Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

thegreatwhy-312-879122 Having never read the original series, I'll have to go with what's in the movie. Golgo 13 is slow, pretentious and predictable to the point of boredom. Every single character is an off-the-mark stereotype and every single situation is a worn-out trope you've seen in either a 007 or Dirty Harry movie, making the movie a simple collage of scenes you might have liked from other movies (kinda like the recent "Jupiter Ascending"). Throughout the movie, events keep happening "just because", without any regard to personality or logic, and that emphasize even more the "patchwork" aspect of the movie. The movie's only redeeming quality is the visual impact, but the slow pans and masterful lighting effects are overplayed to the point of exhaustion, and do nothing to improve the movie's terrible pacing (though it gets somewhat better). Sometimes in manga the main character is intentionally made shallow and only marginally interesting, to bring out the secondary characters and help the writer focus on their own story (see Hokuto No Ken), however the device here fails miserably, because every single character is just as shallow, often possessing a single character trait. All in all, one of the worst anime I've ever seen: this movie has nothing to offer you.

chribren "The Professional: Golgo 13" is an Action-Anime directed by Osamu Dezaki year 1983. It was produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, which was also involved in other stuff like "Sonic X" and "Akira".Basic plot: Oil baron Leonard Dawson witnesses his son Robert Dawson get assassinated by Duke "Golgo 13" Toga, and since then, he becomes obsessed to have Duke Toga dead by having the FBI, CIA and the U.S. Army to hunt him down. Will "Golgo 13" be able to survive all the bloody violence enough to even meet the evil Snake, Gold and Silver later in the movie...?Together with the 1988 masterpiece "Akira", I highly loved this pretty violent anime-film. Various people die during the course of the movie, often with gory result. It has plenty of action and violence to keep the fans entertained. The animation style is great, very manga-like as if it was made in the late 70s. As I have the original Japanese version of the film on a French DVD, I can so say the opening theme "Pray for you" by Cindy Wood totally rocks, as well as the dated CGI intro sequence itself with skeletons and bullets!Speaking about the scenes itself, I have at least two favorite scenes, it be the "Bernard Mueller hit"-sequence which results in a car chase, as well as the ending sequence beginning with the Atari-like CGI-helicopter scene which I honestly love. I even like the action-scenes itself. This is why I confirm this film as my second favorite Anime movie of all time, right behind my all-time-favorite anime "AKIRA".If you menage to find the Japanese version of this film, not the Streamline- or the Urban Vision-version, I suggest you to take this film, amongst them because of the above mentioned "Pray for you" song.

siderite The story here is of a hard paid assassin, called for no good reason either Golgo 13 or Duke Togo, who earns the wrath of very important people who then try to kill him. The atmosphere of the film is dark and hopeless, the main character ruthless and seemingly indomitable. One hour and a half later, you still know nothing about Golgo and no one has killed him yet.In a way it reminds me of 70's movies Italian movies or maybe French Alain Delon. It does unfold in Europe and, beside Golgo himself and maybe Snake, all characters are European or American. The final fight against weird and powerful assassins is clearly Japanese though.Bottom line: nice anime, but kind of pointless. It is impossible to sympathize with the main character and, in the end, you don't care if he lives or dies. That's the main drawback of a film that, otherwise, is pretty good.

