The Killer [喋血雙雄] **** (1989, Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh) – Classic Movie Review 13,972

Chow Yun-fat stars as a remorseful hitman who takes one last job to help a woman he accidentally injured, in John Woo’s 1989 Hong Kong classic action film The Killer.

Writer/ director John Woo’s 1989 Hong Kong classic action film The Killer [Dip huet seung hung] stars Chow Yun-fat as Ah Jong, a Triad assassin who wants to retire, but accidentally damages the eyes of nightclub singer Jennie (Sally Yeh) during a shootout and takes one last hit to pay for her operation to restore her eyesight.

Woo’s film pushes hard on the hard-boiled action and balletic violence while tackling the themes of honour, friendship and redemption, and exploring the relationship of two seemingly opposite people. Woo’s plot is influenced by Le Samouraï and Mean Streets, and Woo has called the film a tribute to their directors Jean-Pierre Melville and Martin Scorsese.

What are we to make of balletic shootouts with a poetic edge, the idea of pairing intense gunplay with rich character drama and philosophical underpinnings? Are they a match, or a mismatch? Is this a good karma or bad karma film? It is certainly influential, and now much admired. With its stylish visuals, emotional depth and eye-popping ground-breaking violent action, The Killer has become acclaimed as one of the greatest action films ever made. It is the quintessential John Woo film, admired more internationally than it was in Hong Kong, and the one that got him to Hollywood. Its Chinese title translates as ‘pair of blood-splattering heroes’. Just saying.

© Derek Winnert 2026 Classic Movie Review 13,972

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