John Woo's Die Unfassbaren

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!!

Once a Thief focuses on the lives of three people, each with his/her own deep background, that unwillingly become secret agents and pawns of an almost maniacal woman - the director of a shaddowy government agency.

The movie is, in short, a work of art.

Both elements of seriousness and humor are portrayed seamlessly and stylishly. Each episode is an independent part of a large collection that, when complete, is a master piece.

A sad case of a series being created to cash in on a name. John Woo had very little to do with "John Woo's Once A Thief"; he certainly didn't direct any of the episodes. Consequently, the action sequences one might expect from a John Woo project were lacking -- which is actually no surprise considering the constraints of a television shooting schedule. However, it was the writing of the show that was the real villain. Viewers got treated to the worst features of lowbrow action flicks (shallow characters, absurd dialogue, implausible situations, leaden pacing), and none of the compensatory strengths (a sense of humour about it all).

Towards the end of the series, the writing got a little better, and a couple of episodes were almost passably entertaining in a campy sort of way. But it was too little, too late, and the series mercifully came to an end after 22 episodes.

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.

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.