The Killer Reviews

My favourite John Woo flick

I still find it hard to believe that it took so long for John Woo to make it big in Hollywood when he was turning out films like this years ago. Anyone who hasn't seen this before will be familiar with the storyline (Hitman with a conscience vs maverick but honourable cop with similar personality traits) but consider that this came out in 1989 and was revolutionary at the time. We all know this plot has been copied again and again since then.

For me, this is the complete film. The acting is top-notch (the female lead hams it up a LITTLE bit sometimes), the story is strong, the action sequences are well thought out and don't have to dominate the film and Chow Yun Fat & Danny Lee are utterly believable in the the quiet, reflective scenes.

This film, for me anyway, rates alongside the legendary Scarface in the 'frequently copied, never bettered' genre of cinema.

OWN THIS FILM!!!

Excellent Existential Mobster Movie!

This is a majestic masterpiece that is one of the best films of all time; a groundbreaking classic that's at once commercially accessible yet artistically acceptable and commercially exportable yet artistically exceptional.

Not only that, but it's one of the most influential and referential films of all time!

My perception of films changed after when I saw The Killer back in 1999, not strictly due to the mixing of genres or highly innovative, imaginative and intense action; but due to the level of subtlety and quality in its storytelling and direction.

It was probably the 1st time I ever saw a film that didn't have a happy ending, from that point onwards I was never sure if the hero would live or die much less win or lose.

It's a film about loyalty, honour, honesty, chivalry, gallantry, ethics, morality, heroism, sacrifice, friendship, romance, betrayal, redemption and martyrdom.

It has some small & subtle doses of humour, gallops of romance, buckets of bullets and hard-hitting drama. It has a rousing & riveting soundtrack that's both mesmerizing & memorable. It manages to combine the realistic with the stylistic in a world that's both real & surreal simultaneously.

It's a well-rounded film that combines visual & visceral aspects of Hollywood, European and Hong Kong filmmaking; which is why it seems so familiar yet so fresh (partly because John Woo puts things into the film which makes it truly his own).

Even Martin Scorsese had seen this film, coincidentally John dedicated the film to Martin. He particularly liked the usage of the Messiah music cue during the finale.

Also it should be noted that whilst the finale of Taxi Driver formed the inspiration of the apartment action sequence in this film; the finale of the directorial feature Rolling Thunder (made by the scriptwriter for Taxi Driver) had served as a platform of inspiration for the apartment shootout in A Better Tomorrow 2 (also made by John Woo).

As a sidenote, music cues were taken from Chuck Norris' Hero & The Terror.

Also, the ending reminded me of a similar scene in Sammo Hung's Pedicab Driver (made in the same year and which can be bought at www.virginmegastores.co.uk).

More information can be found on www.hkfilm.net

WOW

Incredible John Woo action film, doubly incredible when you bare in mind this was made fifteen years ago, before the special effects that emerged in Jurassic Park four years later and notably before anyone had heard of Tarantino or even Raimi's `Desperado`. Indeed many have mimicked Woo's action artistry and imagery, I like to view him as the Japanese Peckinpath - films with emotion and feeling but normally an utterly enormous bloodbath at the end of the film. Bullets zip through the air, Woo zooms in on Yun-Fat's expression, a dove hovers near a candle - this all occurs in a split second in Woo films. Conclusion - a definitive action film that set the tone and theme for 90's action films. Would we have seen Kill Bill if it wasn't for Woo?

A killer movie

What can you say about this amazing film that has not been said already? Honour and betrayal, hatred and friendship, it has everything. This is John Woo at his best. A true masterpiece.

Downward spiral

The guy above has summed things up pretty well, so I'm just going to question how John Woo has gone from directing films like this (and Hard Boiled, Bullet In The Head, A Better Tommorow 1/2 etc..) to absolute sh*t like Broken Arrow, Mission Impossible 2 and.....can hardly bring myself to say it's name.....Hard Target. His only decent effort in Hollywood has been Face/Off, which while fun still lacks the poetic beauty of the violence in his eastern films. A truly spectacular fall from grace, and very dissapointing.

Worthy of cringe more than anything else...

...I will start by saying that many things are well done, no doubt no-one can deny the pinnace with which the gun fights are pulled off, rivalling even modern films using modern techniques in terms of balletic beauty. Whilst modern titles with gun play show the bullet creating the exit wound in super slow motion John Woo creates all the ideas of which the aforementioned example would be an extension of.

As Woo's last Hong Kong film I thought it was worthy of seeing in a film history sense. However for all the balletic gun play, and might I add some great shots in the scenes between the violence, including a few where a gun is nowhere to be seen; one feels it is wasted. Wasted in a film full of clich?s from every film that created them and are now painful to watch. There's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in here, there's The Third Man, there's probably the kitchen sink too. It all results in a painful film watches with gritted teeth and is actually relieved to see a moment of violence.

Before I finish off this review I'd like to say the case is very similar with the sound, for the most part it is good, it is undefined and distant... not as loud as in your typical Hollywood balletic gun play flick and thus gives a general sense of distance to create a mildly surreal experience. But again it is also let down by the cheesier moments, for instance there is a singer that is key to the 'story' (what little of it there is, rather than a plot the film seems to contain an interesting yet static situation for the most part with violence predictably resolving it rather than furthering a story), but the songs she sings could be mistaken for anything out of the eurovision song contest and instead of having the affect of moving one's soul, understanding her character it makes one question when the little moment will be over.

To sum up, interesting cinematography let down by not much of a plot which would be fine were it not for the clich?s. Though the dialogue is pretty decent.

As for the DVD each section is titled with things such as 'ammunition' and 'sights' instead of 'play' and 'extras', which was rather annoying, they could have simply used sensible words with pictures behind them that convey what they do. There is a dubbed English version but I went for the Cantonese with English subtitles.

what was it about?

Lots of action, lots of shooting and lots of people die in this movie but I sit here at the end wondering what it was all about? I think it was about the hunt for an assasin but wouldnt put money on it! And if I dont know what it is about by the end of the movie Im afraid I cant really reccommend it!

Superb!!!!!

John Woo at his best (look for the doves) - Chow Yun Fat turns in yet another superb performance as a hit man with a conscience - Watch and enjoy!

[Highly rated reviewer]

Only for Fans!

Unless you are a big fan of this style of movie or a fan of the director, then give this a wide body swerve.

Anyone expecting a Chinese version of anything like Face/Off is going to be very disappointed.

rubbish

rubbishhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhh