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The Killer [DVD] [1989]
 
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The Killer [DVD] [1989]

DVD ~ Yun-Fat Chow
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Killer [DVD] [1989]
48% buy the item featured on this page:
The Killer [DVD] [1989] 4.7 out of 5 stars (28)
John Woo [DVD]
29% buy
John Woo [DVD] 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£5.98
Hard Boiled (Collector's Edition) [DVD] [1992]
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Hard Boiled (Collector's Edition) [DVD] [1992] 4.6 out of 5 stars (9)
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6% buy
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Product details

  • Actors: Yun-Fat Chow, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Kong Chu, Kenneth Tsang
  • Directors: John Woo
  • Writers: John Woo
  • Producers: Hark Tsui
  • Format: Anamorphic, Collector's Edition, PAL
  • Language Cantonese Chinese
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 18
  • Studio: Contender Entertainment Group
  • DVD Release Date: 21 Oct 2002
  • Run Time: 106 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00006JY1J
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 34,454 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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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
See all Reviews

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Customer Reviews

28 Reviews
5 star:
 (23)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (28 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Tribute nonsense, 16 Dec 2002
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!

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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellence is a hail of bullets!, 25 May 2003
By "brasshande" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
If you’re new to the work of John Woo, or think his career begins and ends with his Hollywood films (Mission Impossible 2, Face/Off, etc), you should see this film without delay. You’ll be in for a treat. Featuring the Hong Kong legend and regular Woo colaborator Chow Yun Fat, The Killer is a story about a nice-guy assassin trying to pay for an operation to restore the sight of a young woman he accidentally blinded whilst carrying out a hit. He teams up with the cop trying to catch him, and together they take on the Triads. To be honest, though, this does not really matter one bit. What does matter is the gunplay, and lots of it. Although the story is a good one and the performances are decent, the point of a John Woo film are the beautifully filmed and choreographed gunfights. On this score, The Killer delivers in spades. The two men deliver carnage that even Arnold Schwarzenegger at his peak couldn’t match. In the finale to this film, the bodycount probably reaches three figures. And these guys don’t shoot their enemies once when shooting them eleven times will do. Their guns must hold about fifty rounds each. Apart from this lapse in reality, though, this is as good an action film as you will ever see, a perfect introduction to the Hong Kong action genre, and far better than anything of its type from America.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars To Die For, 5 Oct 2005
By Donald Thompson "waldo357" (Belfast N Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
Chow Yun Fat eats up the screen as the killer with a conscience. As with most John Woo movies its the action sections which catch the eye. But in Chow Yuns performance we get a subtlety which can only be delivered by a great actor. As he went on to prove in Crouching Tiger, Chow Yun Fat deserves to be rated as one of Asias finest actors. The story is simple enough, but the settings and the photography are what distinguish it from formula straight to video fodder. Ultimately this is a buddy movie but the pacing and characters set it apart. Some light comic touches are an unexpected delight from a Woo picture, but the tea scene is a delight of suspense and comedy. Only the 60 shooter revolvers and the willingness of the baddies to die after one shot, while being unable to hit a barn door themselves strikes a discordant note. Extremely violent, non stop action and a lesson in honour, it is a movie to cherish. Top marks.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST HONG KONG FILM EVER
I'm not a fan of Hong Kong movies - they are simply too cheese, especially Jackie Chan's. But this one really is different. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Lou Almighty

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly awesome.
John Woo's greatest masterpiece. An absolutely brilliant tale of redemption, duty, honour and sacrifice. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Conan P

3.0 out of 5 stars DeAgostini version
WARNING: The DeAgostini version has NO EXTRAS.

So if you want them do NOT buy that version.

For me it means buying another copy!! Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2007 by Driverdriver

5.0 out of 5 stars AN ACTION MASTERPIECE
Before seeing a genuine Hong-Kong produced John Woo movie, I thought I knew what action was, and what the action-movie genre was capable of. I was wrong. Read more
Published on 18 Aug 2007 by stuart

4.0 out of 5 stars Shock horror: An action film with a good story!
When John Woo arrived on the Hollywood scene, we were all quickly wowed by the bombastic action of films like 'Broken Arrow' and 'Face Off'. Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2007 by M. JONES

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid gunfight actioner
Hi..
I bought 4 movies from Amazon UK in one shipment, they included (Road house 2), (Naked weapon), (The Killer) and (Series 7 - The Contenders). Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2007 by M Bardi

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the masterpiece the hype would have you believe, but still very good
The Killer was so over-hyped when I first saw it that it left me distinctly unimpressed, but revisiting it years later it's so much better than I gave it credit for (although by... Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2007 by Trevor Willsmer

1.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious - because it was SO bad!
When I read the other reveiws, I honestly thought 'maybe I watched the wrong film' but no, I have the same one. Read more
Published on 4 Feb 2007 by Varied Read

5.0 out of 5 stars John Woo's best film.
In my opinion, The killer is John Woo's best film, better than Hard Boiled and A Better Tomorrow.
This film is the best action film that I've ever seen! I think it's very good.
Published on 3 April 2005 by Joaquim Caudevilla Pastor

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible Action Masterpeice
It combines fantastic direction from woo, and a sightly over the top story line of the relationship between a 'moral' hitman and the cop who is trying too catch him. Read more
Published on 4 Feb 2005

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