Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD EAN: 0786936191844 Format: NTSC Label: Walt Disney Video Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video Publisher: Walt Disney Video Release Date: 2002-09-03 Studio: Walt Disney Video Theatrical Release Date: 1990-09
This 1989 rouser is apocalyptic pulp--the bloodiest, showiest, most shamelessly sentimental specimen of Hong Kong's gangster melodramas. A torch singer named Jennie (Sally Yeh) is accidentally blinded during a slaying in a night club, and Chow Yun-fat's sad-eyed Jeff, a self-lacerating assassin, drags himself out of retirement to take on one last job--rubbing out a major mobster for major bucks--so he can pay for the singer's cornea transplant operation. But Jeff pauses to ferry a wounded child to the hospital during this final outing, and because of this a cop finally gets a good look at him: "He was seen on the job," snarls a saturnine Mr. Big, "and I want him wasted." Armies of thugs converge on the saintly slayer. Some of writer-director John Woo's flourishes are kitsch classics (doves flying upward in a candlelit church), while the action sequences are rapturous. "Life's cheap," a character opines. "It only takes one bullet," but in this case it actually takes about a dozen spewing bullet hits to kill anyone, as soulful triads in mirror shades and duster overcoats blaze away with high-tech weaponry. (A favorite trick involves grasping an enemy by the lapels, pulling him into a waltz embrace, and pumping several slugs into his duodenum.) Danny Lee, Chow's costar in City on Fire, is the intense, young officer who fixates on the killer's contradictory personality. --David Chute
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: For those who don't "get" the violence in Woo's films Comment: John Woo is a director who uses a style known as Heroic Bloodshed. The messages of the movies are always in the symbols, not in the story. The movie isn't designed for those who can't look past the violence. The movies are also heavily laced with Protestant Christian themes concerning the souls of his characters, usually exagerrated for the purpose of making them larger than life. For Example: Inspector Tequila in Hard Boiled. He kills, yes. He kills a lot. But the overall message is not the violence, it's that the hero has to do what must be done, that he values the righting of wrongs done to a weaker character. You have to read into Woo films before you can say that they are "Garbage", because if you understand him, they're really not. I'm sorry more people can't enjoy his movies, but sometimes you need to look past the attitude that violence is never the answer. While killing is bad, being dead and allowing others who are above the law (a problem almost alien to the modern Western World) to exploit those who can't help themselves is worse. Customer Rating: Summary: Absolutely Horrible!!! Comment: I found this movie absolutely horrible--overloaded with gratuitous violence, violence for violence sake. It's for people who enjoy watching people murder people. There were no real characters in this monstrousity of a movie--only killing machine people. No one, that's right, no one was believable. Even the so-called story line--a hitman killing to raise money to enable a blind woman, whom the hitman accidentally blinded, to see, was a farce. Movies like this only raise the potential level of violence in society, make it glorifiable, without the slightest redeeming virtue. This piece of junk is strictly for the serial killer who's looking for inspiration for his next hit. I trashed my copy--I wouldn't even give it to charity because of what it stands for. Do yourself a favor--don't buy terrible heap of garbage!!!!! Customer Rating: Summary: The best! Comment: I can't even count how many times I've watched this movie. The action is great, but it's the storyline that just blows me away. It's one of my favorite movies of all-time and I totally recommend this to anyone and everyone. If you haven't seen it, make it a priority to check it out at your earliest convenience. I've seen thousands upon thousands of movies and this one definitely sticks out as a killer. ;)
Customer Rating: Summary: I Believe In Justice Comment: John Woo:you either love him or hate him but there is no way of looking at him except as a force of nature. The Killer was one of Woo's greatest Hong Kong features; long before he came to America and made films such as Face/Off and Mission Impossible 2.
Made on a small budget this film is an homage to the classic action directors of Hollywood. There are shades of Peckenpah and of Scorsese. The films grainy look makes it almost perfect for this genre.
The story of a killer with a penchant for justice and loyalty has been done many times before but Chow Yun Fat and Danny Lee make it their own as the killer and the renegade cop who follows him.
Many have complained about the violence in this film. The film is extremely violent but the violence comes off as campy rather than as serious. When you have two men fighting hundreds it is hard to take anything too seriously.
The disc that I reviewed was the Criterion Collection edition. This edition gives a pristine transfer of the film and has a decently subtitled audio. Beware of editions that have any English dubbing since these editions tend to heighten the camp elements of the story rather than give a true translation of the dialogue. Also note that the Criterion Edition is expensive but you get what you pay for. Some of the lower priced editions of this film are known bootlegs that should be avoided.
The disc contains a commentary track by Woo and producer Terrance Chang and five deleted scenes.
If you can find or afford it this is essential viewing for action genre fans and for fans of purist Hong Kong cinema. Customer Rating: Summary: One of the greatest of the genre Comment: I first got interested in Woo's work after seeing "Broken Arrow" in 1996. I was able to get my hands on a VHS copy of The Kiiler and watched it thinking it would be at least as food as Broken Arrow.
It wasn't.
It was ten times better.
The plot is similar to the Rock Hudson film Magnificent Obsession (although Rock is not an assassin). Chow-Yun Fat is an amazing actor who portrays the title character with great depth and believability.
But let's get down to why everyone REALLY likes this film: The action scenes are AMAZING. When the shooting starts, all hell breaks loose and you'll probably have to watch the scenes in slo-mo or rewind and watch them again. There is so much going on that it's hard to beleive that anyone would be able to choreograph and film such stylistic and hectic battle scenes, but John Woo does just that.
My biggest question is, why aren't Woo's Hollywood films just as wild and stylish. Woo's Hollywood work is very good, but why are his Hong Kong features so much better? They seem to be gritty and real whereas his Hollywood features seem to be glossy and watered down.
No matter. If you like action films, this is one of the best, but be warned. This film is VIOLENT and much of the violence is very graphic, so it's not for everyone.
Also, sometimes the dialogue seems a bit hammy, but I feel that it may be because of the loss of translation when the film was dubbed in English. If you're able to, watch the original Chinese version with English subtitles. I know it's heard to read while your trying to watch the action, so watch the dubbed version a couple of time to where you pretty much know what's happening and then watch it with the subtitles. The original actors' voices convey much more emotion and intensity.
