Dip huet seung hung (1989)

Director:

John Woo

Writer:

John Woo (written by)

Release Date:

September 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Music | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

This film will blow you away.

Plot:

A disillusioned assassin accepts one last hit in hopes of using his earnings to restore vision to a singer he accidentally blinded, only to be double-crossed by his boss.

Plot Keywords:

Hitman | Gangster | One Last Job | Lounge Singer | Car Chase

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Yun-Fat Chow	...	Ah Jong (as Chow Yun Fat)
Danny Lee	...	Insp. Li Ying / Little Eagle
Sally Yeh	...	Jennie
Kong Chu	...	Fung Sei (as Chu Kong)
Kenneth Tsang	...	Sgt. Tsang Yeh (as Tsang Kong)
Fui-On Shing	...	Wong Hoi (as Shing Fui On)
Wing-Cho Yip	...	Wong Dung-Yu
Fan Wei Yee	...	Paul Yau
Barry Wong	...	Chief Insp. Dou / Tu
Parkman Wong	...	Insp. Chan Bok
Siu-Hung Ng	...	A killer
Sing Yeung	...	Bodyguard A
Siu Hung Ngan	...	Bodyguard B
Kwong Leung Wong	...	Wong Tong

Also Known As:

The Killer (Hong Kong: English title) (UK) (USA)
Bloodshed of Two Heroes (International: English title) (literal title)
Die xue shuang xiong (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive strong violence and some language.

Runtime:

111 min | Australia:96 min | Taiwan:141 min | USA:104 min (R-rated version) | 124 min (extended version)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:18 (uncut) | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Canada:18+ (Quebec) (Original rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Chile:18 | France:-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:18 | USA:R (edited version) | USA:Unrated | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Film Workshop

Trivia:

Tsui Hark was extremely unhappy with this film and wanted to have it completely recut. For example: Tsui felt that the focus of the movie should be on the cop instead of the killer. Therefor, he wanted the film to start with the scene that introduces the cop. The shootout in the restaurant, during which the killer blinds Sally Yeh, was to be completely cut and only inserted in flashbacks later in the movie. Neither Woo nor editor David Wu were going to reedit the film to Tsui's demands and due to a tight schedule (The Killer was going to premiere in Taiwan in a short time and some 100 cinemas had already booked the film), Hark didn't have the time to mess with the film. The Killer was a huge success when it premiered in Taiwan, which made Hark so furious that he (allegedly) threw things out of his office window.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: During the church shootout, Inspector Li tells Jeffrey that he doesn't know his name; while he uses the nicknames "Jeffrey" and "Mickey Mouse," he doesn't know his full Chinese name.

Quotes:

[about his gun]
Joe (Cantonese)/Jeffrey (English): Easy to pick up, hard to put down.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Heroic Bloodshed (2009)

Soundtrack:

Once In A Lifetime

Incredible action thriller

Some films focus on action to draw their thrills, others put the emphasis on drama and character interaction to draw theirs; The Killer manages to do both, seemingly effortlessly. You would think that in a pure action movie, the drama would come off as a little forced and out of place, but in The Killer it doesn't; John Woo fuses the two together magnificently.

The story of the movie is most certainly secondary to the amazing visuals and the adrenaline fueled shootouts, which is, of course, no bad thing. The movie, however does have a plot which strings the gunfights together, and it follows the story of Jeffrey, an assassin that, while on a job, accidentally blinds a young singer, Jennie. However, this assassin is different from most assassins in that he has a heart; and he decides to fix his mistake by doing one last job in order to earn the money needed for a cornea transplant. However, things are never that easy as after his last job, his employer refuses to pay and, because he revealed his identity on the job, he also has a cop, Inspector Li, on his tail who is played by Danny Lee.

The character of Jeffrey is brought to the screen by Chow Jun Fat, a man that has a great screen presence. Fat portrays his character with great emotion, which makes his character different to the usual, cold image that is normally upheld when we think of a assassin. This is epitomized by one point in the movie in which the policeman tells Fat that he is not the usual assassin, and he isn't. The other central character in the movie that of Inspector Li is also portrayed by a good actor in Danny Lee. The two create a good chemistry on screen as we see their developing relationship, which is born as a result of a mutual admiration and the men's respective professions, which has similarities which are touched upon in the movie, despite them being on opposite ends of the law

Throughout the film, John Woo is able to deliver incredibly crisp visuals that are made more beautiful by his use of music and bright colours. This gives the movie a very vibrant feel, and that's a feel that works incredibly with John Woo's brilliant action sequences. John Woo indulges in all kinds of trickery with the camera and the editing suite; slow motion, fast editing and music all feature greatly in this movie, and unlike a lot of movies that experiment with such things; it works every time here. Nobody can deny the thrills and excitement that ensue where Woo fast edits, or the way the music blends with the slow motion to create a haunting atmosphere to the overly action filled gun sequences. John Woo is a master behind the camera, and it is clearly shown in this film. There is also an amount of strange humour in the film, shown best by the standoff between the assassin and the police while the doctor's work to save a young girl that has been injured in one of the earlier gun battles. This sense of humour would later be instilled in other Woo films such as Hard-Boiled (with it's hospital ending)

After Woo has taken us on an adrenaline fueled action roller coaster ride, he obviously knew it was going to take something special to end the movie effectively, and the movie certainly does end effectively. The last gunfight is, simply, perfect. The action is choreographed to perfection and not a single move is out of place; it's also very thrilling and will be sure to get anyone's heart pumping. This end action sequence has never been topped in the 15 years since The Killer was released, and it is unlikely to ever be bettered. Woo also manages to end on a poetic note that the film has been building up to throughout. In an action movie you don't expect a tear-inducing finale, but here John Woo delivers one, and best of all; it works.

Overall, if action is your thing, then The Killer is your movie. The perfect blend of adrenaline and emotion is given to the audience in this film and with it John Woo has proved that action is more than just gunfights and cool characters; this film is art.