ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!

Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

Manthast Absolutely amazing

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

CinemaClown A high-octane, over-the-top & deliriously old-school action extravaganza, The Killer is a hardcore example of its genre that's jam-packed with style, swag & non-stop action, is stylishly directed by John Woo, brilliantly steered by Chow Yun-fat's confident performance, and features gunfights that are as thrilling as they are ludicrous.The Killer tells the story of an assassin who inadvertently damages the eyes of a young nightclub singer during a shootout and blames himself for her predicament. Determined to help her regain her sight, he accepts one last job but soon finds himself being hunted by his bosses as well as a cop who's handling the nightclub shooting case.Written & directed by John Woo, the film finds the notable filmmaker further tightening his grasp on genre elements with his patented gun fu action, slow-mo camera-work & aptly staged Mexican- standoffs. The plot unfolds at a frenetic velocity, never losing its intensity, while the action keeps surfacing on a consistent basis from the first frame to the last.It does slow down every now n then to indulge in some overly melodramatic moments. Character development part is somewhat rushed and is rarely convincing but the crazy stunt work & stellar choreography behind its action segments brushes away most of those shortcomings. Themes of friendship & honour is sensibly explored, and dark wit permeate its frames more often than once.Coming to the performances, the cast consists of Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Chu Kong & others, and they all chip in with serviceable inputs. Yun-fat brings his charisma & swag into play to deliver a fab performance as the assassin while Lee challenges him in his role of the cop from time to time. The interplay between these two keep things interesting, however, there are no memorable villains to be found here.On an overall scale, The Killer works mainly because of its unadulterated approach, full-throttled action & engaging storyline, all made possible due to John Woo's raw shooting style & gifted eye for staging one-of-a-kind action segments. Bordering on comedy at times yet high on adrenaline for the most part, The Killer remains one of John Woo's most memorable works and is one of the most influential films of its kind. And deservingly so.

Leofwine_draca A great Hong Kong action movie which I would consider to be John Woo's near best – unlike HARD-BOILED it also has a story and strong characters along with tons of his famous gun-fu action. Forget Woo's later attempts at a career in Hollywood (a path which yielded some great movies, but none as intense as this), THE KILLER shows him at his best, simultaneously offering us a career-best Chow Yun-Fat as an all-too-human hit-man who suffers a crisis of conscience after accidentally blinding a nightclub singer during a hit. The plot is simple but layered in characterisation and emotion; Woo contrasts the endless violence with touching scenes of romance and heartfelt feeling. The entire cast put in wonderful performances, whether it be Sally Yeh as the fragile blind girl or Danny Lee as the unorthodox cop whose life parallels Yun-Fat's. Add in a brew of nasty over-the-top villains and you have the elements which make up a great film.Obviously the main reason for male viewers to watch this film is the much-hyped action choreography; let me say simply that it doesn't disappoint. The otherwise fairly slow plot is punctuated by tons of hard-hitting shoot-outs, usually involving Yun-Fat battling against dozens of hired killers and assassins out to get him. Stunts, violence, and explosions combine to make a truly exciting viewing experience which just gets better as it goes on. Once the gang of white tracksuit-wearing bad guys show up towards the end of the film, Woo lets rip with some incredible set-pieces in which the violent shoot-outs go on forever; death has never been painted as artistically as this before. Little touches emphasise the violence, like the church setting of the finale or Yun-Fat's white suit which gradually gets drenched in blood. Woo reminds us of the futility of violence with a bleak and tragic ending which actually leaves you a little shell-shocked. For me, THE KILLER is close to the best on-screen realisation of Woo's career, a re-watchable masterpiece of action and drama, cleverly intertwined and always edge-of-your-seat material. Only HARD-BOILED beats it thanks to THAT hospital set-piece.

SnoopyStyle Ah Jong (Chow Yun-Fat) is an assassin. Jenny is a lounge singer who gets caught in the crossfire and is partly blinded by Jong. He feels responsible and rescues her from muggers. He takes another job to kill the head of a drug cartel Wong Dung-Yu. It's an intra-family assassination and the younger Wong wants to kill Jong after the job is done to clean his hands of the killing. Li Ying is a risk taking police inspector. Li and his partner Tsang Yeh (Kenneth Tsang) is tasked to protect Wong Dung-Yu. After the assassination, Jong is in the cross-hairs but he escapes the gangsters and the police detectives. Inspector Li is hot on his trails zeroing in on Jenny.There is a lot of John Woo action going on in this one. If one likes his style, this is a must see. It's a lot of gun blood splattering stylized violence. Back then, it is more unusual but it's not anything special now. He's still one of the few directors to have the dueling gun pointing scene which I'm not a great fan of. The best John Woo action is still the more realistic action. The dueling gun pointing just speaks to a fakeness to his violence. However it's his style and one must accept it. This is one of the best HK gangster movie of the time and gave John Woo his first launching point.

bc7941644 John Woo has certainly proved in Hollywood now that he has what it takes to be a top rate international action film director. The Killer is an early example that shows the maestro of mayhem and action at his very best. I really liked this film and I think it's one of John Woo's best films along with Hard Boiled. You get to see a vulnerable side to Chow Yun Fat's character as the hit-man Jeff who accidentally blinds a nightclub singer. What I liked was the way in which Woo showed that hit men are tortured souls doing a job that they don't always like doing and that there are so many emotions that they have to deal within in carrying out their job. I found it touching the way the central character Jeff is racked with guilt over blinding the nightclub singer Jenny and that he is willing to risk his life for her so that he can raise the money for an operation that may save Jenny's life. A superb action thriller and one of the finest ever made. Woo's hit men have soul and depth unlike the vicious killing machines that we see in most Hollywood action/thriller films.