Léon: The Professional [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray]

Director: Luc Besson Luc Besson

Overview

This film first saw full release in the U.S. in 1994 as The Professional. The director was forced to cut 26 minutes at that time in response to audience preview tests. Those 26 minutes have been restored in this version. The story concerns the efforts of Leon (Jean Reno), an Italian hit-man, to cope with the outrageous demands of Mathilda (Nathalie Portman), a precocious pre-teen American girl who comes into his life. In the first place, she wants him to be her sexual and romantic partner. She presses him relentlessly until finally she is permitted to spend the night in bed with him, though she remains unravished. Her second demand, enforced by threats of suicide, is to be trained as a hired assassin. This is something Leon knows how to do, and so she begins her bloody apprenticeship.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/27/2015
UPC:	0043396463998
Original Release:	1994
Rating:	R
Source:	SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMT
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:13:00
Sales rank:	6,638

Special Features

Includes both theatrical and extended versions of the film; Cast and crew look back; Jean Reno: the road to Léon; Natalie Portman: starting young; Fact track (extended version); Original theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Gary Oldman	Stansfield
Natalie Portman	Mathilda
Danny Aiello	Tony
Peter Appel	Malky
William Harbour	1st Stansfield Man
Don Creech	2nd Stansfield Man
Keith A. Glascoe	3rd Stansfield Man
Randolph Scott	4th Stansfield Man
Michael Badalucco	Mathilda's Father
Ellen Greene	Mathilda's Mother
Elizabeth Regen	Mathilda's Sister
Carl J. Matusovich	Mathilda's Brother
Frank Senger	Fatman
Lucius Wyatt Cherokee	Tonto
Eric Challier	Bodyguard Chief
Luc Bernard	Mickey
Maïwenn	Blond Babe(as Ouin-Ouin)
Jessie Keosian	Old Lady
Abdul Hassan Sharif	Mathilda's Taxi Driver
Stuart Rudin	Leon's Taxi Driver
Jean Reno	Leon
George Martin	Receptionist
Kent Broadhurst	Policeman
Tommy Hollis	Policeman
Peter Linari	Security Man
Betty Miller	Orphanage Headmistress
Joseph Malerba	Stairway Swat
David Butler	Important Jogger
Robert LaSardo	Client #1
Randy Pearlstein	Security Guard
Mario Todisco	Tony's Barber
Marc Andréoni	SWAT Team
Michel Montanary	SWAT Team
Samy Naceri	SWAT Team
Jean-Hugues Anglade	Actor
Geoffrey Bateman	SWAT
Jernard Burks	Stansfield's Man
Éric Serra	Composer

Technical Credits

Luc Besson

Luc Besson	Screenwriter,Director,Executive Producer,Producer,Producer
Nick Allder	Special Effects
Nathalie Cheron	Casting
Todd Thaler	Casting
Patrice Ledoux	Producer
François Groult	Sound/Sound Designer
Gerard Lamps	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Bolstering director Luc Besson's and actor Jean Réno's already substantial American followings, The Professional balances its stylish action with a strong, character-driven story. Réno is León, the quiet, expert killer (a.k.a. "cleaner") who takes 12-year-old Mathilda (Natalie Portman in a breakthrough performance) under his wing when her family is slaughtered by a crooked DEA agent (Gary Oldman). The plot involves Mathilda's intense desire to learn the "cleaning" business and exact revenge, but the real story is the developing relationship between the illiterate, socially inept surrogate father in León and the emotionally precocious Mathilda. Changing the familiar Lolita setup so that Mathilda is the aggressor, The Professional becomes a sexless story about a tender, impossible love set against a backdrop of explosions and highly kinetic shoot-outs. Oldman is at his creepiest as the Beethoven-loving villain whose depravity is greatly contrasted by León's emotional innocence. The European cut, recently made available on DVD and titled León: The Professional, includes 24 minutes of deleted footage originally deemed "too explicit" for American audiences. Mostly, however, the restored scenes explore León's past, adding a complexity to his character that is absent from the American release.