After assassinating the son of business tycoon Leonard Dawson, Golgo 13 finds himself prey to the CIA and the U.S. Army, whom Dawson has personally hired to kill the assassin. As days pass by, Dawson slowly loses his sanity as he continues to plot every attempt to kill Golgo 13 even without caring about who hired the assassin to kill his son. (Source: ANN)
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I'm amazed that there's no review for this movie, especially as Golgo 13 is pretty well known in anime circles. But then again, anime that are over 25 years old don't seem to get much love these days, no matter how good or bad they are. Golgo 13: The Professional was released in 1983, a full 7 years after the manga by Saito Takao ended serialisation. During it's run the manga saw phenomenal success in both Japan and the rest of the world, with over 200 million sales in various formats. The series was adapted into two live action movies in 1973 and 1977, both ofwhich were reasonably well received, but were not the successes that had been hoped for. Fast forward to 1983, and the release of the first anime incarnation of the legendary assassin Duke Tougou. At that time anime was still in it's infancy in the Western market, with much of what was being released were either Ghibli affairs, or shows that were deemed suitable for Western audiences. Then, Golgo 13: The Professional arrived on the stage, and nothing was ever the same again. It's often commented about how Akira opened the Western markets for anime, however what is often overlooked are the shows that came before it that gradually forced their way into how we in the West viewed "cartoons". Golgo 13 was not only responsible for giving that door a good kick, it also had the added bonus of being made specifically for an adult audience, something which was almost unheard of at the time. The story follows the exploits of Duke Tougou, the legendary assassin known only as Golgo 13. He has been comissioned to kill one Robert Dawson, the son of oil baron and owner of Dawson Enterprises, Leonard Dawson. Although Golgo 13 is successful in his task, Leonard Dawson has sworn bloody revenge for the murder of his son and heir. Throw in the army, FBI, CIA, other assasins, mass murderers and a distinct lack of morals, and you have a recipe for something..... unique. The pacing and style in which the plot unfolds is actually very good, and is very reminiscent of the better class of action movie. Indeed, the writers took their cues from several action movies from both the East and the West, which is ironic as this movie has in turn inspired others, from Luc Besson's "Leon", to Tarantino's "Kill Bill" (even the videogame "Hitman" pays homage to the whole Golgo 13 series in several instances). The whole story starts with an innocuously languid feel, which belies the breakneck speed at which it progresses later on. One thing I did like about the plot for this movie was that it wasn't simply about Duke Tougou, but was seen from the perspective of Leonard Dawson as well. His blinding rage at Golgo 13 is the main driver for the story as a whole, and is also what adds some drama and tension to what would otherwise have been a fairly one dimensional action movie. Another thing that separates this from the herd is the huge twist at the end of the movie as it adds a new dimension to the events that occur, and also explains a lot about Leonard Dawson as a character. Given the age of the movie it would be fair to expect animation to be subpar compared to most titles on offer today. That said, Golgo 13 was one of the first anime to make regular use of CGI, something which did not become prominent in the medium until the mid 90s. This is only used in certain sequences, however it is used to good effect on the whole. Some of the buildings and backdrops are clearly CGI, but rather spartan with the detail. Those that are not are nicely drawn and detailed, making them a decent canvas upon which the action can take place. The design for Duke Tougou follows very close with that of the manga and, using the manga as inspiration, the other characters were also created using Saito's foundations. The nice thing about this is that each of the characters have a certain "believable-unbelievability" about them, in other words, they're visually larger than life characters in the style of any good action story. Animation-wise, the movie isn't too bad on the whole. It is, however, reflective of the time, which means that there is often an over-emphasis on speed and movement (the use of speed lines for example), which can detract from a given scene. These techniques were used often during the 70s, 80s, and early 90s though, so their usage can be forgiven if one remembers that fact. Unfortunately I've only seen the English dub for this movie (one of the few anime I haven't watched in both languages - yet), but don't be fooled into thinking that this is a bad thing. The dub is actually pretty well acted, if a little wooden on the whole. Gregory Snegoff, who plays the role of Duke Tougou, has also played several other anime based roles, however this role was a challenge for him and the rest of the cast as they were effectively being asked to speak and act like no other anime characters before. Ultimately the dub is pioneering stuff though as it effectively paved the