The Killer may have been the very first Hong Kong movie many of us found on a cruddy VHS several generations down and not well transferred in the first place. This or Hard Boiled. It didn’t matter, though, because the magnitude of John Woo penetrated those early import formats, priming us for Face/Off, if not Hard Target first.
Woo’s action scenes were fluid and graceful. Spinning, rolling and pushing backwards were moves that explained how our heroes could survive crossfire and still hit their targets.
Now it’s clean and stable. Well, there have been laserdisc and DVD editions before, but 4K is incredible. Particularly clear and vivid scenes include the rowing race and ensuing boat chase, and the white suit shootout with ensuing car chase. Chow Yun-fat looks out into the deep night sky, and with the entrance to the church, goons keep emerging from pure darkness. The crimson blood splatters brightly.
Bonus features include a 75 minute documentary on Woo’s career. Woo himself participates and it gets into his Hollywood era with the writers of Face/Off. Woo gives another 45 minute interview. This is on top of his new commentary. Drew Taylor asks him very specific questions and gets answers. Woo talks about his remake too, but the original Criterion Collection commentary in which Woo dedicates the film to Martin Scorsese and Jean-Pierre Melville is also included.
David West gives the historian commentary. They also got a few minutes with producer Terrence Chang, the music editor and Grady Hendrix with historical context. 11 minutes of deleted scenes include some bits from the church shootout.
The Hong Kong Classics series started off with the signature Woo films, this and Hard Boiled with the Better Tomorrow trilogy as the starting off point. We’re about to go really deep with next month’s Bullet in the Head release.