Rating: 
Summary: Easily John Woo/Chow Yun Fat's best!
Review: The Killer is a beautiful action/drama masterpiece. It is the best work I have yet to see done by both director John Woo and HK superstar Chow Yun Fat(both of whose movies I am familiar with.) The rest of the cast (including Danny Lee and Sally Yeh) are superb. The sheer grace and flair of the seamlessly choreographed gunfights to the poignancy of the gripping story of a professional hitman trying to cut clean, while gradually falling in love with a victim he accidently blinds in a shootout are all executed perfectly. This movie is not your standard action fare, as it goes deep into the mind of the killers, and depicts the characters trying to live a life that is honorable in a world that is so corrupt and sinister. The bottom line of the movie is quoted by CYF toward the beginning of the film: "Not everybody in this world is untrustworthy." Underlying the blazing guns and implied emotional battles, lies a tale of loyalty, trust and friendship. John Woo epitimizes this movie by proving that the action is not present simply for the sake of action, but instead for clean moviemaking and plot. As for the quality of the DVD itself, the picture is very clear for an older movie (1989) and the features and menu setup is very stylishly done... just don't watch the trailers, they do severe injustice to the featured films (The Killer and Hard Boiled) and contain spoilers. For hardcore HK movie buffs, the Cantonese language track with English subtitles is the definite route to take. The English track is butchered and incomplete, not to mention hard to understand and silly-sounding. I highly recomend watching this movie in it's original language (the way it was intended to be heard) as it is much more powerful this way. If you plan on purchasing this movie, though, I would instead recommend you buy the John Woo 2 DVD pack, which includes both this edition of The Killer and also Hard Boiled, another John Woo/CYF compilation.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Action Movie Ever Made
Review: I've seen a lot of action movies in my time, and I honestly have to say this beats them all hands down. It stands head and shoulders over any other Hong Kong movie I've ever seen, even those of Jackie Chan himself. John Woo has created what are easily the most intense and gruesome gunfights ever put to film, with more consistency than anyone else in the business. The human drama is excellent. We really feel for Chow Yun-Fat and Danny Lee as their characters gradually come to realize they're not so different. Also, while the climax is certainly not the ending you were expecting, what you get is even more effective. If you haven't seen this movie, you have no business calling yourself an action buff.
Rating:
Summary: One of my all time personal favorites!
Review: The Killer has incredible action and a provocative storyline. You may say, "that's it?" but for those of you who have seen it, you know that those two elements are more than enough to make a good movie in the hands of John Woo. In classic Woo-fashion, there's a lotta bullets, a lotta killing and a lotta slow-motion. The opening sequences are incredible, and for a flick made in 1989, way ahead of its time. The cantonese language track also adds to the movie, so please don't ruin it by listening to the english track. Reading is good for you... the translation is good.
Rating:
Summary: Violently poetic & an action fan's best friend!
Review: Although the picture quality is not the best, this film is truly a masterpiece of filmmaking. John Woo creates a stunning tale of a hired killer who finally finds his conscience in the midst of a happenstance love affair. The US release however, is missing close to 10 minutes of original footage of bullets, blood, and heads poppin' open like bustin' grapefruits! My boy Chow lets his pistol loose on EVERYONE who crosses his path! All his enemies are bad shots, and he never misses from his 100 shot gun. It's totally laughable when innocent people are shot in the crossfire, and when some fat Chinese lady has a heart attack on a commuter train. Too many Big Macs for that fat ho. Anyway, this movie rocks, especially when you watch it with all the guys. Tell the women to go out shopping while you check out this Hong Kong bloodbath!
Rating:
Summary: Second best John Woo movie
Review: The very best John Woo movie of course is Hard Boiled, but don't get me wrong, this movie is not bad at all. Because it was produced in 1989, the soud effects are not up to Hollywood's standard. But the more you watch it, the more you like it. The story is very touching, and the gun battles are fantastic. Do remember that this movie used 50,000 bullets. Can you count from 1 to 50,000?
