The Killer (John Woo, 1989) French DVD

The Killer (simplified Chinese: \u558b\u8840\u53cc\u96c4; traditional Chinese: \u558b\u8840\u96d9\u96c4; Jyutping: dip6 hyut3 soeng1 hung4; pinyin: Diéxuè shu\u0101ngxióng)\u2020 is a 1989 Hong Kong action film written and directed by John Woo, and starring Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee and Sally Yeh. Chow plays the assassin Ah Jong, who accidentally damages the eyes of the singer Jennie (Sally Yeh) during a shootout. He later discovers that if Jennie does not undergo an expensive operation she will go blind. To get the money for Jennie, Ah Jong decides to perform one last hit.

After the financial backing from Tsui Hark became problematic following the release of Woo's film A Better Tomorrow 2, Woo had to find backing through Chow Yun Fat's and Danny Lee's financing companies. Woo went into filming The Killer with a rough draft whose plot was influenced by the films Le Samouraï, Mean Streets, and Narazumono. Woo desired to make a film about honour, friendship and the relationship of two seemingly opposite people. After finishing filming, Woo referred to The Killer as a tribute to directors Jean-Pierre Melville and Martin Scorsese.

The Killer was not an immediate success in Hong Kong, but received critical acclaim in the Western world with reviewers praising the action scenes and its over-the-top style. The film became Woo's stepping stone to make Hollywood films and has been a strong influence on many directors, including Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Johnnie To.