La Femme Nikita

Luc Besson should be fairly well known by now, even here in the USA, with his involvement in the recent From Paris with Love, The Transporter movies, and writing credits for The Fifth Element, District 13, and Kiss of the Dragon. Here he is directing (back in 1990)arguably some of his best work. Those unfamiliar with him in the Directors chair should check out Le Grand Blue: The Big Blue (Director's Cut) which is sadly still not available here in Blu-Ray format and Léon: The Professional (Theatrical and Extended Edition) [Blu-ray ] as well as the aforementioned Fifth Element. In time honored fashion of course, this movie gained little exposure back in the 90's so a remake was deemed necessary, casting the always appealing Bridget Fonda in the lead role, and the movie was remade for US audiences, and renamed Point of No Return [Blu-ray ] Whether it was the fact that Nikita is in French, or some other reason, and although the remake was not a turkey by any means, with some more explosive hollywood style action, it remains tepid in comparison for the depth of drama that Nikita brings out amid the action. Nikita, is a bummed out drug addict with no future, friends or family, a mendicant who embodies all that is bottom feeding trash. She is taken (or rather kidnapped) by a government agency, cleaned up and trained to be a cold blooded assassin. Why? you may ask (as one reviewer did) well I would surmise that she wouldn't be missed by anyone, recognizable to anyone, and of course would becompletely expendable. What follows is a gritty high speed drama, of the type Besson has become associated with. Brutal at times, and almost frenetic, but thoroughly absorbing and as good an action drama as that decade produced. Tcheky Karyo is excellent as her hard nosed handler, and Jean Reno pops up as the "cleaner" a similar role to which he starred in 4 years later in the excellent Leon:The Professional (mentioned above). But the film belongs hands down to Anne Parillaud who sizzles on screen, sexy and smart, emotional charged, ruthless and yet inwardly scared and confused, a real powerhouse performance. This is a great movie, some may find the 90's narrative a little dated but it's more than worth a watch. The Blu-Ray transfer is clean, not exceptional, but still very good.

I have to start off with negative there are no deleted scenes features and no behind the scenes feature as well even those this is a 2008 rerelease for the blu ray version. also [minor nitpick] it starts off by default with subtitles that doesn't match what's been said during the film audio and speaking audio i also had to switch the language i understand its a french film that later gained a popularity that spawn two tv shows in u.s. [2000's reboot NIKITA] and Canada - [95 la femme Nikita]. this should've been a two or even three-hour movie just ending it with a cliffhanger really left a bad taste in my mouth. u don't have enough time to learn about bob that's changed for the tv show counterpart as Michael along with other characters 1 hour 58 minutes isn't enough time to properly understand what's going on it feels just as rushed as the shows but not as convoluted as the tv shows. the good thing i can say about this film is that her back story is fully flushed out which i can't say about the two shows that's based on this movie. she behaves oddly at first there's so much mystery she's about to turn 19 but unlike the tv shows counterpart that she's 19 through the entire film after everything has transpired unlike the tv shows that flip around different times and origins story and just being all over the place the tv shows are a mess the only timeline that we spend with this character is a day (spoiler) she straight up kill a cop watching her friends trashing a store inside and was sentenced for life in prison and flips out in courtroom then we see her getting a lethal injection after that she told bob tomorrow was her birthday he sends her a cake then took her to a "date" before she realizes he was only here to brief her about her mission nikita is reckless and then as we progress through the story she became more and more professional [something we don't get to see in any of the shows] alot a great character dynamic between nikita and bob i just wish there was more time! its still a classic movie this is the type of movie i would've for hours but due to having no deleted scenes and bonus footage. my feels about this movie is 50/50 still love it and recommend adding to your collection

I saw this in the theatre originally and many times since through VHS, DVD and now download. This movie and review have nothing to do with the USA TV show by the same name. I never watched that. This has nothing to do with Point of No Return, the atrocious American remake. Unfortunately, I did watch that. This review is for the original, real deal Luc Besson film, in French, the OG. Do not watch the dubbed version. You can read, right? Of course you can. Never watched a film with subtitles? Give it a shot. After a few minutes, you won't even realize you're reading them. No one could dub the word "Josephine" with the same power as the original French pronunciation. I'm getting chills just thinking about it. Nikita is the seed for our modern badass girl action. Drew Barrymore's Charlie's Angels, which is super fun, comes a year after Nikita so obviously already long in production. But CA's is as much a comedy as anything else. While Nikita has its moments, it is not a comedy. It is a wonderfully violent horror show based more in reality than most action movies. Without Nikita, there is no Charlize Theron or Scarlett Johansson or Milla Jovovich, the latter two also cast by Luc Besson. It's still my favorite action movie. I'm pretty sure it always will be. It's by far the most stylish, dark and haunting. It's all about character development until it's all about action. It's worth the wait. Trust Luc! He is taking you somewhere. You are so deeply invested by the time Nikita is put into service, you apprehensively creep towards the edge of your seat and never leave it, not for like 5 minutes after the credits role. If you are a bit of a leaker and cry at some point, it's not my fault. It put Luc Besson on the international map. His next movie was The Professional (where he "discovered" Natalie Portman). It was in English. As far as I know, he hasn't made more than a couple of French films since. Most of the actors, emigrated, learned English (if they weren't already fluent) and now appear regularly in our US entertainment. If you loved The Professional, watch this. It's loads better.

