The Killer 4K 1989 Ultra HD 2160p

This is a story about two men who become friends because they refuse to sell themselves out and live a life that does not correspond to their feelings and aspirations. Jeffrey is a professional killer who accidentally blinds singer Jenny while carrying out an assignment.

A mutual affection develops between the blind singer and the hitman, but Jeffrey's closest relationship is with the police inspector who is on his trail, who recognizes a kindred spirit in the hired killer.

Jeffrey wants to pay for Jenny's eye surgery, but to get the money, he must agree to carry out one more job, which he hopes will be his last.

User Review

By 1989, Hong Kong director John Woo had earned the title of “action master.” After several failures in the comedy genre, John radically changed his role and shot two incredibly successful action films: Hard Boiled and Hard Boiled 2. To further develop his career and avoid repetition, Woo declined to direct Hard Boiled 3 and took on a completely different project in the same genre, The Killer.

In fact, this is Woo's best action film since Hard Boiled in his pre-American career. Unlike his other Hong Kong films, all the events here are more balanced, and the plot has the right emphasis. None of the characters are annoying (as was the case with one of the friends in Bullet in the Head), and practically no one overacts. Chow Yun-Fat, who looked good in the Right to Live duology, but was a little too theatrical, looks much more serious and mature here.

And the story itself has matured. There is more quality drama, a little humor, great music, and stunning action scenes. It was this film that first introduced the tradition of the main character shooting with both hands (perhaps this was done in other films, but it was Woo who showed this scene in such a spectacular and emphatic way), and walls crumbling from one or two shots. Thousands of shards, hundreds of explosions, dozens of corpses. It's really interesting to watch, and the final shootout in the church is worthy of applause. John Woo combines blood and violence with romance and poetry in an amazing way, a mixture that can be called art without shame. Even despite the numerous killings, it would be wrong to call this film trash or pulp fiction.

The hitman is the magnificent Chow Yun-Fat, who has become completely at one with any weapon in his hands. These are stunning shootouts and a well-written story with a touching ending. And despite a slight theatricality, the film comes across as very serious.

Info Video

Codec: HEVC / H.265 (88.2 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10+
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Info Audio

#Cantonese: FLAC 1.0
#Cantonese: Dolby Digital 2.0
#English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0

Info Subtitles