Léon: The Professional comparison *PIX* - Page 3

It bothered me a little bit. Specifically things like Natalie's hair often being a big thick blob of black instead of being able to see details in the reflections of the strands, etc.

Finally watched this yesterday and the whole thing does look too hot. Skies, white signs and the explosion at the end all looked like they were clipping. If not for the grain I'd have thought it was shot on video with wrong exposure settings. Especially the sickly off-blue skies look like bad camcorder work.

Still totally watchable of course. Just odd that Besson would have pushed the colors so hard on this release. They should have at least gone through the film scene by scene and adjusted the coloring differently for a few shots instead of just hitting "apply" on the whole thing. Oh well, could have been better but could have been a whole lot worse.

So true. He gets slammed for being over the top, but just last night I re-watched Batman Begins and he's so understated that it confirms my belief that the guy can pretty much do anything.

Of course there's also the perspective of:

LEON...on drugs

BATMAN BEGINS...sober

I love either Gary, personally...

I agree he can be over the top sometimes(no one's perfect), but I also think he has over the top characters to play most of the time as well.

I love Gary too. Great actor, and he still sounds like a true Saaf Laandon (South London ) boy when he's out of character, instead of the godawful mid-Atlantic drawl that afflicts the likes of Christian Bale.

Are there any movies where Gary Oldman speaks with his native English accent available on Blu-ray?

IIRC, Immortal Beloved.

How about his re-occurring role in Harry Potter?

The guy is one of the most versatile actors out there.

I just watched the Extended Version for the first time ever. I've been a fan of this movie for years and years, but I had only ever seen the theatrical (or US) release.

The fact that makes it a completely different movie. I am torn between which of the two I like best. The Extended Version almost made it feel like I had never seen the movie before.

Was the EV released in theaters anywhere? Who made the editing choices?

So much was left out!

The "The Professional" cut was never intended by Besson. This American theatrical version is butchered.

WHAT??? NO WAY JOSE... you're playing around right? this is prob top 5 in the last 25 yrs and have withstood the test of time..unlike huge favorites like star wars which if you see it again now today has not held up very good...like LEON.

theres no way anyone hanging around in this area does not know about Leon, no way find that very hard to swallow.

gary's great in this, but I think not many remember a more awesome character he portrayed in true romance...a tarantino classic Drexel the wanna be black pimp.

I rented the French BD from Gaumont last August and it had a noticeable "boosted" look, with lost highlight detail. I then put in the Korean two-disc edition from 2004 and it had the highlight detail intact.

Now I've received the US BD. Same loss of detail.

A shame really, but it looks like it's director-approved so what can you do.

BTW no screenshots were involved in either comparison.

My belief was that Besson himself cut the film down after disastrous test screenings. Any butchering was by his own hand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_(film)

I think it was cut because of the undertones of a relationship between a pre-teen and a grown man. It certainly changes your outlook of the movie.

This was my point and what prompted my post. I liked both, but coming off the US release (which was the only version I had ever seen over the years), it changed the entire feel of the movie for me. I really don't know which I like better.

Yes, it does and not in a good way.
One of the featurettes had some guy saying Europeans weren't as squeamish about such things.

just watched it. definitely better than the sd versions but the overblown highlights blow out a lot of detail that should still be there. they shouldn't have dialed it up THAT much.

imagine if he'd done the same thing to Fifth Element

For some reason during these scenes, Roman Polanski kept popping into my mind.
I'm not equating the 2 but it just kept happening.

There was nothing seedy about it in terms of sex or cradle rocking. If anything it was sweet and tender as Leon went out of if his way not to break her heart because he obviously wasn't going to have an affair with a little girl.

I don't think Americans are more squeemish so much as they jump to the seediest conclusions...

Renting / Selling is NOT an option at least in the place where I live. Folks who live in developed countries have all options. So, please think from a broader perspective.

Ughhh....Your presumptions are incorrect. I am a long-time regular here. I rarely rent movies so what I see is what I've purchased - so I usually only see what I'm somewhat sure that I'll enjoy.

In any case, I wound up watching the extended verson. I quite enjoyed it and didn't find anything disturbing about his relationship to the girl. Being a Natilie Portman fan, her sensuality was certainly evident at that young age. I have found myself pondering if the sensuality could have been directed but doubting that. At points I thought it was on the 'edge' of what is typically acceptable....

My original question is moot - I'll stick with the extended version...

finally saw this tonight and the boosted contrast is terrible. It desperately looks like someone trying to make an older film look like a modern one. I know the hot, blown out contrast look is trendy now but the films shot that way now, the DPs KNOW the look they are going for in advance so they balance all the lighting, (look at the raw ungraded deleted scenes in Rocky Balboa for example to see evidence of this) to compensate. There was so such lost detail crushed into black that it looked like some bad shot on super 8 amateur film. Didn't look like that before.

imho Oldman's most memorable character (with Dracula being a close 2nd) is Jackie Flannery from State of Grace. As someone who lives and works in Hell's Kitchen and who has crossed paths with a Westie back in the 80's, he NAILED that part so ridiculously it was unreal.

not on BluRay but rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead and prick up your ears on dvd

Gary Oldman role everybody forgets about.....Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK, he got that guy down so good it is scary

no better actor around than this guy

-Gary

Harry Potter films

Gary rocks. Harry Potter, Air Force One, Fifth Element, Book of Eli, Batman, Leon... he even made Lost in Space watchable. My favorite thing about Gary is that you always do a double-take when you see him.

"That guy sure is cool/scary/awesome. Who is that guy?"
"Gary Oldman."
"What? Wow, that guy is so good I didn't even recognize him!"
"Yeah, he kills himself to bring his character to life."

(typical 7-second conversation when watching a movie featuring Gary Oldman)