Director: Olivier Assayas

Language: French, English, German, Arabic, Japanese

This taut biopic of Cold War terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez — aka Carlos the Jackal — was No. 3 on my Top 10 list last year, but with a six-hour running time, I'm betting few of you saw it in the theater. Originally filmed for television, director Olivier Assayas' compositions work fine on the small screen, and the three two-hour chapters make for convenient home viewing. Good luck resisting the urge to pop in Disc 2 immediately after finishing the first though. Gripping stuff.