Duke Togo. Man on a mission. And the mission appears to be ‘kill as many people as you can'.

This film is what James Bond would be if Eon had any balls. The Professional is a gun for hire. If he accepts a contract then he always hits his target. He takes all the best parts of Bond (being as hard as a coffin nail and bedding various beauties) and detaches all the cheesy dialogue.

Duke Togo is a cold blooded killer. We never feel for him, but we do root against the baddies. He never smiles, isn't ever nice, but lives by a marginal code of honour, which we sort of respect. Like I said, its hard to empathise with Duke Togo, but we do sort of understand him.

The story itself is pretty good and amazingly coherent for a title of this genre. It deals with deception, double crossing, revenge, hate and violence. We soon come to realise that Duke is a pawn in the middle of things. Albeit a pawn with the ability to shoot the head off a match.

Being an early 80's production, the animation isnt that impressive, although the realistic approach is very good and gives the film some authenticity. We also get to see some rudimentary CGI (which shows the ambition of the project), in the form a helicopter gunship.

All in all The Professional is a very entertaining watch. Girls, guns and a whole lot of maiming. It looks a shade dated now (20 years on), but still packs quite a punch.

"..."

Man, if you were a kid in the 80s, you were lucky if you had Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode for the NES, a game that somehow had sniper rifle murder, conspiracy, bioterrorism and a sex scene that gives you back your energy. How did we get this game?

After two live action attempts* at telling the story of Dick Togo, the world's greatest killer, Golgo 13: The Professional was made. It isn't just an animated film. It's also one of the first animated films to incorporate CGI animation.

After killing Robert Dawson, the son of oil baron Leonard Dawson and the heir of Dawson Enterprises, as well as liquidating a mob boss named Dr. Z, Golgo 13 finds himself hunted by the Pentagon, the FBI and the CIA, as well as Snake, their genetically-enhanced supersoldier named Snake. It seems like he's finally killed the wrong target, one who has a father who wants him dead.

Dawson is willing to put everyone in his family into the line of fire to kill Golgo 13. He gives Robert's wife to Snake to use and abuse, while sending his granddaughter Emily and butler Albert to assassinate the killing machine. They fail. He just walks away.

So why isn't Dawson going after the people who ordered the hit? Is he rich enough to shut down America? And will the government release the terrifying criminals Gold and Silver to kill Golgo 13?

If you've never experienced Golgo 13 before, you may wonder, how can a man just keep getting shot, stabbed and beaten over and over again, yet have women throw themselves at him, and he never changes his expression? If you get it, you get it, I guess.

* 1973's Golgo 13 and 1977's Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon. There's also a sequel to this animated movie, 1987's Golgo 13: Queen Bee.

I admit that this movie does have a lot of flaws, but I think in the long run, the good outweighed the bad. It was interesting to watch if only because "Golgo 13" is the longest running manga by number of years. It was interesting just to find out about it. It's pretty easy to tell that this was modeled after James Bond. I think the worst part is how it does take awhile to really get good. When it does get good, it just keeps getting better and better! This is the first animated film to use CGI in some way. The helicopter at the end looks very bad. The opening sequence, however, does it a lot better, if only because it's not meant to be part of the story.

It's weird to see an animated movie of any kind that has swearing and nudity. Keep in the mind that it wasn't really until the 1980's that the Japanese started making feature length anime movies and this was one of the first to be based on a manga. Makes sense, seeing as how it's the longest running one. The villain in the film is probably the best part. He really is set up very well and you could even argue that he might have fewer vices than the actual hero of the story. It's a very gracefully done film, but due to its content is probably not for all tastes. Still nice. ***