The Day of the Jackal: Season One Blu Ray Review (Universal)

The Day of the Jackal is a 2024 television series co-written, executive produced, and created by Roman Bennett (Public Enemies, Gunpowder, MobLand, Hidden, Dead Shot, A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day, The Break, 10 Days to War, and Face). It was directed by Brian Kirk (21 Bridges, Dead of Winter, Game of Thrones, Penny Dreadful, Dexter, and Boardwalk Empire), Paul Wilmshurst (Strike Back, The Last Kingdom, and Doctor Who), Anu Menon (Killing Eve and Waiting), and Anthony Philipson (New Blood and The Capture). It’s based on the novel from author Frederick Forsyth (The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, and The Odessa File). It’s a reboot of 1973’s The Day of the Jackal and 1997’s The Jackal. It was produced by Christopher Hall (Bloodlands, Showtrial, Critical, Bugs, Hidden, Dracula, London’s Burning, and The Durrells). This premiered on Peacock and they are already working on the next season. An elite assassin that’s known as the Jackal (played by: Eddie Redmayne from Les Misérables, The Danish Girl, Fantastic Beasts franchise, Jupiter Ascending, The Good Shepherd, The Other Boleyn Girl, and The Theory of Everything) as he works towards carrying out a seemingly impossible hit. However, his actions grab the attention of ambitious British intelligence officer Bianca (played by: Lashana Lynch from No Time to Die, Captain Marvel, Bob Marley: One Love, The Woman King, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and The Marvels). She is dedicated to stop him before his next kill. Armed with an array of disguises, skills, and weapons, the Jackal is in his true element as a cold blooded killer. He is offered his highest paid job as an assassin but it’s beyond risky this time. Will he survive this mission???? The Day of the Jackal has already been adapted into two films but this newer television series actually expands and it stays faithful to it’s original source material with more time to work with. The Jackal is a great role, he’s one of the better assassin characters out there. Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne is the reason to watch The Day of the Jackal. He always delivers when it comes to performances and this one is no different. There’s 2 different sides to The Jackal, he’s a ruthless contract killer and he’s a family man when he’s not working. Redmayne is so damn good, it’s hard to tell which is the real version of him at times. I’ve enjoyed Lashana Lynch in almost everything that she’s done so far but something doesn’t feel right here as Bianca. She is miscast as the law enforcement that’s trying to track down the infamous Jackal. She’s a good actress but she can’t hang with Redmayne in this and it really lowers the role that’s the honestly well written. The rest of the supporting cast includes Charles Dance (Game of Thrones), Corey Johnson (Morbius), Eleanor Matsuura (Wonder Woman), Chukwudi Iwuji (John Wick: Chapter 2), Úrsula Corberó (Money Heist), Ben Hall (The Durrells), Lia Williams (The Foreigner), Jon Arias (Stolen Away), Khalid Abdalla (Green Zone), Florisa Kamara (Cruella), Sule Rimi (Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection), Nick Blood (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Christy Meyer (A Hologram for the King), Patrick Kennedy (Boardwalk Empire), Martin McDougall (Venom: The Last Dance), and Kate Dickie (Prometheus). The Jackal’s assignments keep getting harder and harder but he always pulls it off no matter what. He gets offered one that could help him retire from all of this. I love all different disguises and how he changes up for each kill. The Day of the Jackal is very suspenseful and tense during all of it’s thrilling moments. It has a excellent balance of action and drama for this. I was surprised that it didn’t give more focus on the actual missions, that would have made it even better. It’s one of those TV shows once you start it, you almost have to binge it all in the same setting because it’s very unpredictable. I’m looking forward to the follow up to this and I’m hoping it’s just as good as this original season. RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Universal Pictures! These 1080p (2.39:1) transfers on all 10 episodes look stunning on home video. The locations and production design are very impressive with it’s stylish cinematography highlighting everything here when it comes to the visuals. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English: Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks on this 3 disc set. The Day of the Jackal sounds amazing especially during it’s violent and action packed scenarios. All of the dialogue is crisp, the thrills are elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has the almost 3 minute “Melon Scene Breakdown”. It goes over remaking this iconic moment from the novel. It has plenty of behind the scenes footage and interviews with a variety of people. It has the little over 7 minute “Becoming the Jackal”. Eddie Redmayne breaks down the iconic character here. He chats about what attracted him to the project. The original was his dad’s favorite movie. He goes over the different looks of the role. It has the little over 8 minute “Becoming Bianca”. Lashana Lynch talks about her character and what she goes through during the series. She brings up the first script and her appearance in it. It’s available everywhere right now including Moviezyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!