The Professional | 
| Director: Luc Besson
Actors: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello, Peter Appel
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.94
Buy Used: $1.99
You Save: $12.95 (87%)
New (57) Used (36) Collectible (1) from $1.99
Rating:  441 reviews
Sales Rank: 7425
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), English (Published), French (Published), Spanish (Published)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 2
Picture Format: Array
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.5 x 0.6
MPN: COLD74749D
ISBN: 0767802519
UPC: 043396747494
EAN: 9780767802512
ASIN: 0767802519
Theatrical Release Date: November 18, 1994
Release Date: February 24, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: DVD Only, but plays great Region 1, ships in a clear jewel case
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Product Description
An orphaned girl takes shelter with a neighbor she knows slightly. Leon is a professional hit man whos never had a reason to care about anybody but natalie has no one else. They form a makeshift father-daughter bond that changes both of their lives. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 12/07/2004 Starring: Jean Reno Gary Oldman Run time: 109 minutes Rating: R Director: Luc Besson
Amazon.com
Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) made his American directorial debut with this stylized thriller about a French hit man (Jean Reno) who takes in an American girl (Natalie Portman) being pursued by a corrupt killer cop (Gary Oldman). Oldman is a little more unhinged than he should be, but there is something genuinely irresistible about the story line and the relationship between Reno and Portman. Rather than cave in to the cookie-cutter look and feel of American action pictures, Besson brings a bit of his glossy style from French hits La Femme Nikita and Subway to the production, and the results are refreshing even if the bullets and explosions are awfully familiar. --Tom Keogh
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| Customer Reviews: Read 436 more reviews...
 The Loneliness Of The Short Distance Cleaner December 28, 2008
Mehdi J. Pieloor (ND, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First, a word of warning: Don't mistake the bland US version ("The Professional") with the genius of the original version ("Leon").
The backstory:
Leon (Jean Reno) is a man with a past; having fled to America to avoid prosecution for killing the man who murdered his love (the upper-class father of the girl, who'd rather see his daughter dead than involved with the lower-class likes of Leon), he's taken under the wing by Tony (Danny Aiello), who cultivates the murderous tendencies of the young lad, and turns him into the best of the best: a lone, dedicated "cleaner"; a professional hit man that knows no equal.
Mathilda (Natalie Portman's movie debut) is the daughter of a small-time drug-pusher, who shares her life with her little brother (whom she dearly loves), her dad (who beats her), her stepmother (who doesn't care) and her half-sister (with a mutual dislike that borders to hate). The dysfunctional family life has turned the 12 year old girl old before her age, and what little love and care she has left in her is devoted to her little brother.
The story of the movie:
D.E.A. detective Stansfield (a deliciously over-the-top performance by Gary Oldman) runs a little side-business - pushing drugs (what else?); when Mathilda's father decides to make a bit of a profit by holding back some of the drugs Stansfield left in his care, he invites the wrath of the detective, who - in a blind rage - murders the entire family. Mathilda, who was sent shopping before Stansfield and his crew arrived, comes back to the apartment while the carnage is still going on, and turns to the only other person in the apartment building she knows: Leon.
Reluctantly, he decides to let her into his apartment, and this is the start of an uncomfortable yet moving relationship between Leon, the lone cleaner, and Mathilda, the confused and angry little girl. It's a relationship that changes Leon's life profoundly, shakes him to the core of his very soul (a soul he'd denied having since having killed his one love's killer.)
The difference between "The Professional" and "Leon" (contains spoilers!):
"The Professional" is the American cut, which misses 24 minutes of the story; the cut was made because it was felt (rightly so, judging by some of the other reviews) that the American audiences would be uncomfortable with the original cut. "Leon" starts with the hit man on an assignment, sent out to teach a small-time drug dealer a little lesson (missing in "The Professional"); this scene is essential to introduce us to the man that is Leon the cleaner... an invisible force of violence that knows no mercy, with catlike moves and no qualms.
After this, we're introduced to Mathilda and her family, and the crazy (addicted and furious) detective Stansfield; after the carnage, Mathilda flees into the arms of Leon, and a one-sided love story develops, with Mathilda growing incessantly devoted to the cleaner; besides her wish to avenge her little brother's meaningless death, she clings to Leon with a passion she hasn't yet learned how to deal with - and all the time, Leon rejects her attempts to either make him her lover or her teacher.
