The Killer

"One vicious hitman. One fierce cop. Ten thousand bullets."

1989 1h 50m CN

🙌

7.6

BANGER

★7.6TMDB · 949

ActionCrimeDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Mob assassin Jeffrey is no ordinary hired gun; the best in his business, he views his chosen profession as a calling rather than simply a job. So, when beautiful nightclub chanteuse Jennie is blinded in the crossfire of his most recent hit, Jeffrey chooses to retire after one last job to pay for his unintended victim's sight-restoring operation. But when Jeffrey is double-crossed, he reluctantly joins forces with a rogue policeman to make things right.

“One vicious hitman. One fierce cop. Ten thousand bullets.”

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Cast

Chow Yun-Fat
Jong
Danny Lee Sau-Yin
Insp. Li Ying / Little Eagle
Sally Yeh Chian-Wen
Jennie
Paul Chu Kong
Sidney Fung
Kenneth Tsang
Sgt. Tsang Yeh
Shing Fui-On
Hay Wong Hoi
Tommy Wong
Teddy Wong Hung
James Ha Chim-Si
Teddy's Man

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Woo
Writers: John Woo
Languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese
Countries: Hong Kong

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

37 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Woo, shot by Peter Pau Tak-Hai. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Lowell Lo Koon-Ting. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Fan Kung-Wing shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Chow Yun-Fat and Danny Lee Sau-Yin and Sally Yeh Chian-Wen carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "One vicious hitman. One fierce cop. Ten thousand bullets.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0097202 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Woo directs. Peter Pau Tak-Hai behind the camera. Lowell Lo Koon-Ting scores. Fan Kung-Wing cuts. Produced in Hong Kong. Dialogue in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

137 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese.
3Directed by John Woo, shot by Peter Pau Tak-Hai. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Lowell Lo Koon-Ting. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Fan Kung-Wing shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Chow Yun-Fat and Danny Lee Sau-Yin and Sally Yeh Chian-Wen carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "One vicious hitman. One fierce cop. Ten thousand bullets.".
8IMDB entry: tt0097202 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Released under 31 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Peter Pau Tak-Hai
Original score: Lowell Lo Koon-Ting
Editing: Fan Kung-Wing
Costume design: Shirley Chan
Makeup / hair: Chow Wing-Hung
Runtime: 110 min · 1h 50m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $2,350,174
Original language: CN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Killer (1989)

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John Woo

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Filipe Manuel Neto2023-06-19
★ 7/10
Action, lots of action, in a slow but elegant film. It was the first time, to my knowledge, that I saw a film made in Hong Kong. John Woo, its director, gained some international notoriety and would even, long after this film, have some work in western cinema. In general, I liked the movie. I'm not an undefeated fan of action cinema, but I felt that this film manages to balance the explosive action (even better and more intense than in North American films) with a satisfying script. The story revolves around a professional killer who, after accidentally blinding a bar singer, starts to protect her. He will, however, have to kill a mobster and escape from the police, who understand the relationship between the singer and the bandit and start to watch her. Chow Yun-Fat is the film's lead actor, and the only actor I somehow remember seeing, though I can't say where. He is charismatic and intense, and makes his character a tough man but, at the same time, able to capture the audience's sympathy. Danny Lee, in the role of a police inspector, and Sally Yeh, as the singer, also give us a pleasant job. The film's focal point is the intense, explosive action. No means were spared in achieving impressive fight and shootout scenes, and in that respect, both the stuntmen and the special effects team deserve praise. The film has good sets and costumes, and the cinematography has a visual beauty very typical of oriental films, where the color is intense, vivid, something important and always valued. The film is about an hour and a half long, but the pace is quite slow, denoting a certain stretch of the script, and this is the biggest negative criticism I can give it.

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