The Assignment

• Cat.no: CDR 95277
• Cert: 18
• Running time: 114 minutes
• Year: 1997
• Pressing: 1999
• Region(s): 2, PAL
• Chapters: 28 plus extras
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround
• Languages: English, German (both DD 5.1)
• Subtitles: 14 different languages available
• Widescreen: 1.77:1 (16:9)
• 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
• Macrovision: Yes
• Disc Format: DVD 5
• Price: £19.99
• Extras : Scene index, Filmographies

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Director:

Christian Duguay

(Adrift, Live Wire, Scanners 2 & 3, Screamers)

Producers:

Screenplay:

Music:

Normand Corbeil

Cast:

Annibal Ramirez/Carlos: Aidan Quinn (At Play in the Fields of the Lord, Benny and Joon, Blink, Desperately Seeking Susan, The Handmaid’s Tale, Haunted, Legends Of The Fall, Looking For Richard, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Michael Collins,The Mission, The Playboys, Reckless, Stakeout)
Amos: Ben Kingsley (Bugsy, Ghandi, Maurice, Schindler’s List, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Sneakers, Species, Twelfth Night)
Jack Shaw: Donald Sutherland (Backdraft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Dirty Dozen, Disclosure, Fallen, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, JFK, Klute, MASH, Lock Up, National Lampoon’s Animal House, Ordinary People, Outbreak, Six Degreesof Separation, A Time To Kill)

The Assignmentis the first DVD that Columbia TriStar have released day-and-date with the VHSrental equivalent and it’s interesting to note that this is the chosen oneas it never gained a theatrical release in the UK.

Carlos The Jackal has been making a monkey out of the governments of Israeland the United States for many a year, turning out out of the blue, reducingpublic places, and the folk paying a visit, to fragments and then disappearingbefore he can be caught. In a Paris cafe in 1974, he demolishes the place witha single grenade, more than catching the eye of CIA operative Jack Shaw(Donald Sutherland) who was smoking a cigarette outside. A year later heturns up in Vienna to wreak more havoc. Shaw has the chance to put a stop tothis once and for all, but is persuaded not to.

Eleven years later he is seen again in Jerusalem, apparently on a sight-seeingtour..or is he? He is caught and questioned by Shaw’s Israeli counterpartAmos (Ben Kingsley), but he turns out to be an American naval officer,Annibal Ramirez. You can forgive them for the confusion as both characters areplayed by Aidan Quinn, but suspend disbelief for a couple of hours asShaw and Amos conclude that after years of failed attempts the only way tocatch Carlos is to train his new double to an exceptional standard and thenrelease him out into the wild.

The picture quality is almost perfect. Occasionally there are minor artifacts, butthese are not noticeable from the usual viewing distance. However, there’s one briefmoment at the end of chapter 11 and just before the next one, “Israel, Dead Sea”.As the sea comes into view the print breaks up, but that’s about it for the negativepoints of the picture. The film is presented close to its original widescreen ratioof 1.85:1, as it is in 1.77:1 (16:9). It is enhanced for 16:9 widescreen televisions- thus allowing for 33% higher resolution – and the average bitrate is a fine 4.51Mb/s, occasionally peaking over 6Mb/s.

The sound is top-notch with Normand Corbeil knowing just how to aid the tension atthe right moment. There’s plenty of action sounds too from the opening explosion in aParis cafe, through a bizarre sequence when Quinn is drugged, to car chases andshoot-outs. Both languages, English and German, are presented in Dolby Digital 5.1.

Upon selecting the “Start Movie” option, you’ll first see a “Sony PicturesDVD Center” logo, followed by the Dolby Digital helicopter demo, the copyrightlogo and then the film itself.

Overall, this is a much-underrated thriller which was released in September 1997in Canada and the USA and easily deserved an outing in the cinemas over here. It’snot the sort of film that would attract many Oscars for acting ability, but thethree principal actors look like they enjoyed themselves while making the filmand for a couple of hours pure entertainment it’s hard to beat, especiallyon a well-made anamorphic DVD as compared to a VHS rental tape.

As I said earlier, this is the first simultaneous day-and-date DVD and VHS rentaltitle, future ones including one which made the cinema, The Opposite of Sexstarring a blonde Christina Ricci who certainly has come of age and anotherstraight-to-video film, In God’s Hands.

FILM : ****½PICTURE QUALITY: ****½SOUND QUALITY: *****EXTRAS: *——————————-OVERALL: ****

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.