way for more adult oriented anime like Akira, Crying Freeman, Wicked City, Genocyber, AD Police, etc, etc, to be released on the Western market. The music an eclectic blend of pop, rock and jazz, with some strange quasi-classical pieces thrown into the mix. This seemingly odd mixture of style and content has meant that some people have found the movie to be less than satisfying, primarily because the music and the atmosphere sometimes don't mix. Although this may be the case in certain circumstances, it's my belief that, at least musically, the movie is well served by the majority of the tracks it uses. As far as characters go, one would expect Duke Tougou to be the one who gets the most development. Ironically, and fittingly, it isn't actually him who is the driver for the movie. That role belongs to Leonard Dawson who, in my opinion, is one of the better anime antagonists to appear fro the 80s. Dawson's blind rage over the death of his son pushes him to act in ways that are both morally and legally wrong, however his thirst for revenge overrides everything else. What is interesting to see in the movie is how Golgo 13 remains unchanged and unchangeable - forever the quiet assasin, whilst all the hatred, evil and invective happen because of Leonard Dawson, which poses an intruiging moral argument as to who is actually the monster in this case. That said, the other characters aren't really developed all that well, and some of the supporting characters are extremely stereotypical. Laura Dawson (the widow of Robert), is a case in point, as she seems to be a character with almost no backbone whatsoever, no matter gets thrown at her. The other characters are equally as poor unfortunately, with almost no depth to them. This is a movie with numerous flaws, however it works as a straight up action flick simply because of the conflict between Duke and Leonard. The acting may be wooden at times, but this can easily be forgiven as the action does make up for it. So, will you enjoy this? If, like me, this was one of the first anime you owned back in the 80s, then the movie will have a certain nostalgic feel, especially when we recall how cool the CGI helicopter looked back then. Likewise, if you're a fan of the manga, or the recent TV series, then this is a movie you shouldn't miss as it does do justice to the franchise. Action junkies and people looking for something with a bit more bite may also want to give this a try as, even with the flaws, it's still makes for pretty entertaining viewing. But if you want romance, friendship, comedy, or twinkly stars and rainbows, then steer clear.
Overview: When you think of the most successful and best selling manga series of all time, you probably think of stuff like: One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, Dragonball, etc. However, there is a manga that has been running non-stop since the 1960s! That manga is Golgo 13, and it is basically unknown outside of Japan. Golgo is one of those series along with Lupin 3rd that is not just HUGE in Japan, but at the level of cultural icon, yet they are utterly irrelevant everywhere else outside of Japan. In Japan, Golgo has sold well over 200 million copies, which is more than Rurouni Kenshin, Yu YuHakusho, Attack on Titan, and Inuyasha...combined! Is the anime movie of this highly successful manga any good? Not really. Golgo is a badass assassin who kills without mercy and sleeps with all the ladies. He is a smooth, sociopathic killing machine. However, Golgo never evolved outside a crude ripoff of James Bond in 50 freaking years. He is never given a background even in the manga, so it goes without saying that you learn NOTHING about the guy in the movie. It would be OK if only certain details were kept ambiguous like where he was born, how he became an assassin, why he became an assassin, but we don't even know his basic likes and dislikes, let alone his character motivation. Golgo may be GAR, but he is possibly the most flat, one dimensional character in anime history. For many viewers, this kind of makes Golgo a tad boring. We know he's going to win. We know he's going to kill his target without getting a scratch on him and he isn't going to feel bad for killing him. Eventually even something as awesome as sniping people in the head gets stale and redundant. The plot is that Golgo kills the son of a very wealthy man, who had a mysterious hit order placed on him. The wealthy father than sends legions of guys after Golgo only for Golgo to easily kill them all. The plot in this movie is honestly pretty simplistic, apart from having one of the absolute STUPIDEST twist endings in anime history. I won't spoil it, but even M. Night would say that was head bashingly retarded! To be honest, Golgo 13 doesn't even have the cheesy 1980s charm to it that Violence Jack has. It is honestly quite boring. Seriously. A movie about a hitman popping people in the fucking head is boring! If you want to see a Golgo movie, I would check out the live action version with Sonny Chiba! Why? Because Sonny Chiba makes everything better! He rips people's balls off, has a black belt in Ninjutsu, and has eyebrows even bushier than Leonid Brezhnev's! Golgo 13 the anime movie is a mediocre waste of time, but it is never a waste of time to see what kind of over the top performance good ol Shinichi Chiba will turn in!
