Dip huet seung hung (1989)

Director:

John Woo

Writer:

John Woo (written by)

Release Date:

September 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

This film will blow you away.

Plot:

A disillusioned assassin accepts one last hit in hopes of using his earnings to restore vision to a singer he accidentally blinded, only to be double-crossed by his boss.

Plot Keywords:

Shot In The Chest | Triad | Beating | Shot In The Heart | Arm Blown Off

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Yun-Fat Chow	...	Ah Jong (as Chow Yun Fat)
Danny Lee	...	Insp. Li Ying / Little Eagle
Sally Yeh	...	Jennie
Kong Chu	...	Fung Sei (as Chu Kong)
Kenneth Tsang	...	Sgt. Tsang Yeh (as Tsang Kong)
Fui-On Shing	...	Wong Hoi (as Shing Fui On)
Wing-Cho Yip	...	Wong Dung-Yu
Fan Wei Yee	...	Paul Yau
Barry Wong	...	Chief Insp. Dou / Tu
Parkman Wong	...	Insp. Chan Bok
Siu-Hung Ng	...	A killer
Sing Yeung	...	Bodyguard A
Siu Hung Ngan	...	Bodyguard B
Kwong Leung Wong	...	Wong Tong
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chung Lin	...	Jueng Wan / Ah Jong's first victim (uncredited)
Hsiang Lin Yin	...	Syndicate man (uncredited)

Directed by
John Woo

Writing credits
John Woo		(written by)

Produced by
Hark Tsui	....	producer (as Tsui Hark)

Original Music by
Lowell Lo		(as Lowell Lowe)

Cinematography by
Peter Pau
Wing-Hung Wong

Film Editing by
Kung Ming Fan		(as Fan Kung Ming)

Art Direction by
Man-Wah Luk		(as Luk Man Wah)

Set Decoration by
Chun-Ching Tai

Costume Design by
Shirley Chan

Makeup Department
Benny Chow	....	hair stylist
Judy Mann	....	makeup artist
Yvonne Yen	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Claudie Chung Chun	....	executive in charge of production (as Claudie Chung)
Virginia Lau	....	production manager
Roy Leung	....	assistant production manager
Kwong-King Ngan	....	unit manager
Lai-Ping Tsang	....	post-production supervisor
Deanne Yew	....	production manager (as Deannie Yew)
Patrick Yip	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Leung Chi-Ming	....	second assistant director
Patrick Leung	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Hsu Wei-Kuo	....	assistant art director
Sai-Ching Yeung	....	property master

Sound Department
Siu-Lung Ching	....	sound effects

Stunts
Siu-Tung Ching	....	action coordinator (as Ching Siu Tung)
Siu-Tung Ching	....	stunts
Chi-Ho Lau	....	action coordinator (as Lau Chi Ho)
Chi-Ho Lau	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Kim-Kit Chik	....	chief electrician
Kam Fook-Shing	....	electrician
Wai-Ming Ip	....	still photographer
Tak-Shing Lee	....	chief electrician
Stephen Shin	....	still photographer
Lee Wai-Tak	....	assistant camera
Chun-Wah Yuen	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Tong Ping	....	wardrobe mistress

Editorial Department
Chin-Kuen Pang	....	assistant editor

Music Department
David Wu	....	music editor

Other crew
Billie Chan	....	unit publicist
Kathy Cheung	....	production accountant
Janet Chin	....	continuity
Sylvia Fung	....	tea lady
Gloria Ho	....	production security
Wysum Pao	....	continuity
Chi-Wah Tse	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Film Workshop
• Golden Princess Film Production Limited
• Magnum Entertainment
• Media Asia Group

Distributors

• Circle Films (1990) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Cinephile (1990) (Canada) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Palace Pictures (1990) (UK) (theatrical)
• Astro Distribution (1996) (Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
• Betta Entertainment (Brazil) (VHS)
• Buena Vista Home Video
• C/FP Video (Canada) (VHS) (as "The Killer") (subtitled or dubbed)
• Cinema Mondo (Finland)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)
• Fox Lorber Home Video
• Fox Lorber (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Fox Lorber (USA) (VHS)
• Hong Kong Legends (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Made in Hong Kong
• Media Asia Distributors Ltd. (1989) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (France)
• Rapid Eye Movies
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (Argentina) (video)

Other Companies

• Cinefex Workshop Co. Ltd.  optical effects
• Cinema City Recording Studio  recording studio
• International Subtitle Co.  subtitles
• Magnum Stunts  car stunts
• Mandarin Laboratory (International) Ltd.  film processing
• Showreel Film Facilities  mixing studio
• Studio LipsInc.  english dubbing

Also Known As:

The Killer (Hong Kong: English title) (USA)
Bloodshed of Two Heroes (International: English title) (literal title)
Die xue shuang xiong (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive strong violence and some language.

Runtime:

111 min | Australia:96 min | Taiwan:141 min | USA:104 min (R-rated version)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG | Iceland:16 | Germany:18 (uncut) | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Chile:18 | France:-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:18 | USA:R (edited version) | USA:Unrated | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Film Workshop

Trivia:

Tsui Hark was extremely unhappy with this film and wanted to have it completely recut. For example: Tsui felt that the focus of the movie should be on the cop instead of the killer. Therefor, he wanted the film to start with the scene that introduces the cop. The shootout in the restaurant, during which the killer blinds Sally Yeh, was to be completely cut and only inserted in flashbacks later in the movie. Neither Woo nor editor David Wu were going to reedit the film to Tsui's demands and due to a tight schedule (The Killer was going to premiere in Taiwan in a short time and some 100 cinemas had already booked the film), Hark didn't have the time to mess with the film. The Killer was a huge success when it premiered in Taiwan, which made Hark so furious that he (allegedly) threw things out of his office window.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jeff goes to the back room in the first gun battle at the bar, a man takes aim at him from behind the bar counter with a shotgun. Jeff turns his attention to another man with a gun, and then looks back to the man behind the bar, who is seen putting the shotgun into firing position once more.

Quotes:

Lee: Life's cheap. It only takes one bullet... He's no ordinary assassin; I hope we're just looking for one man. If I'm not mistaken, this man is not a cold-blooded murderer.
Sgt. Randy Chang: It only takes one bullet, cold-blooded or not.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hitman (2007)

Soundtrack:

It's Been Written

No Competition

First of all, I am disgusted by some of these reviews. Modern action has been overrun by special effects and stuntmen with death wishes (not that I'm complaining), but one must consider the time and the place. It's not the world of the Matrix or the Human-Cyborg War (or whatever it's called) in the Terminator, it's Hong Kong in the 1980's with counterfeiting, hostile Chinese syndicates. It doesn't have to be a big budget feature to be great. Clerks by Kevin Smith had a minute budget, but it made Smith famous.

I digress. Woo creates a sensitive and emotionally complex... assassin. To make him reconsider his job as a professional killing machine Jeffrey, the killer, blinds a lounge singer, Jenny. He swears to himself that he will end his career after one last job. Woo introduces us to the concept, like you see in A Better Tomorrow, that you can never leave a Triad even if you try your hardest. With an hour of attempting, Jeff realizes the horrible truth. Rarely does Woo bring in this feeling of absolute futility in his work. After losing his best friend, Jeff has crossed the Rubicon in his attempts and must end his ties to it by ending his everyone's but his own, excluding Jenny and Inspector Lee. Some people dislike the final shootout, but the doves and the Christian symbology adds a touch that drives religious and heroic bloodshed to the minds of the audience. On a personal note, I love it. The last few seconds depict a man, perhaps Lee, playing a harmonica in front of the church for reasons I don't know.