First off, the cinematography and sound are beautiful and memorable. For movies, this can be 3/4 of the experience already. I was much more engaged with the story a few years ago, but now the story's logic is a bit stretched. For the most part, La Femme Nikita seems like an experimental film -- albeit a very good one. Plot ideas are being tested, most work but some don't. For example, in the beginning of the film when the cop hands over a pencil to Nikita during her interrogation to "write her name," we all can see what's coming, why doesn't the cop? Or when Bob (Nikita's agency mentor) immediately enters Nikita's cell when she can't be seen through the peephole. Besides the few incomprehensible actions like these, LFN moves slowly but deliberately as Luc Bresson tries to flesh out deeper layers of his characters. What I also noticed this round were the dopey men in the film -- a mild distraction (especially when viewed as an empowerment chick-flick). In some areas, LFN shows its age: 1) The action is no longer unexpected or over the top and 2) Nikita's physical fighting is, well, not very convincing. Nonetheless, LFN is a bit of film history, so many of these deficiencies must be viewed in the context of the times when the film was released. It WAS innovative. The first "mission" of Nikita is very well done, encapsulating multiple emotions. As far as the ending goes, I thought it to be nicely done, too. Finally, the admiring men are left with their....

An audacious, imaginative, and scintillating story that takes the viewer into a hitherto unexplored world of dystopian social anarchy.

The film is great: A thought provoking, well-acted, scripted and executed action flick, French style, courtesy of director, Luc Besson. That said, however, this particular issue of the DVD from South Korea has the mise-en-scène cut off on either side of the frame - even though it's in letterbox. It's mostly watchable but there a few times when the main characters are partially - or completely, as in 2 or 3 instances - cut out of frame and off-screen due to the aspect ratio being messed up in the (sloppy) transfer. Hopefully, one of these days, a remastered and properly formatted DVD of this film will be available in Region 1 (North America). Until then, this has to do, unfortunately.

*La Femme Nikita (Special Edition)* is a standout release for fans of the series, offering a darker, more polished look at the show’s intense storytelling. The complex characters, emotional depth, and sleek action make it highly rewatchable. This edition feels like a definitive way to experience the series at its best.

Great seller!!! New DVD!! No marks!! Runs great!

Raw and engaging, this was my first Foreign movie i saw at the Cinema in the early 90s!

終わり方が観覧者に考えさせる終わり方で 実に良い!

El DvD estaba en otro idoma como ya sabia y que reemplacé con otro. Como coleccionista solo me interesaba el diseño y su caja metálica. (aunque tambien venga en el idioma Alemán)

A memorable classic from Besson ! A must have in one's collection.

Luc Besson is starting to cause a stir in the French cinema world, his last 3 films, Le Denier Combat; Subway and The Big Blue were all big hits internationally, something which wasn't really common in France at the time. Luc was getting attention from the US, which is a major thing for a non-US director, so this was the start of something big, and Nikita was probably one of the movies which helped him move his career up and forward. Nikita is a wild girl, a bit of a punk. She hangs around with loosers who rob drugs and generally do bad things. Nikita gets caught out with her gang of punks, and she gets into serious bother. She can't undo this easily, and to make things worse, her behavour gets worse, and she stabs a police officer with a pen. She gets refered to go to death row - there's no way of saving her now? Well, that's what everyone else thought. The government decides Nikita can have another try, but she's got to do something to repent her sins - be an assasin for the government and live under the codename Josephine. She has no choice. A lot of strange things happen too, her boyfriend isn't who she expected - and her training turns her into a more charming girl. Things start getting too much when a job goes wrong, and she decides she wants out, but it's never that easy. This is a great movie, and has every emotion you could expect, comedy, romance, great action, tears and some good filmling to boot it all off. This is one of Besson's more French movies, which - to me - is his better work. Anne Parillaud plays Nikita's part excellently, and Subway's Jean-Hugues Anglade (Marco) is excellent, and uses dry witt. The music from Eric Serra is also moving too, and makes some of the scenes more intense, which is about right for this thriller. Excellent movie, add this to your collection today.