As a person new to anime, Golgo 13: The Professional was one of the most recommended movies. It ranked in the top 5, along with Ninja Scroll, and later, Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Vampyre Hunter D, and other classics. Over time, the graphics have come to appear a bit dated, so i would only give it 8/10 for graphics (unlike Ghost In The Shell, there doesn't seem to be a remake coming), but this is mostly in the CG sequences and, considering limits of the time, overall, it is still well presented. However, the reason why I came to like this movie is because ofthe protagonist, Golgo 13. Without spoiling the plot, he is one of the most consistent "heroes" in a series ever (after this movie, there was a sequel, a manga series, a series of games, and even an anime TV series). To use one word to describe him: stoic. Golgo 13 does not hesitate, respond emotionally, or ever seem out of control, even when things clearly go wrong and he is in danger. This may make him sound dry (like, say, K. Reeves / Neo in The Matrix Trilogy), but he isn't. He is quite an engaging character. The story of this movie is somewhat simple, but the details make it interesting. In fact, that is one of the things that makes it worth re-watching... a lot happens in a short space of time, which doesn't feel rushed, but afterwards, makes plot development in other movies feel pale and unprofessional. The presentation style, from opening credits to ending, sets the tone for this dramatic action, which takes itself seriously without being boring. Furthermore, it deals with mature themes such as betrayal and murder (in fact, the lead character is an assassin). Okay, if you haven't ever watched this yet, then go out an do so now... although, actually, I prefer the sequel to this (Golgo 13: Queen Bee) for pure entertainment value, even though this is overall a better movie.
Trashy 80s action! Relentlessly visually innovative! Fun to laugh at! Golgo 13 is the longest running manga ever, super well known in Japan. He's an assassin who tends to kill people in impossibly skillful and unpredictable ways, usually with just one shot, he's the ultimate sex machine even though he barely moves during the deed and keeps the same stern expression he always has... which is hilarious. Especially because of those trademark colossal stern eyebrows. He's cool. Too cool. Emotionless, meticulous, unchanging and amoral. He's the hyper masculine ideal. His codename is Golgo 13 but the name he goes by from day to day is DukeTogo, which seemingly everyone knows, kinda defeating the point of a fake name. Heh. Anyway, the point of Golgo 13 is that he is unchanging. He is a fact. Whilst it's great to see how he completes his jobs, the main point of Golgo 13 is the effect he has on other people. Take the main antagonist in this film - Golgo is unchanging and emotionless whilst this character is driven by sheer emotion provoked by Golgo's actions. This film will seem pretty disjointed if you don't know the basic premise - that the antagonist's son is killed by Golgo at the start of the film and as Golgo goes from job to job he is pursued by agents of the antagonist. Know this. Golgo 13: The Professional has the most relentlessly innovative interesting visuals I've ever seen in an anime... Now, this is disputable, but I'd say more than even Mind Game. The sheer number of things they do with light is astonishing. ASTONISHING. The anime industry has adopted cgi which this was the first anime to use, and the postcard technique where animation turns into drawn stills was pioneered here. *CORRECTION - IT WASN'T, THE DIRECTOR USED THE POSTCARD TECHNIQUE A BUNCH IN HIS OTHER WORK APPARENTLY... MAYBE IT WAS POPULARISED HERE?* When the cgi comes, try to get into the mentality that you've never seen cgi in an anime before. It is awesome. I know it isn't awesome from our perspective, but just pretend that it's awesome and you'll have a blast. This film is obsessed with reflections, presumably because the antagonist is the mirror image of Golgo, at least in the emotional department. It's a game in and of itself just to look out for the countless mirror-esque reflections shown onscreen. Whatever you do, DON'T MAKE IT A DRINKING GAME. YOU WILL NOT WIN. This is a great film to laugh at. The villainous Gold and Silver alone are worth the ticket price. All the villains are great fun. The music is fantastic as well. Lots of smooth jazz and otherwise just perfect music to make everything seem oh so cool. This is a truly special and unique anime. That being said, the other anime film and tv series are definitely worth a watch too if you like this, but don't expect the same level of visual innovation. BE WARNED THERE IS A GRATUITOUS RAPE SCENE. IT FINISHES AND THEN A WHILE LATER IT COMES BACK TO IT. I'M SORRY IT'S A GREAT ANIME APART FROM THAT. (please do let me know yours feelings about this review via private message!)
There's so much wrong and mindless about this movie that it's laughable. I was familiar with the premise of Golgo 13 by reputation among older anime fans, so I decided to sample this movie via rental from Netflix and I feel like I wasted 90 minutes of my life on this. The movie features titular assassin Duke Togo getting entangled in a corrupt business tycoon's plot of revenge when Togo gunned down his son when hired for the job. The whole feel for this movie is quite over-the-top with its very violent gun fights; confusing direction of plot; ridiculous action sequences where Duke survives ridiculouslyimpossible dire situations and making very impossible gunshots that will make you flush your disbelief down the toilet; the tycoon baddie being fanatically obsessed with killing Duke and a completely irredeemable scumbag; and Duke screwing every attractive gal he comes across in several sex scenes (also be warned that there's a rape scene as well in this movie). Don't expect to connect with any of the characters either as they are either too shallow in personality for you to care about and/or just serve as meatbags for Duke to kill off when they try to kill him. Some folks could even find this movie to be quite sexist with the treatment and depiction of women within the movie and the said mentioned rape scene. The visuals to this movie are quite outdated compared to modern standards with its rough details and sparse colors, though this is forgivable considering the movie's age. And despite how ridiculous I found the believability of many of this movie's action scenes were, the movie does have some interesting animated scenes it delivers such as the first-person perspective of a bullet fired from Duke's sniper rifle as it is about to pump a hole into it's unlucky victim's head; a split screen shot of Duke and his unlucky foe getting shot; and what appears to be the earliest CG animation sequence rendered in an anime as several enemy helicopters try to gun down Duke during a later action scene. The third example is quite rough compared to what you can expect of CG animation from modern anime titles, but I was surprised that something like this was done in an early 80s anime title. Beyond my praise for some of The Professional's animation methods though, the movie is otherwise a huge laughable mess of offensive content and over-the-top elements involving its characters and action scenes. Considering this is my first look into the Golgo 13 franchise, I think this will be my last look into it unless I get some very convincing arguments to consider venturing into other titles of the anime franchise otherwise.
Golgo 13 is an underappreciated classic by the great Osamu Dezaki, one of the most important figures in anime history. Golgo 13 excels in not just one way, but in three. First of all, this movie is a masterwork of nihilistic neo-noir pulp. Secondly it is an auteur art-house film by a truly visionary director. Finally, it is a poignant meditation on the nature of evil. The three elements are all delivered masterfully and tie into one another with incredible coherency. Golgo is a stoic assassin with little to no personality. He exists to kill and get paid for it, and is always inexpressive and cold.He has allies and business partners, who he is reliable to, but there is no warmth in any of his interactions, even with the women he beds. He is entirely amoral – killing is merely his business, he is empty. People often criticize the movie and this character for just that – Golgo is not really a human being; he is an amoral power fantasy, unspoiled by any sort of accessible charm or sentimentalism. Dezaki was willing to play this character straight, despite him being entirely unsuitable as a protagonist for standard movie goers, who look to empathize with their ‘heroes’, or at least enjoy the appealing side of an anti-hero. There are no heroes in the world of Golgo, at most there are victims and victimizers. Every sequence exemplifies a grimy, desperate and corrupt late 70s dystopic atmosphere. Even bright scenes seem uncomfortably abrasive, as the light is always blinding and hard, and every landscape and person we see seems worn out. The music simultaneously has a kind of suave groove to it while sounding tragic, rough, and pained. At the moment I write this review I am listening to the song featured in the ending credits “Golgo 13 & I”, featuring a sexy bemoaned chorus of “kill me, kill me once again” set to dirty jazzy J-Rock. It is incredibly evocative and fitting, as is the whole score. The story is paced and written bluntly, without any subtlety, and the plot itself is a simplistic sequence of violent and cruel events. The film achieves its powerful atmosphere with its absolute minimalism and willingness to abandon regular story telling conventions to maintain the purity of its vision of nihilistic cruelty. This is the ultimate exemplification of unmediated, brutal pulp, filled to brim with sex, violence (sexual violence as well) and hyper stoic masculinity. The world this film presents feels real enough that you can practically smell the cigarette smoke and gaudy cologne, and hear the tired desperate moans of its people as you watch it. I would liken it to an earlier take on Umetsu’s highly controversial and powerful “A Kite” in terms of its tone. At times character animation is used wonderfully to tell us what we need to know about characters without excessive dialogue, and the depictions of the characters are always highly detailed, often utilizing four or five tone shading for maximum dynamic effect that always matches with the inventive color palettes used to highlight the scenes' mood. Golgo also utilizes a heavy use of hatching on the characters, which adds on an extra layer of grime to their presentation. The character designs themselves are hyper realistic, and Dezaki makes his women voluptuous and far more sexy and cunning than cute, something that makes me think of the female characters in Kawajiri works like Wicked City and Midnight Eye: Gokuu ,who have a similar aesthetic to them. What is most important about this film is that here Dezaki had come to perfect the style of limited animation that made him such a revolutionary figure in the industry back in the 70s (perhaps I will take this back upon seeing more of Dezaki’s later works, but this is clearly his style in its maturity). His sense of conveying atmosphere through color design and shot composition is unmatched here – as nearly every shot (not just scene, but shot) in this film is perfectly crafted to convey what it needs to. Dezaki uses visual motifs of reflective surfaces, blinding light work, and surrealistic, psychedelic, and nightmarish moments of emotional and physical impact to leave you breathless at every turn. This is of course also full of Dezaki’s signature postcard memories (sometimes in rapid fire), split screen sequences, and his use of complex background layering and motion to create immersive locations through the illusion of the parallax effect. Visually this is an auteur’s playground, and for this alone it could be considered a masterpiece, since Dezaki’s visionary approach has in many ways never been matched. However, there is 30 seconds of atrocious 1980s CGI that this movie has become famous for. At the very least the CGI sequence has an appropriate color design for the film, but the models used in the sequence are laughable. Still, 30 seconds out of a 90 minute movie is easy enough to excuse. The intro also utilized CGI, but surprisingly it worked well. It also really goes to show the degree to which Dezaki was willing to use this film as a playground for experimentation in animation. It is also worth mentioning that while structurally it is mostly successful there is an argument to be made for it overloading the story while new elements in the final third, which does make it seem like certain elements from the manga were thrown in just for the sake of appeasing fans, although it made the film less effective than it could have been. Finally, there is the thematic core of the film. In aphorism 146 of ‘Beyond Good and Evil’ Friedrich Nietzsche stated that “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” And nothing could more accurately convey the philosophical underpinnings of this meditation on human evil and resentiment. The main antagonist Dawson lost his son to Golgo, and the plot is based around Dawson’s attempt at revenge against Golgo. Golgo may be a monster, but he is an empty one, he is less than human. In contrast Dawson is the one who shows immensely human emotional outbursts and is constantly in a frenzy of pain and hatred throughout the film. Dawson becomes a far more horrifying monster than Golgo because of how human and relateable he is in his emotional agony, resentiment, and his need for revenge, and through his actions he winds up as even more empty and despicable than the man who he initially felt righteous indignation towards. Anyone who has comprehended the monstrous actions and attitudes of "righteous victims" throughout history and in our current historical moment will understand how much truth this message conveys. Golgo 13 is to my understanding the highest selling manga of all time, with its main demographic being an older male audience. It is something of a cult classic that has never really broken into the North American market. I cannot speak for the rest of the franchise, but Dezaki has caught my interest in the franchise through this flim.
The Professional: Golgo 13, I'm a little biased as I count seeing this motion picture among my happy childhood memories. The art is beautiful, a refelction of why we watch anime to this day. The simplistic beauty is enhanced by vibrant colors. But I want to take a moment to mention the soundtrack. I love the soundtrack to this film. It is the reason I started paying attention to who does the music in anime. It's 70's tyle stoic badassness and that's what makes it great. Only... having seen it dozens of times I can say watching it now; it's not really enthralling me.Also it's NC-17 by today's standards. So it's not for those whose triggers require warnings. Other than that, it's nostagia of the era that earne anime it's reputation for sex and violence. Bonus, today's the first time I've seen the James Bond esque opening sequence for this film. I wish for beauty such as his.
This is just way too kool man, this film is better than the entire new series of golgo 13, this is more hardcore, much better script, better lighting, much more effort put into this, music is way better, i gave art an 8 because theres about 30 seconds that hurts the eyes with the helicopters scene. apart from that the film is just a pleasure to watch. Great characters in this. if your a woman,or womanly man, stick to your new jap animation for little kids, but if your a man, watch this on youtube, right about now... peace
Golgo 13: The Professional. To me, its was The Eighties: The Anime. Golgo 13, an assassin who lives by a samurai code and never breaks his word, shoots his way through a Sicilian mafia and uncovers that a mysterious organisation is trying to put him 6 feet into the ground. He's a mix of James Bond and Agent 47, which makes him even more badass. This movie has all the action you could wish for, and more. He pulls off seemingly impossible shots with his rifle, gets into fistfights with special forces and extremely sinister villains, engages in high speed car chases where he drifts round thestreets of San Francisco, and makes love to several women whilst saxophones perform a romantic rendition in the background. All this whilst the art is gorgeously drawn, no shots are the same as Golgo 13 stoicly fights through the movie from beginning to end. However, there are some flaws to this movie. There's the worst CGI scene I've ever witnessed near the end of the spectacle which ruined my immersion completely. I couldn't help but laugh at how out of place the CGI was. Did they run out of money for that scene or something? Another flaw was that they had spent the entire movie building up the 3 counter assassins who seemed impossible to kill and has Golgo 13 dispatch of them within minutes. On one hand, it does show how invulnerable Golgo is, but on the other hand it does leave me and possibly a lot of other people underwhelmed by how easily they were killed. All in all, this is a great movie to watch despite the flaws if you're big on action, mystery and maybe even romance and love the eighties as a decade.
