Director – John Woo – 1989 – Hong Kong – Cert. 18 – 110m
*****
Starring Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh
What’s it all about?
On the verge of retirement, contract killer Chow accidentally blinds singer Yeh during a hit that goes wrong. Guilt-ridden, he undertakes one last killing for the money to pay for the operation to restore her eyesight. Meanwhile, policeman Lee is determined to bring him to book.
Why is it in our top 100?
Because it enabled Woo to cross over from a Hong Kong to an international audience – a much more personal work than A Better Tomorrow (1986) or Hard Boiled (1992), complete with trademark bloody, balletic, bullet-strewn violence and familiar themes of guilt, redemption and brotherhood.
Something to tell your mates
Chow (his surname) is both a huge star in the Far East and an incredibly versatile, talented and charismatic actor comparable to Robert De Niro or Cary Grant. The detail in facial expression lost on VHS video is very much intact on MIHK’s impressive 1994 PAL laserdisc.
Originally published in Home Entertainment as part of a One Hundred Best Movies on Home Entertainment Formats feature.
Trailer: