of her past. Ching Wan Lau as a noodle vendor love interest. A fairly obscure film, but worth watching for its unusal treatment of the female assassin theme. wiki imdb (Note: not sure about the roles played by the actors.)

Long Kiss Goodbye (1996)

Geena Davis as an amnesiatic assassin who has become a suburbanite with a child. Samuel L. Jackson also stars as a down and out detective hired to find Davis' missing life. Includes Craig Bierko, Brian Cox & David Morse. Written by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon). Directed by Renny Harlin. wiki imdb

Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)

John Cusack as a professional freelance assassin attending his high school reunion. Minnie Driver stars as the love interest and Dan Aykroyd as the murderous rival. Also has Jeremy Piven, Alan Arkin & Joan Cusack. wiki imdb

The Jackal (1997)

Bruce Willis as the Jackal in a remake of 1973 Day of the Jackal. Sidney Poitier as the FBI agent chasing him. Richard Gere as the Irish terrorist brought out of jail to track him. wiki imdb

The Replacement Killers (1998)

Chow Yun Fat as an unwilling assassin for the Chinese Triad. Mira Sorvino costars as a non-romantic love interest, and Michael Rooker is the LA cop who is the target wiki imdb

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

Forest Whitaker as a zen-loving mob assassin who follows the way of the Samurai. wiki imdb

Kill Bill (2003/2004)

Uma Thurman as a former member of a group of assassins led by David Carradine. Also stars Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox & Michael Madsen. Directed by Quentin Tarantino (see also Pulp Fiction). wiki imdb

Collateral (2004)

Tom Cruise as a hired killer (rare bad-guy role) and Jamie Foxx as his unwilling chauffeur. Most of the film consists of Cruise and Foxx; both were nominated for Oscars. Watch for the Jason Statham cameo early in the film. He passes the briefcase to Cruise at the airport. wiki imdb

Mr & Mrs Smith (2005)

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as husband and wife who don't know they are both assassins working for different agencies. Both are given a mission to kill the other. Hilarity ensues; true love endures. wiki imdb

Shadowboxer (2005)

Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding, Jr. as contract assassins and lovers. Also features Stephen Dorff and Vanessa Ferlito. wiki imdb

Elektra (2005)

Jennifer Garner as the ninja-trained sai-wielding professional assassin from Marvel comics. The film was received very poorly by audience, critics and fans of the comic. Rotten Tomatoes gave it only 9%. wiki imdb

Smokin' Aces (2006)

An entire cast of assassins converges on a single one-million dollar hit. (Think It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World with assassins, directed by Tarantino.) wiki imdb

You Kill Me (2007)

Ben Kingsley as an alcoholic polish mob assassin. Téa Leone as his love interest. Dennis Farina and Philip Baker Hall doing what they do so well. wiki imdb

© 2008 Chris from MN

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published Thu Sep 4, 2008 3:41 PM CDT

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