Golgo 13 is a man among men. He is slick, hard faced and brutal, and only goes by his rules. He is an assassin for hire, and he's very good at his job. His latest venture has him going after a mafia boss lord named Dr. Z, after killing a mans entire family Golgo is hired by him to take out the entire organization. But once he gets involved with Dr. Z's daughter Cindy, a lushes goddess of a women who, like many other women, fall into his spell. But it seems Golgo's past is catching up to him, as he is being tracked downby one assassin after another. From the mysterious and evil Gold and Silver, to the ruthless and bizarre Snake. Why has the ultimate hunter, suddenly become the hunted? A true staple of 1980's anime, THE PROFESSIONAL: GOLGO 13 is based on a huge manga series by Tako Saitou, this film displays the character to his fullest in terms of anime format. Golgo 13 is a bad ass, someone James Bond should inspire to be, in fact, he kind of reminds me of how James Bond should be. A cold killer with an unknown background. The film itself looks and feels like an 80's anime, with classic music and beautifully hand drawn animation. Everything from the city skyscrapers to the facial expressions of the very realistic characters. These aren't your big eyed, goofy looking "cartoon" anime characters. These look like real, chiseled people it's really quite extraordinary. A fun action film that doesn't hold back, another prime example of how anime isn't your child's cartoons. This film is full of bullet frenzy, head exploding violence with fully naked women and all. But I dug it a lot, its like one of those VHS tapes at Blockbuster way back when, with their anime section that actually had, mature adult anime. I was always fascinated with that section, and even though my mom would never let me rent them, I was always interested in them, I guess you could say that was my first real introduction into anime until I discovered Toonami. It's a bad ass ride, its wild and woolly. It's the sex, drugs and rock n roll of anime.
Golgo 13 is actually one of my first forays into motion picture anime and as such holds a very special place in my heart and for many good reasons. Duke Togo is still among my top 10 in terms of very dark anti-hero's and he is a big reason why Golgo 13 left such a big impression on me. The story is pretty simple Golgo 13, an assassin for hire, is contracted to kill the son of a big oil tycoon. As a result, the tables turn on the assassin and it all goes downhill from there. It's important to note the the art styleis dated and while other animations at those times stand up well, Golgo 13's unfortunately does not. The animation does have its moments but there were to many unforgivable still shots and often time shoddy animations that could have been done SO much better to relay what was happening at the moment. That being said, its a small complaint for much of what I felt was such a dark anime and what keeps me compelled is mainly the comparisons of both the antagonist and protagonist. The main character Duke is the assassin that you expect an assassin to be, an emotionless individual who understands entirely that death comes with the job, even with that being said, some of his actions gave me pause and in some ways were very unexpected. After all, I had no clue what kind of man Duke really was but you definitely find out by the end of the film. Giving the act of Duke's assassination, you may start the anime off championing the cause of the antagonist oil tycoon but as the story progresses the character may sway you in ways that your not going to believe. By the end of the film you are left to question who was truly the more righteous of the two and it is one of the main reasons why I enjoy the film the most. As far as the sound track goes, it's your generic 90's anime fare ,something that I've always adored and never had a complaint for. Overall I enjoyed this movie and have re-watched it several times hoping to pick something else up I might have missed out on. This to me is still the best Golgo anime out of anything that has been made which is a shame because Duke is such an intriguing character to me and I would have jumped at the chance to see him at his most vulnerable moment if the manga did in fact have an arc that captured that. This film seems like it was close to vulnerable as it was going to get from the main character...and that is not really saying much as you will find out when you watch.
