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Actors: Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Kong Chu, Kenneth Tsang
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Killer (1989) |
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An excellent movie. High quality action/thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seet untill the final gunshot is fired! If you consider yourself an action or John Woo (especially John Woo!) fan, see this movie! And a tip, try and get the digitaly remastered version...the picture is slightly better and the subtitles are much easier to see!
--Richard, Resident Scholar
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THE KILLER is a movie written and directed by Hong-Kong director John Woo in 1989.
John, played by Chow Yun-Fat, is a hitman of the Hong-Kong mob. Secretive and independent, he is very well paid by his various employers. He accidentally hurts a young singer during a shoot out and soon, feeling guilty, takes care of her. He accepts one last hit in order to help financing the eye operation that must save his girlfriend and retire. But, after the completion of this job, his boss double-crosses him and sends him his killers unstead of the earned money. John must soon protect himself against a bunch of hitmen and against Sydney, a policeman who is interested in his strange unusual behaviour.
Violence as aesthetics. A masterpiece.
--Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Killer (1989) |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 60%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 10%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Time/Era of Movie:
- 1980's-1999
Crime & Police Story?
Yes
Crime story:
- criminal/victim falls in love with victim/criminal
Combat acrobatics/martial arts?
Yes
If this is a criminal POV story...
- criminals stealing from other criminals
- criminals killing each other
- bad criminals on the run
Romance
Yes
Kind of movie
- traditional karate
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- killer
- criminal
Age:
- 20's-30's
Has special powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character:
- is very quick
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- short/standard straight (man)
- short/standard wavy (man)
Body type
- average (man)
- muscular (man)
Events of movie makes character more...
- sensitive
- aggressive
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Chinese
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- average build (man)
How much in movie?
- 40%
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Chinese
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- killer
- criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 40%
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- average (man)
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Chinese
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Setting
Asia/Pacific
Yes
Asian country:
- Southeast Asia
- China
Water?
Yes
Misc setting
- building
- church/synagogue
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- very gory visuals of deaths and torture
Movie makes you feel...
- excited
How many deaths in film?
- dozens
How much use of techno gadgets?
- 3 (some)
Kind of violence:
- land battles
- karate chop
- hand to hand
- guns
Unusual forms of death
- flamed
- perforation--bullets
- perforation--swords/knives
Non-American film?
Yes
What language?
- Chinese
Subtitles?
- Yes
Any profanity?
- None
- Occasional swearing
Lot of special effects?
Yes
Kinds of F/X
- exploding vehicles
- exploding bombs
If Soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Orchestra/classical
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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