The Killer (1991)
 {Die xue shuang xiong} (1989)
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close  The Killer (1991)
 {Die xue shuang xiong} (1989)
Rated:  R 
Starring: Chu Kong, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Chow Yun-fat.
Director: John Woo
Genre: Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller
DVD Release Date: 10/03/2000

Tagline: One Vicious Hitman. One Fierce Cop. Ten Thousand Bullets.

Explosive, bold and mind-blowing, The Killer is a pulse-stopping action sensation more bullet-riddled than any movie in history.

Jeffrey is The Killer, the ultimate hitman, hired by the mob for one last job. Lee is the relentless cop, a maverick whose mission is to stop The Killer at any cost. The two enemies form a strange and powerful bond that blurs the line between good and evil.

When Jeffrey is double-crossed by the mob in a blazing shootout, Lee finally picks up The Killer's trail in a church while Jeffrey's beautiful mistress is caught in the crossfire. An arsenal of automatic weapons flair in a bloody date with destiny.

Storyline: A violent Hong Kong action film, this is the story of an assassin, Jeffrey Chow (aka Mickey Mouse) who takes one last job so he can retire and care for his girlfriend Jenny. When his employers betray him, he reluctantly joins forces with Inspector Lee (aka Dumbo), the cop who is pursuing him. Together, the new friends face the final confrontation of the gangsters out to kill them. Written by Jeff Hansen

Cast Notes: Yun-Fat Chow (John Chow [Jeffrey Chow -- US version]), Danny Lee [I] (Inspector Li), Sally Yeh [I] (Jennie), Kong Chu (Sydney), Kenneth Tsang (Sergeant Randy Chang), Fui-On Shing (Johnny Weng), Wing-Cho Yip (Tony Weng), Fan Wei Yee (Frank), Barry Wong (Chief Inspector Tu), Parkman Wong (Inspector Chan), Siu-Hung Ng (A Killer), Sing Yeung (Bodyguard A), Siu Hung Ngan (Bodyguard B), Kwong Leung Wong (Wong Tong/Eddie Wong).

User Comment: Anardil Toronto, Canada • 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. The Killer was the single most impressive, awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping action movie I had seen in years, and is now one of my favourite movies of any genre. It is #2 on my all-time list.

Why? First of all, the well-known poetic violence of the super-charged action scenes make for a tremendously exciting film. These combine choreographed bloodshed (there is an almost constant stream of bullets) with raw emotion that puts even the best Hollywood actioners to shame. Look at Hollywood action movies today; almost all Hollywood action is inspired (not to mention plagiarised) from the "heroic bloodshed films," the best of which is The Killer.

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez are only the most obvious examples of American directors to put Woo's trademark stylized violence to use, and neither handle it as well as Woo.

But beyond this, the characters and the story are what drive this movie and what truly set it apart. The story of the relentless cop and the vicious killer is only the latest in a long line of detective stories, starting with Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe in the 19th century, and continuing in every cop show on TV today. The hero and the villain are practically the same; they are only divided by an almost arbitrary line called the law. In The Killer, both "Mickey Mouse" and "Dumbo" are unrelenting, capable, though misunderstood, professionals. Their motivations differ, but they both have the killer instinct. The classic storyline of the interaction of the two characters who eventually realize their similarities and end up working together has been seen before, but never has it been used to such effect as in The Killer.

Woo's familiar themes of brotherhood, betrayal and loyalty also reach their cinematic peak in this movie. The viewer not only wants to see the next pyrotechnic action scene, but is actually concerned with the lives of the characters, an element that is almost always lacking in typical Hollywood fare.

Finally, the gun-battle scenes, when they come, are simply the most spectacular, mind-blowingly violent, yet strangely beautiful, action scenes ever imagined or filmed. And last but not least, is the unbelievably powerful screen presence of Chow Yun-Fat, as always cool incarnate. His effortless lead and the tension created by his playing off of co-star Danny Lee make The Killer as close as I have yet seen to the perfect action movie. I recommend it to any hard-core action fan and also suggest Hard-Boiled, though Woo's American efforts thus far have not been up to his Hong Kong works.

Rating: 10

Summary: John Woo is the master

IMDb Rating (10/08/01): 8.2/10 from 3,749 users Top 250: #177

Additional information
Copyright:  1991,  WinStar Home Video
Features:  • 3-D Motion Menus
• Running Audio Commentary with John Woo
• Trailers
• Credits
• Filmographies
• Biographies
• Notes On The Killer
Subtitles:  English
Video:  Widescreen 1.85:1 Color
Audio:  ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Mono
CANTONESE: Dolby Digital Mono
Time:  1:50
DVD:  # Discs: 1 -- # Shows: 1
UPC:  720917522326
D-Box:  No
Other:  Producers: Tsui Hark; Writers: John Woo; running time of 110 minutes; Packaging: Keep Case.
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