Assassins (1995)

Director:

Richard Donner

Writers (WGA):

Andy Wachowski (story) &
Larry Wachowski (story) ...

Release Date:

6 October 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller | Crime

Tagline:

In the shadows of life, In the business of death, One man found a reason to live...

Plot:

Robert Rath is a seasoned hitman who just wants out of the business with no back talk. But, as things go...

Plot Keywords:

Hitman | Assassin | Rival | Thief | Russian

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Sylvester Stallone	...	Robert Rath
Antonio Banderas	...	Miguel Bain
Julianne Moore	...	Electra
Anatoli Davydov	...	Nicolai Tashlinkov (as Anatoly Davydov)
Muse Watson	...	Ketcham
Steve Kahan	...	Alan Branch (as Stephen Kahan)
Kelly Rowan	...	Jennifer, Electra's Neighbor
Reed Diamond	...	Bob
Kai Wulff	...	Remy
Kerry Skalsky	...	Buyer with Remy
James Douglas Haskins	...	Buyer with Remy
Stephen Liska	...	Cop
John Harms	...	Cop
Edward J. Rosen	...	Cemetery Caretaker
Christina Orchid	...	Dowager

Also Known As:

Assassins (France)
Day of Reckoning

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA | France

Language:

English | German | Spanish

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Peru:18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Philippines:R-18 | Hungary:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #34080) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Everett, Washington, USA

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

Michael Kamen originally composed the score for this film. His score was rejected by director Richard Donner, who felt Kamen's score was heavy, dreary and made the film feel slow. Donner felt the film needed a fast, slick sounding score, but he didn't want to let go of Kamen as the two were close friends and had worked together on many films. Donner even tried to give Kamen a chance to recompose the score, but Kamen had already begun work on Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995) for director John McTiernan. Donner then went to composer Mark Mancina, who provided him with the fast, slick score he wanted for the film. Due to time constraint Mancina couldn't come up with a main theme for the film, as he only had five weeks to produce the score for final approval. The time constraint was caused by the film's original June '95 release date, which was later pushed back to October 1995.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In Miguel's escape scene in the back of the police cruiser, after he breaks the drivers neck, in the next scene you can see the driver driving the car, whereas in the next shot it's the second cop in the passenger seat who has control of the wheel.

Quotes:

Miguel Bain: Honey? I'm going to tear your heart out.

Movie Connections:

References Il mio nome è Nessuno (1973)

Soundtrack:

The Day of the Dead

Definately underrated...

Assassins is definately one of the better written action films I've seen, but then again, it was written by the Wachowski Brothers, who also wrote (and directed) the equally well done Matrix.

This film was directed By Richard Donner, who also directed Lethal Weapon 1-4 and Superman, among other films. I felt the characters were all well presented and the story was told well.

Apparently, Brian Hegleand rewrote parts of the script, but I can't imagine what, since the whole script seems so Wachowski. Huh...