My vote goes to "The Mechanic" starring Charles Bronson. If you haven't seen it, you need to. Great opening scene.

The Professional.

"The bodies he buried that day laid the foundation of what we are now"

John Wick

Prizzi's Honor

The real deal, not some fictitious Hollywood, over-the-top creation:

Richard Kuklinski - AKA "The Iceman".





The movie on his life as a professional contract killer:

They haven't made it yet.

He's still bound by the Clinton non-disclosure agreement.

The Mechanic is a good choice. As is Prizzis Honor.

I just watched that again recently, it`s a good one.
Of course Hitman needs a mention.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465494/

Plus Olga Kurylenko is smokin hot!
https://www.itl.cat/wallview/JhTiRi_olga-kurylenko-hot-legs-olga-kurylenko/

I dig that "In Bruges" movie. Different.

Not exactly a "Hit Man" basis but I'm going with' Man On Fire'

No Country For Old Men.

The Jackal was fun but very unrealistic. But like said above the Richard Kuklinski documentary called "Ice Man" is pretty chilling. I think its an old HBO doc. When he talks about shooting a random person in the head with a crossbow just to see how well it killed you know hes a psycho. I believe his father and brother both also had life sentences for murder

Agreed on all points.

Two favorites for sure but what about Pulp Fiction?

Boondock Saints.

Dumb and Dumber.

Smokin' Aces is a lot of fun.
Several 'teams' of assassins all trying to kill one guy who is guarded by inept FBI agents.
Taraji P Henson and Alicia Keys are a riot, one shooting a Barrett .50.

Most likely.

Not a "hit man" movie at all, but I liked Tom Blankenship in the movie "Mud"...

Nice choice.

Great flick with dark humor.

I liked Agent 47

This was pretty good

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_accountant_2016

I agree with the OP ...add in the man with the golden gun...

Jason Statham is good.

Liked Antonio Banderas in Desperado

First movie that came to mind for me as well. The best ever.

#1A - No Country for Old Men

Yep, have it recorded on PVR !

John Wick

Hitman

Sicario

The Road to Perdition wasn't bad and neither was Mr Brooks.

more than any tough guy bodycount, I admired the professional indifference of his character.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoDvOu6PqLk

Best I've ever seen.

Tom cruise like him or not, immerses himself in the character,
Collateral being one of his best movies.

his gun handling skills are also the real deal, having being one on one
instructed over period of a few months, by an x-UK SAS operative.
Tom learnt more effective skills in the first month ,than folks would ever
get from following Massad Ayoob for 20 yrs... :grin;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8-P8sJNHk0

Where they get pulled over and Vincent says to cab driver:
" you open that trunk they go inside" ...great tense scene even though nobody died.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZQWu0gDpO4

Oh shît I forgot about the saints.



Far left.

Middle right is a tribute to widrahthaar.

The Killers
https://youtu.be/bo6ZAhTPtSE

The Replacement Killers was a good one also !
Mira Sorvino was easy on the eyeballs !

Grosse Pointe Blank

Cruise sucks but Jaime Foxx is an even bigger doinkus.

Wish they had Cruise come on top at the end...

Yeah was kinda dissappointed Vincent got dusted
by a cab driver..
Especially after Vincent had given him a wakeup
lecture on what a lame cowardly pos he was.

Ya'll pegged my 1 and 2 right out of the gate.

The Eiger Sanction is one of the best.

Certainly the most humorous. Cusack and Akroyd were great playing against each other.

Another great "hired killer" movie is "Miller's Crossing". Look in your heart, look in your heart...

Yep, good ending scene too.

I like Mel Gibson in Payback.

Haven't seen that in a couple of decades!

And it’s sequel.

Forgot that one. Hitman's last line is crushing:
"You should move to a small town, where the rule of law still exists."

Insert "country" for "town" are here we are.

Miller's Crossing was a Coen Bros movie. They do consistently good work and fairly & believably present the cultures of their characters.

Good review here:
https://www.unz.com/tlynch/millers-crossing

another vote for John Wick.

Lastofthebreed: I have seen and enjoyed ALL of the mentioned nominees but for some reason I am casting "The Professional" as my all time favorite - BARELY beating out "No Country For Old Men" in my estimation.
It is a mixture of things murderous and human in "The Professional" that always entertains me to the max.
I also enjoyed all the "humble" Death Wish movies of long ago.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Sicario - Badass to the max, especially the scene where he kills the whole family of the drug cartel boss before his eyes and doesn't kill him until after he has watched his family be killed - that was cold.

drover

re: Sicario

Alejandro is an X gov. prosecutor whos wife and daughter were killed by a cartel.
he is then hired by CIA to help take out another cartel the US gov dont want around...

Q/ where did he get his finely tuned black ops style assassin skills?

Unforgiven is up there.

This one for me.... I refuse to watch anything with Cruise in it.

Scott Glenn as hitman in
Man on Fire
Puerto Vallarta Squeeze
As a Theresa Russel’s sidekick in The Spy Within.
He was in Apocalypse Now also
Bourne movies.
And Genna Davis in The Long KISS Good Night. Samuel L Jackson is great as a sidekick in this one.
Look up the movie quotes and you will want to see it.

Some of the guys in Breaking Bad

The Mechanic (1972 film) Bronson

Not a premium action flick but very well written and well acted and enjoyable is

You Kill Me

An alcoholic hitman goes to rehab and falls in love with his coworker at a mortuary.

Ben Kingsley and Tea Leoni.

Lots of dark humor.

Great stay at home date night movie that gave the wife some romance and didn’t bore me to tears.

+ another for Sicario.

Add Hitman's Bodyguard.