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

The pistols Robert Rath uses in this movie is a Ruger Mark I and MK 2 (model from 1950s) modified with a suppressor. It fires a .22 caliber long rifle bullet.

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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

[last lines]
Electra: So, Joseph, let's go get Pearl a boyfriend.
Robert Rath: Sure. And after that, if you don't mind, I'd like to go to the hospital.
[Pearl purrs]

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Connections

Referenced in Making 'The Matrix' (1999)

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Soundtracks

Beginning to End
Written by Klover and Roy Z.
Performed by Klover
Courtesy of Mercury Records
By arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

What was written before the Matrix

When I firast watched this film,I enjoyed it thoroughly. Ironically enough in the advent of John Woo (his american popularity and his imitators) as well as Micheal Bay, Tony Scott, and Jerry Brukhiemer, it is rephreshing to see an action movie, a shoot-out action movie, where the emphasis is on efficiency and control rather than chaos. Unlike the John Woo pilosophy of keeping the guns firing non stop even if they hit nothing, Assassins works on the exact opposite theory of every shot has a purpose and a meaning and no shot is taken wildly even to distract (add on to the fact that in most John Woo movies, and especially Michael Bay movies, the guns are super loud, whereas in Assassins, pretty much every shot thats fired is silenced). I beleive there is only one instance in the film where shots are fired wildly wnd wrecklessly, and that is during the apartment scene where Antonio Banderas' character. Micheal Bein, shoots blindly through a wall at Slyvester Stallone's character, Robert Rath. Other than that, there is not really anytype of panic fire or wild bullet spraying (in fact I dont beleive this film even features automatic rifles of any kind). Strangely enough, this allows for events that move extremly quick: example, the first scene featuring the three title characters in the hotel. We see Antonio Banderas, in the blink of an eye alomst, take out 3 guards, walkinto the room they were guarding and then take out the 4 targets in that room in the same amount of time. In a way, it is very similar to the old Samurai films since their action scenes moved in a similar manner with nothingn then all of a sudden a few quick sword strikes and the conflict is over. That being said, this movie would require a certain type of taste in action movies or is a type of movie you have to be "in the mood" to watch.

sidenote: When I first watched this film, I had no idea it featured the would be superstar Antonio Banderas, nor that it was written by the soon to be Matrix creators. In that sense it is almost a fun movie to watch because it kinda answers the question "what did they do before they were famous?" and now you know.