Once a Thief

On contrary to the previous comment, I think that this series is brilliant. It's fast, interesting and appealing. The writing is funny and cleverly bizarre... it is just simply clever. The action sequences are directed perfectly. But you don't have to be an action lover to be captured by John Woo's "Once A Thief", because it has so many more elements that make this show one of the best in television, and one I definitely recommend to TV lovers out there.

I used to watch this show on TV back in the late '90s, and I have to say I didn't remember much else than cute Sandrine Holt. I've tried to watch whatever I can get hold of starring Ms. Holt (and yeah, I have Rapa Nui, thanks for asking!), but it seems that the only way to get a regular dose of her is to watch Once A Thief. So I recently bought two DVDs, each containing two episodes of the show (ep. 11 and 12, and the two final episodes) - and the quality of the series surprised me. It was not only much better than I remember, but also much better than I dared expect.

It's a comedy show, more than anything else. It's filled with funny details and outrageous characters, and yes, hilarious one-liners ("You got friends? Get rid of 'em!"). For instance, apart from dignified Sandrine, just about every woman on the show is a total nympho. I know, it's sexist and chauvinist and gratuitous (and thus won't be for everyone), but for the less squeamish it's also damn entertaining. Episodes 11 and 12 introduce Victoria Pratt, and she... I mean, get a load of her thigh muscles, for Christ's sake! I'm at a loss for words here. If you like buffed-up, super-athletic women, she is HOT. And she becomes a regular. These guys know how to put together a show!! Too bad the show didn't last longer, and too bad it doesn't seem to be completely out on DVD. Somebody better remedy that, and soon. This is campy cult material par excellence!

8 out of 10.

John Woo's Once a Thief is one of the most interesting television which I have the pleasure of watching again and again. With a thick La Femme Nikita-like story-line and John Woo's unparalleled action scenes, Once a Thief is an action-comedy you do not want to miss.

Seemingly based on an earlier American TV show called "It Takes A Thief" that ran in the late 1960's starring Robert Wagner-this shows premise is different and plays more like a weirded out version of the British show "The Avengers." This show also uses a lot of odd camera angles and darkened shots. The plot lines vary a lot from good to just out and out wacky. I think too many mediocre scripts was a thing that worked against the show being renewed for another season. Shot in Vancouver BC-but you never really felt like it was shot in Canada somehow. Many Canadian shows these days don't show a lot of whats really in Canada-like they never ever show rickshaw drivers when filming something in Toronto-and you never hear mention of anything First Nations on most Canadian drama shows these days even though First Nations are a very visible part of the population in much of Canada. I think this show had too many shortcomings-in fact I think many Canadian TV shows are often too much of "lets play pretend" as if Canada had nothing to offer when it does have things to offer-but it also has some fairly morally ambiguous things-like rickshaw's which are basically the very definition of arduous slave labor. In an era that disapproves of slavery. Also Odd: the Canadian CBC will not not put out the once popular Canadian TV show "The Beachcombers" onto DVD. I find that completely weird-like someone today doesn't want anyone First Nations depicted as a normal part of a Canadian community- since when did Canada turn back the clock to 1865? Jennifer Dale's character on this show seems to continued on into the show Nikita that started in 1997 after this show ended.

The movie is slow, and the writing, acting, and even directing are lame.

I fast-forwarded through most of the DVD. The only cool part is the "twisted leather freak." She's a babe!!