*review contains minor spoilers, but it doesn't matter because the movie sucks* This movie started off as something great. The directing, the shot composition, and the art itself all being excellent. The first 20 minutes of this movie is a solid 8 or 9, and then the integrity of the script starts to crumble almost immidiately. I'm always put off when a stoic character like Golgo or Max Payne shacks up with someone they've just met, it always seemed to me as if they were betraying their character. So, as you could imagine, it always perplexed me whenever one of the 'once every five second' sex scenespopped up completely out of nowhere and ran over the pacing of the movie like a puppy being hit by a lawnmower. But I was able to ignore that, seeing as it was a personal peeve and I was able to find the rest of the scenes rather enjoyable. Now, I would like to think I have a lot of patience for silliness and wacky scenes in media. I can get over strange things happening IF the series is based in a fictitious world that allows for fantasy elements such as a stupid snake man that chews the scenery like a baseball player would chew tobacco... However, the world that was set up for us in this movie seems to be one steeped in realism, judging by the first half hour; in which Golgo executes targets in beautifully directed scenes where bullets rip through their targets leaving them dead and gone from this world, and everyone around them in a state of shock and horror. Judging from the last scentance I've just wrote, you can see why I'd be a little fucking surprised when a scene happens in which a man is crucified to a wall by knives and Golgo is attacked by his killers, who just so happen to be the three stooges of the cia, they all have their very own wacky gimick and near-comedic facial expression. This is then followed up by the church being absolutely obliterated by machine gun fire and collapsing, presumedly killing everyone inside... Though, five seconds later we see Golgo going for a dip and he appears to be safe and sound. The next scene is when I flat out began to laugh at this movie. Golgo's informant is killed by a strange looking man in a way I can't even describe, blood just seems to fly from around his neck for no reason I can fathom. This strange man is then introduced as 'big snake', a big tall bastard who slithers everywhere and is super fast or whatever. This scene is followed up by the three amigos from earlier rocking up and getting bodied by this guy in a way that doesn't fit the tone of everything I've seen up to this point, and it was at that point that I turned the movie off. Big snake molesting the widow was the last straw and I just kind of gave up. I wouldn't care about a lot of this stuff if the first 20 minutes weren't so engaging.
Absolutely brilliant, Golgo 13: The Professional (1983) is slick, macho, and sexy. Directed by the great Osamu Dezaki (episode director of Astro Boy 1963-66, Dororo 1964-65, Ashita no Joe) it's another brilliant hit from one of the biggest anime directors of all time. Fun Fact: This is the first anime film to have 3D CGI Golgo 13 is the longest running currently releasing manga franchise of all time since 1968 (as of writing the 3rd longest manga ever made only under Dokaben and Kochikame) and one of the highest selling in manga history, yet Golgo hasn't recieved too many adaptations, only 2 films, 2 live action films,and a 2 season anime from 2008-2009, which is shocking for a series so influential and popular. The series follows Duke Togo, Golgo 13, a gun for hire who always gets the job done, and that's all you need to know. He's quiet, always gets the ladies, and moves on once a job is over. The movie follows Duke after the successful assassination of the son of the oil baron named Leonard Dawson, who throughout the movie tries to enact revenge on Duke using a genetically modified assassin named Snake, and is also aided by the FBI, CIA, and Pentagon to take down Duke. The presentation of this movie is phenomenal, from the opening scenes of Sicily's sunny atmosphere to the neon lighted nights of California, to the skyscrapers of New York City. The soundtrack is utterly fantastic to the opening of 'Pray for You, an OUTSTANDING piece of music which stays in line with the theme and story of the film, with outstanding visuals and a lot of outstanding music that keeps the movies blood pumping macho atmosphere, or when it needs to a somber song to contrast with Golgo's murderous sprees. What ends in one of the coolest and flashiest final scenes in animation and action film history, leaves on possible stealth commentary on the macho/action films of the era with the final twist at the end. Golgo 13: The Professional is an outstanding and influential film that absolutely defines that classic 1970-80s macho era of storytelling and always keeps the hype, fun, and action flowing.
I finished the Golgo 13 series (50 episodes) and wanted to watch some more Golgo. To my disappointment, the manga does not convey the same emotions as the anime ! I decided to give this 1983 movie a try. Surprizingly it was quite enjoyable, despite being more than 35 years old! If you like Golgo you will certainly like this movie. However remember not to judge this one as harshly as the anime you may see in the 2000s, as the animation is a bit dated and janky. The music is fantastic and very 80s though. Golgo, always the same : killing without emotion, sleeping with beautieswithout seemingly enjoying it, living his life free of worries. Highly recommend for the fans!
Before viewing the two live-action adaptations, this was the Golgo 13 I was most familiar with but even then, sitting down to rewatch The Professional after all these years certainly brought back some memories as before today I wouldn't have been able to tell you what on earth the plot of this movie was because I couldn't for the life of me remember. However, saying that there is one thing that has stuck with me over the years and that is the movie's incredible opening credits, easily one of my favourites ever combining the use of everything from stop motion to the first ever useof CGI in an animated movie. Unfortunately, the movie gets bogged down in an increasingly baffling plot that will have you scratching your head at points trying to fathom everyone and anyone's motivations, the writing isn't great and leaves you not caring for the characters for the majority of the runtime but the film is so visually abstract that you can forgive it with great use of split screens, freeze frames and occasional lapses in colour, even if there's the occasional stiffness in its characters. Early 80s animes certainly have a beautifully distinct vibe to them, a sultry soundtrack, overly harsh shading and eye-popping use of hypnotic colour lend Osamu Dezaki's film a look that remains ageless even today.
