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 | Lounge Singer | One Last Job | Gangster | Gun Fu

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:

Because it was so hard to get permits, some of the footage for Tony Weng's assassination scene was shot under the pretense that Woo was doing a documentary about Hong Kong's annual Dragon Boat race. Woo shot the bulk of the footage five months earlier, and brought in a small crew later to fill in the gaps. Woo ended up editing the scene himself, which took 3 weeks. Woo is a huge fan of musicals, and tried to think of the sequence as a musical number or dance sequence. He even edited it in time to the soundtrack.

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the end of the film, when the heroes are walking out of the church, John Chow carries a gun in one hand and the briefcase in the other, while Li carries a gun in one hand and holds onto a wound with the other hand. A split second later, we see them from behind, emerging from the church with Chow firing from a gun in each hand and Li firing a shotgun. Then we see them front on again, each holding a single gun.

Quotes:

[Danny points a gun at Jeff]
Lee: Don't move!
Jennie: Who is it?
Joe (Cantonese)/Jeffrey (English): It's Dumbo. He's come to say bon voyage.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'Kill Bill' (2003) (TV)

"Easy to pick up, hard to put down."

Chow Yun Fat and John Woo strike again. The Killer is not your run of the mill action flick. It features characters you care about, jaw-dropping action sequences, and , best of all, Chow Yun Fat. He's always supercool. Chow and co-star Danny Lee play very similar characters but are on opposite sides of the law. It makes the film work very well. The heroes can relate to one another because they have both injured the innocent while doing their jobs. Another great actor in the film is Kong Chu in the role of Sydney, the one handed hitman. Being in the middle of the fray, he makes for an interesting character. There is a great scene involving Sydney's betrayal. Chow is so amazing with his emotions in this scene. He's not just an international action superstar, he's an underrated and incredible actor as well. That's what makes The Killer more than just another action movie. Woo's direction always helps too. The Killer boasts one of the best and most epic shootouts in film history. Woo's older films are as stylistic as they get, I mean stylistic as hell. Chow Yun Fat and John Woo make an incredible duo. Nicholas Cage is no replacement, it's high time they work together again.