- Actors: Yun-Fat Chow, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Kong Chu, Kenneth Tsang
- Directors: John Woo
- Writers: John Woo
- Producers: Hark Tsui
- Format: PAL
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 18
- Studio: Hong Kong Legends
- DVD Release Date: 21 Oct 2002
- Run Time: 111 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00006JY1J
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 17,549 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
John Woo's 1989 Hong Kong action classic, a stylish, bullet-riddled elegy to friendship under fire, firmly established him as the maestro of mayhem. Superstar Chow Yun-Fat, Asia's king of cool, plays the most charming hit man ever (and yes, he only takes contracts on those who deserve it), but when one of his killings leaves an innocent nightclub singer (Sally Yeh) blinded, he dedicates his life to giving her back her sight. Danny Lee is the cop on his tail, but the two adversaries become unlikely comrades when the mob decides to cancel its debt to Chow by taking him out, leading to a beautifully filmed and incredibly violent confrontation. Woo places the showdown in a church and punctuates the acrobatic gunfight with images of religious icons, flying doves, and burning candles. An ode to Jean-Pierre Melville's existential gangster classic Le Samouria, Woo's delirious mix of melodrama and stylized action recalls the balletic bloodletting of Sam Peckinpah, the elegant camerawork of Martin Scorsese, and the operatic, larger-than-life grandeur of Sergio Leone. Woo's love of American musicals (and his own background as a dance instructor) adds a touch of grace to the fluid choreography of the action scenes. In terms of sheer action, Woo topped himself a few years later with Hard-Boiled, his Hong Kong swan song, but most critics still rate The Killer as his masterpiece. --Sean Axmaker
Special Features
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1
Feature Length Audio Commentary With Bey Logan
Trailer Archive
Art Gallery
Interview With Producer Tsui Hark And Chow Yun Fat
Interview With Sally Yeh And Kenneth Tsang
Interview With Cinematographer Peter Pau
Gallery Of Rare Deleted Scenes
Fully Animated Themed Menus
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1
Feature Length Audio Commentary With Bey Logan
Trailer Archive
Art Gallery
Interview With Producer Tsui Hark And Chow Yun Fat
Interview With Sally Yeh And Kenneth Tsang
Interview With Cinematographer Peter Pau
Gallery Of Rare Deleted Scenes
Fully Animated Themed Menus
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tribute nonsense,
This review is from: The Killer [DVD] (DVD)
I just read the main review for this title and it fails to deliver on why this film is a unique and genre defining piece of Asian Cinema. The most instructive way to consider this work is through avoiding parallels and influences and tribute spiels, but rather to concentrate on what distinguishes the work from its contemporaries.What needs to be stressed is that The Killer is a film that could only have been made in Hong Kong. Watch this film to see why people refer to Hong Kong as the very pinnacle of action movie making (especially mid to late 80's). Woo's influences are certainly diverse but this is to overlook the central attractions of The Killer. (of which there are two) - The Killer perhaps better than any other Woo work manages to blur the line between the cop and the killer (the exact opposite of Face Off - which accentuates the distinction). By the end of the film it becomes clear that what is legal / illegal and what is right / wrong are two different questions. Woo proposes that the moral and legal spheres operate on two disparate levels. - Chow Yun Fat plays the deadly assasin in this movie. After a hugely succesful career as the hero, the loyal and honourable friend, Woo casts Chow to play the lead lawbreaker. Few actors could effect such a seamless transition in character, whereas others such as Willis have fumbled when outside the 'good-guy' comfort zone. Watch this movie for powerful yet bloody Hong Kong action at its very best. This film is maturer that the Better Tomorrow series and certainly less corny that Hard Boiled. I have no reservations in classing this the high points of both Woo and Chow Yun Fat. An absolute classic, that's my 'tribute' to this movie!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
modern chivalery movie precursor of a new genre of cinema,
By A Customer
This review is from: Killer [VHS] (VHS Tape)
John Woo, ex disciple of Chan Che, has achieved to transcribe all the universe of old chivalery and kung fu Hongkong flicks into this breathtaking thriller of a new type. His maestria to conduct the fate of 2 opposite heroes (a cop and an hitman)has shocked a generation of Hongkong cinema fans. Probably the cantonese movie the most known, respected and loved all around the world.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
"Best HK Film Ever?" I hope not!!,
By
This review is from: The Killer [DVD] (DVD)
According to the DVD jacket "PR" this is "the best HK film ever". I hope not for the sake of all the other HK films out there!Well maybe the PR is like the Carlsberg lager ad "probably the best beer you will ever taste". As it happens I quite like Carlsberg, not my favourite but I will imbibe and might suggest others do the same. As for "the Killer" movie I would not EVER, EVER, suggest they see this film. It is possibly the worst film I have ever purchased. If it were possible to give it NO STARS I would. By the way "1 star" officially means "I hate it". It is clichéd to the extreme, with hollow characters, pathetic (if slightly comical) Kung Fu sound effects and possibly the worst ending of any film, ever. I must admit I fast forwarded to the end of the film hoping for a sound ending to make up for a lacklustre movie, no joy there then! Look elsewhere for a movie regardless of what other review sites such as, the usually trustworthy, Rotten Tomatoes might say. (100% rating, what were they on when they watched it?) Summary; avoid like the plague.
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