When faced with her final rage and despair (another removed scene in "The Professional", where she holds a loaded gun to her head to drive the point through), he decides to at least meet her halfway... and because he can't love her the way she loves him, he offers her the next best thing, and the following cut (removed from "The Professional") shows Leon taking Mathilda out on his "jobs"... her initial training as a cleaner.
People who say that the original version is a perversion with pedophiliac tendencies haven't *seen* the cut... because even though Mathilda keeps pushing Leon towards her mistaken and misguided idea of love, Leon never gives in, except near the very end, where all he does is concede to lie next to her, to sleep, instead of sleeping in the armchair near his window. This is also the defining moment in Leon's life, where his soul-searching reaches an end... as one finds out in the tense and heartbreaking finale that follows immediately after.
All in all, where "The Professional" is just a decent action movie, "Leon" actually has a well-defined story to it (and real character development), that has you sitting on the edge of your chair for 2 hours and 16 minutes, with the occasional burst of laughter (Luc Besson always manages to add some - albeit dark - humor into his movies.)
dvd review December 24, 2008
Rheadawn Brown (Smyrna, TN USA)
Gary Oldham plays a bad guy so well and you will see that clearly in this movie. Natalie Portman was a young budding actor in her role, but gives a great performance with Jean Reno at her side. A keeper.
Even the US version is "professional"-- November 23, 2008
Judy K. Polhemus (LA)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Jean Reno as "The Professional" brings to film a killer version of a man who is hesitant about life and rigid about relationships. That the movie comes under the guise of a hitman, or cleaner as Leon calls himself, is merely the dressing for the real story--the relationship between Leon and Matilda.
Matilda is the 12-year-old daughter of a scumbag, small-time drug dealer, who has little control of himself, eases his frustrations through his hot wife and against his young daughter, Matilda. She is supposed to be in boarding school and out of the way when a DEA officer comes for his cocaine or retribution. Gary Oldman is the agent with his staff of crooked cops and dope dealers. Matilda escapes murder when her neighbor, Leon, takes her in.
Natalie Portman as Matilda is pubescent and childishly provocative in an unintentional way. Their relationship deepens as he trains Matilda in the craft of "cleaning." Trust buds. His heart, so closed, much like Silas Marner, gradually opens to Matilda's openness, much like Eppie's. The difference is, of course, the time period. Silas and Eppie had a father-daughter relationship because it was merry ole England in the Victorian Period. Leon and Matilda live in the Italian area of New York--he is a killer, she is the daughter of a drug dealer. Boundaries are much less strict.
Even though Leon always remains fatherly toward Matilda, given time, that stance may have changed, and probably would to the satisfaction of them both. But that Lolita position never arrived because the Oldman character intervened.
The story with all its corruption of character, hardness of heart, violence to the max, ends in a pastoral-like scene. Matilda is rooted.
 3 1/2 stars - Good but Overated October 26, 2008
Seano (New York, NY)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I saw all the "best movie" reviews and bought it. I was let down as although it is good, it is far from best in my book. The acting performances are what make the movie. Reno and Portman really bring life to a very improbable relationship, and it is heartwarming in spots.
Beyond that the movie lost credibility almost from the start with the over-the-top action. This was supposed to be in NY. The opening assassination scene is ridiculous. Machine gun fire goes on for ten minutes, yet there are no cops, no neighbors. Reno seemingly can be in two places at once, crawling through ceilings and scaling multiple floors, and a crack shot of course, while others are blind. And escape is never a problem. This goes on in every action scene and isn't credible. The action in the DEA office is a joke. And Gary Oldman's character belongs in a Batman movie.
That wouldn't be bad if the rest of the movie wasn't trying for realism. They are trying to show a real relationcship developing under these circumstances. And they do. But it suffers under the weight of the cartoon action.
leon-the professional (uncut) September 1, 2008
John Allen Jr. (USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I ama a fan of this movie. When i saw an uncut version i just had to ceck it out.The story of the emotions of the little girl.was well done.
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