Is Leon the Professional that good?
#101
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
Recently I read an article there was a script for a second movie, but since Besson and Gaumont feuded, he couldn't get the right, which let to Colombiana.
#102
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
OK, I guess maybe I'm off the mark feeling that the IMDB is low for this movie, I do feel it is one of the best movies out there though so for me it's easily a nine.
Yes, it's subjective and people were put off by the flirty relationship between Matilda towards Leon and that surely resulted in some of the 6K 1.0 ratings but it's hard for me to think of any movie I had not seen in so long that holds up as well as this.

Feel confident in disregarding the IMDB ratings for any movie.
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jpcamb (07-25-22)
#106
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
I think you guys don't understand how an average rating based on voluntarily submitted user scores work.
Any such rating is going to be skewed by a movie/show with a rabid fanbase, since they'll actually make the effort to submit an actual rating of their own. Hell, they sometimes may even give everything else on the leaderboard an artificially negative rating to try and move their preferred movie up a few notches.
I stopped caring about reviews/ratings for movies a long time ago. They're, at best, a method to try and determine what I may want to watch, incorporated with other factors. But I don't use them to validate my own opinions, since everyone can have different opinions on films and TV, and trying to objectively rank quality is a fool's errand.
Any such rating is going to be skewed by a movie/show with a rabid fanbase, since they'll actually make the effort to submit an actual rating of their own. Hell, they sometimes may even give everything else on the leaderboard an artificially negative rating to try and move their preferred movie up a few notches.
I stopped caring about reviews/ratings for movies a long time ago. They're, at best, a method to try and determine what I may want to watch, incorporated with other factors. But I don't use them to validate my own opinions, since everyone can have different opinions on films and TV, and trying to objectively rank quality is a fool's errand.
#107
DVD Talk Hero
#108
Banned by request
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
Oh definitely. Jay G said he stopped caring about reviews/ratings a long time ago. I don’t think I ever cared about them. I like stuff that’s rated low and rated high, nothing else factors into that.
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GoldenJCJ (07-21-22)
#109
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
This thread made me rewatch it last night.
Yes. It's still really really good.
Yes. It's still really really good.
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wakwak007 (07-21-22)
#110
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
I've hated this movie for almost 30 years. Never saw what everyone else did. I found it a boring, mindless, meandering and often callously immoral mess.
That said, I almost want to rewatch it to see if my take still stands. It's been a few years. Probably a decade, maybe a little longer.
That said, I almost want to rewatch it to see if my take still stands. It's been a few years. Probably a decade, maybe a little longer.
#112
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
The imdb rating is an indicator nothing more, nothing less. If a movie is new the numbers are inflated, but over time the scores settle.
#113
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
How much time do I have to wait to get an accurate rating of Zack Snyder's Justice League? A delay just helps prove how useless they are.
#115
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
I recommend the 2-Disc Deluxe Edition of this on DVD. It has an extra almost 20 minutes and is NR. The extra time really fleshes out the relationship between Leon and Mathilda a lot, and they even go on hits together. Its almost like seeing a totally different movie!
#116
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
Note how this Blu-ray states it contains both the Theatrical and Extended cuts on the front cover:
Back cover notes the extended version is "Not Rated"

The UHD Blu-ray doesn't state anything on the front cover, but the back cover notes it contains both theatrical and extended versions.

I think you'd have to go back to the 1998 DVD to find a release that's labeled just "The Professional" and contains only the theatrical cut.
#117
Moderator
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
I love The Professional, but when I picked up the 2-disc that has the Léon director's cut that's what my spouse and I watched for her first time and neither of us liked it. The flirtatious scenes bring the story in a very different direction and are distracting from an otherwise great movie. It's obvious why they were cut. I'd like to watch the theatrical with her but I'm not sure if she's interested because of how off-putting some of that stuff was.
Last edited by story; 07-25-22 at 12:03 PM.
#118
Banned by request
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
You mean on the cover, right ? The theatrical cut movie itself still says The Professional.
It's obvious that those scenes were cut for the US audience only. Everywhere else played the longer cut.
It's obvious that those scenes were cut for the US audience only. Everywhere else played the longer cut.
#119
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
The extended cut is called "Leon: The Professional" and is available on Blu-ray and even UHD Blu-ray.
I think you'd have to go back to the 1998 DVD to find a release that's labeled just "The Professional" and contains only the theatrical cut.
I think you'd have to go back to the 1998 DVD to find a release that's labeled just "The Professional" and contains only the theatrical cut.
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Jay G. (07-25-22)
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andicus (07-26-22)
#121
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
Yeah, the parts with Mathilda flirting with Leon were a little uncomfortable, but at least it wasn't reciprocated by Leon. He knew it was wrong and kept her at arm's length. He saw her mostly as like a daughter.
#122
Banned by request
Re: Is Leon the Professional that good?
Jean Reno has confirmed just that in some interviews he's done when he talks about this movie. He says he decided to play Leon as a "slow" version of his character that was in La Femme Nikita. That way the more outlandish stuff including the relationship with Mathilda and how he reacted to her seemed more believable.