DVD Reviews

The Assassination Bureau

It’s always fun to discover those little known movies that end up being far better than one would expect. The Assassination Bureau sounded like a lame James Bond rip-off when I read the back of the DVD box. A man (Oliver Reed) who runs an assassination business becomes the target of his own assassins when his hit is contracted out by a reporter (Diana Rigg). He ends up discovering a plot to take over Europe in the process. Needless to say, I wasn’t expecting much more than a few entertaining moments. However, within minutes I found myself silently chuckling during a humourous opening involving the history of assassinations. As the movie progressed I was laughing more and more as the plot became more delightfully tangled.

The Assassination Bureau is a vastly entertaining movie with a fast-paced anarchic spirit. Oliver Reed is wonderful as the arrogant, yet charming, Ivan who runs the bureau. He possesses a natural comedic presence which contrasts nicely with Diana Rigg’s straight arrow journalist. Together they become involved in a series of cat and mouse games across Europe which play out in elaborate slapstick setpieces. These scenes are consistently amusing and amidst the chaos a nice love story begins to develop between the two leads. Only at the very end does the movie feel as though it is running out of steam with a somewhat conventional action finale. It’s also unfortunate that Diana Rigg who plays such a charming and strong character throughout the film is given virtually nothing to do by the end. These criticisms are minor however; and even though the ending does excite like the rest of the film it doesn’t overly detract as well. The Assassination Bureau is a nice discovery that deserves to find a new audience.

While it is nice just to have this movie available on DVD it would have been much nicer if more care and attention had been put into the DVD itself. There are absolutely no special features which is common for many Paramount releases, but the video and audio are lacking as well. The video is rather grainy with many scratches finding their way into the image. The colours seem muted. The audio is a little better although it is a mono track. I didn’t have too many problems hearing anything, but there were no sequences that really sounded better than mediocre. It’s doubtful that Paramount will revisit The Assassination Bureau anytime soon, so it’s unfortunate that it is not presented in the best condition


Review By Corey Brown