Rating:
Summary: The Killer
Review: "The Killer" ranks as one of my personal favorites. Through all of John Woo's masterful direction of realistic action and shoot-outs, a simple but emotional story remains, one between Jeffrey (Chow Yun-Fat) and Jenny (Sally Yeh) the nightclub singer he accidentally blinded. Another is the interaction between Danny Lee and Chow Yun-Fat. It sounds campy and formulaic, but turns out to be emotional and very touching, in which a true friendship forms between the killer and cop. Chow Yun-Fat is one of my favorite actors, and undeniably, one of the coolest around, and definately is one of the elements that elevates the film to greatness. The action scenes are superbly done, with a biting sense of realism attached to them. The film is well-writtten, without one senseless moment, and Lowell Lowe's music is quite memorable. This is John Woo's best film to date and one of my personal favorites.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as you might think
Review: This is a movie to give to people who have only seen John Woo's American offerings or whom don't know what Hong Kong movies are like. It has some human drama, gunfights with birds (and in a John Woo movie when the birds show up you know that's there will be bullets following), spiritual dimension, musical montages and Chow Yun Fat. When it first came out millions gushed about it and it became THE cult movie to watch. But while it is a good movie, I cannot love it quite as much as I did the first time I saw it. Partially it's the second-view syndrome. There are very few Hong Kong movies that I love as much the second time around as the first. There's also the fact that I know this genre now. I am expecting the musical montages, the "I'm a cop/I'm a killer. Let's be buddies" male bonding as well as the bullets that hit point blank but don't do any damage until the right moment. This one has a particularly ridicous example with Chow Yun Fat's mentor who is shot over and over and over again and yet doesn't die until it's time for the final gun battle. What is to love in this movie? Chow Yun Fat and Danny Lee's interaction. The story of the hitman looking for his soul is an actual story instead of an excuse to shoot bullets. An actual story automatically puts this above most Hollywood action movies, by the way. The final gun battle is so over the top you think that there was never a time when guns weren't blazing in this movie and actual drama. You care about these people. What gets irritating about this movie on repeat viewings? Before I answer this I want you to make sure to read that question carefully. The first time you watch this movie, all of this stuff is overlooked. But if you buy the video be prepared to hate the following -- the music sucks. The chick screams and cries. You will start to wonder what kind of an operation is going to heal eyes that have been shot out. There are long stretches where NOTHING is happening. Actually the chick is the main irritant. Having seen enough Hong Kong movies I am spoiled by the fact that the chick is usually strong and capable. This whiner is horrible. For movies from Hong Kong that can be watched many times try Better Tomorrow 2, Hard Boiled (both also by Woo), Green Snake, Bride with White Hair, Fist of Legend and Heroic Trio.
Rating:
Summary: Very good, but not a masterpiece
Review: I can't agree with the reviewers who get all misty over the human dimension of this film. I found it to be a very lightweight story--an intricate mesh of cliches buoyed by some pretentious imagery. The film's considerable power lies in the staging of the action scenes and Woo's confident use of the camera. They transcend the story and some of the more absurd elements of the action (ie, handguns that fire more bullets than most police departments could afford) and give iconic power to the characters. It's empty, but very entertaining to watch.
Rating:
Summary: Great Film Good Commentary
Review: Other reviewers have covered this film so well that I won't say what it's about. I will say that the film transfer is probably as good as the old Criterion laser disc. I briefly had a copy of this laser disc, but I had to return it as it was defective. The quality of the print is acceptible, but not great. I doubt that there is a better print out there though. One reviewer complained that the sound was in mono. Well, that was standard for Hong Kong movies of the time. John Woo's commentary is certainly the same as what was on the original laser disc. Woo has a lot of very interesting things to say about how he approaches film making, such as the fact that he does not use storyboards. Woo has a very heavy accent and at times is hard to understand though. I work every day with people from all parts of the world for whom English is a second language and even with all my experience I still found Woo hard to understand at times.
Rating: 
Summary: Developmental Woo
Review: It's pretty obvious to me that John Woo had not yet fully developed his penchant for wild, over-the-top ballets of violence when he made The Killer. It could also be that in Hong Kong he didn't have the huge, multimillion dollar budgets he had on such American films as Hard Target, Face Off and Mission Impossible 2. Chow Yun Fat is thoroughly convincing as Jeffrey, the assassin with a conscience. The concept of the noble rogue is one that gets explored often enough what with the slew of antiheroes gracing popular media today, but Chow does it very well. As the movie goes on, however, Woo seems to be more interested in tossing in as many gun battles and gory splashes of blood as possible and the story becomes less believable. The cooperation between the assassin and the police detective who grudgingly admires him is sort of hard to believe. They grow from nemeses to inseparable friends just a bit too easily. This was my first exploration of Hong Kong cinema and I can see why it's popular. The action sequences are exciting and unique and most of the stars seem to do their own stunts. Chow Yun Fat is very charismatic and I can see why he's had a great deal of success as an international star.
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