This week sees the release of In Bruges starring Colin Farell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes.Bruges, the most well-preserved medieval city in the whole of Belgium, is a welcoming destination for travellers from all over the world. But for hit men Ray and Ken, it could be their final destination; a difficult job has resulted in the pair being ordered right before Christmas by their London boss Harry to go and cool their heels in the storybook Flemish city for a couple of weeks. Very much out of place amidst the gothic architecture, canals, and cobbled streets, the two hit men fill their days living the lives of tourists and wait for Harry's call. And when the call from Harry does finally come, Ken and Ray's vacation becomes a life-and-death struggle of darkly comic proportions and surprisingly emotional consequences. As an homage to the gangster movie FemaleFirst takes at look at some of the best Hollywood hitmen.

Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield - Pulp Fiction

Vincent Vega and partner in crime Jules two career criminals who go about their daily business of shooting up other crooks who are late on payments to their boss Marsellus Wallace .

While one is asked to babysit their boss' dangerously pretty young wife, the other suddenly realizes that he must give up his life of crime.

Despite their sharp suits and great chemistry Jules and Vincent are not the most effective hitmen in cinema, who can forget the unfortunate shooting of Marvin?

For their performances both Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta earned Academy Award nominations.

Vincent - Collateral

Vincent is a contract killer. When an off-shore narco-trafficking cartel learns that they're about to be indicted by a federal grand jury, they mount an operation to identify and kill the key witnesses, and the last stage is tonight.

It is on this very night that Vincent has arrived--and five bodies are supposed to fall. Circumstances cause Vincent to hijack Max' taxicab, and Max becomes collateral--an expendable person who's in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Through the night, Vincent forces Max to drive him to each assigned destination. And as the L.A.P.D. and F.B.I. race to intercept them, Max and Vincent's survival become dependent on each other, in ways neither would have imagined.

This was a rather unique role for Tom Cruise as it is not often he takes the 'villain' role.

Leon - Leon

Leon (Jean Reno) is a precise, calculating hit man--a consummate professional, with no family and no friends.

However, he has casually befriended Mathilda (Natalie Portman, in an auspicious debut), a 12 year-old neighbour whose entire family, including her adored 4-year-old brother, is wiped out by some crooked DEA agents.

The girl pleads with Leon to teach her how to be a "cleaner" and avenge her little brother's death.

However, once she learns a few skills, Mathilda saunters into the DEA offices with the sole intention of killing the psychotic agent (Gary Oldman) who actually masterminded the executions.

But her intended victim turns the tables on her, and Leon must rescue her.

Anton Chigurh - No Country For Old Men

Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is an innocent Everyman with a devoted wife, Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald), but when he stumbles across a drug deal gone deadly and finds two million dollars, he's determined to keep it for himself.

There's only one problem. He's being pursued by one of the most amoral, evil psychopaths that the big screen has ever seen.

Wearing an absurd haircut and brandishing a pressurized weapon that's used to murder cattle, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) creeps forward on his mission to track Moss down and return the money to its rightful owners to save his own skin.

For his performance Javier Bardem won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Francisco Scaramanga - The Man With The Golden Gun

Francisco Scaramanga is a high priced assassin who charges a million dollars per kill and has come to be known as 'The man with the golden gun'.

Scaramanga was trained as a marksman whilst travelling in the circus and was an assassin for hire by the age of 15 before going on to be recruited by the KGB.

In The MAn With The Golden Gun Scaramanga tests his skills against 007 James Bond, the one man he regards as being capable of being his equal.

During the duel in the funhouse Scaramanga is shot and killed by Bond.

Other cinema hitman include John and Jane Smith in Mr and Mrs Smith, The Bride in Tarantino's Kill Bill and The Matador's Julian Noble.

In Bruges is released on 18th April.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw

View the Hollywood Hitmen gallery.

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