This movie was a fun watch. Even though it was obvious self projection, this character of all the ones deserve it. He's a badass, but he also gets hit and struggles through some of the more crucial fights. He does sleep with several women, but he's also charismatic, masculine, powerful, and infamous in certain circles. Basically, it's easy to see how he's appealing, unlike the usual feminine twinks who get girls for just existing, or the rare fat slobs who get girls despite not even having an appealing personality. The villains were an interesting part. One was an interesting twistvillain, and then there's a set up for another interesting for for Golgo 13. Some villains were disgusting and utterly irredeemable, which is fine. I'd rather they not redeem every villain. Unpopular opinion, but every villain doesn't need a sob story. Some people are just evil. Which, several villains were. The series is a fun time. It's the most serious, but unserious anime. Obviously, if has trigger warnings and dark things, but it also has comically badass things as well. Or just comical moments, even with the death of some of the characters.
Why the hell I hadn't seen this before is beyond me, but damn was it awesome. Sometimes it's cool to come late to the party, and this was one of those instances. This felt like an anime version of a poliziotteschi mixed with the uber-cool of Melville. Duke Togo is an absolute bad-ass, the story is excellent, and the villains are memorable and bizarre (the snake guy seemed like he'd be more at home in a horror flick, yet it worked). There's also kick-ass dialogue like a woman telling Duke "why don't you pull my trigger sometime?" You can't beat that! The ONLY thing Ican fault this for is some absolutely awful CGI in the final act. 1983 was when this sort of stuff was extremely primitive and basic, and it dates the film horribly. Otherwise though, this is easily one of the best anime films I've ever seen.
If you can get past the fact the first 30 minutes is just a soft core porn film. What awaits you is one of the best James Bond films I've ever seen. The action is a lot more bloody than what you'd expect from a Bond film. But the plot, characters and everything else would feel right at home especially in the more action focused modern era of Bond films. The entire movie looks beatiful, even the CGI bits look good and the intro was amazingly well done. Everything just looks fantastic, every character oozes personality in a way that modern computer aided animation justno longer does. It also got a great soundtrack full of 80s era synths and blaring instruments that set the tone perfectly for every scene. Even the mandatory sex scenes are at least well scored if tedious to watch. I do have to dock points for how long it takes to get going, and the sheer amount of nudity is a little off putting at times. But its a solid film overall.
Review: Story/Plot - 7 The Golgo 13 film offers a simple yet entertaining story with a plot that unfolds very nicely. Duke Togou is a legendary assassin who kills Robert Dawson, the son of a very wealthy man named Leonard Dawson. Leonard now seeks revenge and is filled with a burning desire to have Duke dead at all costs. Simple, but it has details that make it interesting and make it work very well. The pacing is also really fast, a lot happens within a short time span, yet the film never feels rushed. Characters - 7 I'm going to be frank here. Duke Togou is atad bit boring as a character, and we know nothing about him. No background, no motivation, hell, we don't even know basic things like what his likes and dislikes are. And according to some people, the manga doesn't give us this information either. However, there's something about him that gives him this certain edge. Despite the lack of information, he's still badass. Maybe it's his cool, stoic nature? I think that the driving factor in terms of characters in this film actually resides in the main antagonist, Leonard Dawson. His blind rage over the death of his son overrides everything that is important to him and his wrath pushes him to traverse into heinousness and make desperate attempts to kill Duke that are both morally and legally wrong. Even he comes to realize this. I personally think of him as one of the better antagonists in anime. Visuals - 9 The film truly shines in this regard. Apart from looking fantastic, the visuals are some of the most innovative you'll ever come across in the medium. There are a ton of techniques and ideas used here, such as the first implementation of CGI ever used in anime (I think), the postcard technique where animation transitions into stills, and the staggering number of things they do with the lighting. The film came off as rather experimental. Audio: 7.5 The music in this film is really damn good and does a great job at setting the mood and atmosphere while standing out (although there are a few scenes that don't mix very well); with its soundtrack comprising of rock, pop, and jazz, it stands out as unique. Overall: This is a very fun and entertaining action film with some of the coolest and cutting-edge visuals you'll ever find. Simple plot, but filled with tons of awesome stuff and excellent execution! O Score: 7.25/10 S Score: 9/10 Final Score: 8.125/10 rounded to 8/10 for MAL score.
