Assassins (1995)

Professional hit-man Robert Rath wants to fulfill a few more contracts before retiring but unscrupulous ambitious newcomer hit-man Miguel Bain keeps killing Rath's targets.

Director:

Richard Donner

Writers:

Lilly Wachowski (story) (as Andy Wachowski), Lana Wachowski (story) (as Larry Wachowski)

Stars:

Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Banderas, Julianne Moore

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Robert Rath is a seasoned hitman who just wants out of the business with no back talk. But, as things go, it ain't so easy. A younger, peppier assassin named Bain is having a field day trying to kill said older assassin. Rath teams up with a computer hacker named Electra to defeat the obsessed Bain.

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Plot Keywords:

rival | computer hacker | limousine | slow motion scene | rain | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

France USA

Language:

English Dutch Spanish

Release Date:

6 October 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Day of Reckoning

Filming Locations:

Casino de Puerto Rico, Avenida Juan Ponce De León, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$30,306,268

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$83,306,268

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Silver Pictures, Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Theatrical trailer shows some deleted scenes and alternate lines. These include;

• Deleted scene where Rath is walking in the streets and looks at some store, originally in this deleted scene he stops one customer from stealing a dress, talks with female store clerk and then pretends that he wants to buy a dress for his wife/girlfriend because they had a fight but when clerk goes to the other room to wrap up the dress Rath leaves a wad of $100 bills sticking in clerk's textbook and exits the store. This scene focused on Rath's loneliness and how he doesn't have anyone to care about or anyone to care about him.
• Extended funeral scene with original introduction of Bain where he is walking across cemetery when some caretaker asks can he help him and Bain says "I'm just looking for someone", caretaker thinks that Bain is looking for someone's grave and tells him that he can check the plot map of the cemetery but then Bain says "He's not dead yet." It can be presumed that Bain then killed him off-screen and took his uniform, which explains why he is wearing it later in the film.
• In the scene where Bain recognizes Rath in the cab instead of saying something in Spanish Bain says "Surprise!". Trailer also includes another additional/alternate line in the same scene from Bain when he is aiming at the kids playing the soccer and says "Moving target."
• Deleted scene between Rath and Electra in which after she is almost spotted by Bain on the cemetery during the "Day Of The Dead" scene they get back in the hotel, then after talking for a while they make love. Trailer shows couple parts of this scene, Electra telling Rath "You're a strange man, Robert Rath" and two of them hugging and kissing. In this scene they also tell each other their real names (Joseph and Anna) but in the final version they do that in the ending after Bain and Nicolai are killed, but their lines are heard off screen indicating that they were dubbed by two actors into the scene later in post production.

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Goofs

When Rath and Elektra first drive up to the old hotel in the station wagon taxi, after they get out Elektra is heard saying "keep the air on". When they drove up, the windows in the car were open, and both were sweating. They wouldn't have opened the windows if the a/c was on.

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Quotes

Electra: Once upon a time, there was this little sparrow, who while flying south for the winter froze solid and fell to the ground. And then to make matters worse the cow crapped on him, but the manure was all warm and it defrosted him. So there he is, he's warm and he's happy to be alive and he starts to sing. A hungry cat comes along and he clears off the manure and he looks at the little bird and then he eats him. And the moral of the story is this: everyone who craps on you is not necessarily your ...

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Connections

Referenced in Modern Noir: The Sights & Sounds of 'Bound' (2014)

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Soundtracks

Spit
Written by Tommy Joy
Performed by Pusher
Courtesy of Oblivion Entertainment

User Reviews

A No-Brained-But-Fun Ride

In order to really enjoy this movie, you have to put your brain in a freezer for 133 minutes and just refrain from trying analyze anything in here. There are more holes in this story than swiss cheese, as the cliché somewhat goes.

Having said that, however, I did enjoy the action scenes and the by-play between the two assassins - "Robert Rath" (Sylvester Stallone) and "Miguel Bain" (Antonio Banderas) - enough to make it a fun ride. I might even have rated it another star higher had a few things weren't confusing and left unanswered, or Banderas spoke clearer English. Still, it's not bad and for fans of "Sly" and action films, worth a look.