DragonFire99 THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 is an archetypal animated crime drama. This is a relentlessly brutal film about one man's crusade to destroy the elusive figure who was solely responsible for the murder of his own kin. THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 is also an emotionally disturbing film which demonstrates the pain and distress of having to cope with the loss of a love one. It serves as a chilling reminder of how human beings can easily succumb to the power of suffering. THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 is a tautly made film dealing with the psychological mind, but most importantly of all, it is a thriller that leaves you on the edge-of-your-seat from the first frame to the finish.Duke Togo (a.k.a. Golgo 13) is an assassin for hire. He does not care about his clients at all; he only cares about himself and his money. Devoid of emotion, Golgo's life is predominated by violence and sex. Golgo's latest mission is to terminate Mr. Robert Dawson, the son of a wealthy oil-business baron, Leonard Dawson. With just a single bullet, Golgo 13 has successfully accomplished this task. Meanwhile, Mr. Leonard Dawson, understandably aggravated with the death of his only son, has vowed to terminate this assassin once and for all. Leonard Dawson is usually use to `getting what he wants,' but this entrepreneur does not realize what a formidable foe Golgo 13 might be...Desperate, Leonard Dawson has hired a number of professional mercenaries and agencies to assist him in tracking and eliminating his loose cannon. Along the way, Dawson has employed a ruthless, cold-blooded killer named `Snake' to personally make sure that Golgo 13 suffer a violent and painful demise... However, Golgo 13 always manages to be ahead of the game. Whenever danger strikes, this elusive hitman always succeeds in escaping with his life. He is quick, agile, and intuitive, but consequently, he is a man with little sentiment...Golgo 13 is constantly on the run from the menacing villains of every color. Will Golgo 13 be able to save his own skin...or will he truly meet his match with a professional adversary?THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 is certainly an adult-oriented tale. This is an extremely sickening film, with grotesque deaths being shown in explicit detail second by second. The color red tends to literally predominate the screen at times. Typical of the Japanese animation style is also the gratuitous use of frontal female nudity, especially since virtually every female in this movie removes her clothes at least once during the film's duration. Indeed, as shown by the abundance of sanguinary violence, soft-core sex scenes (Golgo's love-making scene with `Cindy' is particularly steamy.) and unclothed females, THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 is animation made strictly for mature audiences.It would be unfair to dismiss THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 just because of its excessive violence and nudity. Unlike most films of this caliber, what is admiring about this movie is that though it is full of sex and violence, it does not let those two qualities overshadow the film's technical and also rather profound attributes. First, the technical accomplishments in this movie are plentiful. The camerawork and editing are stylishly done. They often shift from the use of freeze frames to slow motion sequences to split screen features. The animation too, is marvelous; the use of different colors and lighting effects are utilized to the first degree in order to symbolize a certain character's behavior such as pleasure or anger. As well, the computer generated action scenes near the end are themselves a masterfully created piece of work. THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 contains some of the best artwork and details of a modern animated feature. THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 is also a trenchant character study. This movie shows the mental anguish and vulnerability in the human soul, as demonstrated by the erratic behavior Leonard Dawson displays. THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 spares no punches as it illustrates that human misery does not only affect the individual himself; it could also affect his loved ones just as sharply. This motion picture shows as well how an obsession with revenge will leave a person devastated even more deeply. It is a very sad movie indeed, but this movie dares you to actually show sorrow for many of the characters involved in the predicament... What makes THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 even more remarkable is the film's diversely outrageous cast of characters. They range from the sick and bizarre lunatic, `Snake,' to the deformed twins `Gold' and `Silver,' and then, to the sexy, lascivious lady, `Cindy.' The breakthrough character sketches in this movie (plus the state-of-the-art animation) make the viewer believe that instead of watching a lame cartoon, he/she is experiencing an actual feature presentation. THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 is truly `number one...with a bullet.'Overall, THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 is a unique experience. Unlike most superficial, one-dimensional cartoon presentations, THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 is a realistic (albeit still an animated feature) film that is rather plaintive, bleak, and depressing. At the same time though, THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 will leave you breathless as the amazing action and gritty visuals will keep you addicted for more excitement. The animation especially, is notably conceived. THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 is a destined cult hit in the making. Though this is an animated film, the spellbinding plot, assured direction, plus the three dimensional characters and strong themes help give this motion picture a potently authentic quality. There are more than enough plot twists to keep you enthralled even after the denouncement. Plus, a powerful subtext (amongst many) about how the letting of one's emotions cloud his/her thoughts can easily cripple one's life forever will keep the viewer suitably mesmerized. This is a film that will leave you contemplating about how delicate the human soul really is... If you are looking for a near perfect thriller, then search no further. RATING: ***1/2 out of ****.