To me, the all-time tops hitman flick is the already-mentioned Fed Zinneman film of The Day of the Jackal, based on the Frederick Forsyth bestseller. The later Bruce Willis The Jackal is an unworthy successor. The Clint Eastwood In the Line of Fire is a pale (but much better than The Jackal) imitation. Both already mentioned.
The idea was played for comedy in The Assassination Bureau, Limited, which has a stellar cast including Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas (shades of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) and Oliver Reed.
Two other Frederick Forsyth books adapted as films which are arguably hitman flicks are The Odessa File and The Dogs of War, both worth seeing. They round out the trilogy of Forsyth’s first books, although they’re not quite as well done as TDotJ.
I like a good hitman movie too, but I have a problem with all of them. For the most part, hitman movies are about the hitman’s last hit, the one where he screws up and gets killed. For once, I would like to see a hitman movie where the main character plows through a whole series of detailed hits without making a mistake, having an attack of conscious, or falling in love.
Oh, and I’d like to add the El Mariachi movies to the list.
The Killer Elite with James Caan and Robert Duval is a cool movie. Assassination Tango with Robert Duval is a way cool movie. Golgo 13: Queen Bee is another animated flick about Duke Togo, the hitman with the custom M-16.
You’d probably like the Golgo 13 movies, then. Once he takes the assignment, he always follows through. He’s often described as being devoid of human emotion, but that isn’t quite true. On at least one hit, it’s clear that he’d prefer not to pull the trigger, but he always follows through. This refers only to the two animated movies. There’s a live action movie with Sonny Chiba, but I’ve never seen it.
The latest Clive Owen “Shoot 'em Up” was exactly that, but if you like creativity in your hired guns, this is a fun one to watch. Plus Paul Giamatti goes all Karl Rove on your ass!