The Killer (1989 film)

The Killer
Theatrical release poster
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	喋血雙雄
Simplified Chinese	喋血双雄
Literal meaning	pair of blood-splattering heroes[1]
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin diéxuè shuāngxióng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping dip6 hyut3 soeng1 hung4
Directed by	John Woo
Written by	John Woo
Produced by	Tsui Hark
Starring	Chow Yun-fat Danny Lee Sally Yeh Chu Kong Kenneth Tsang Shing Fui-On
Cinematography	Peter Pau Wong Wing-Hang
Edited by	Fan Kung-Ming
Music by	Lowell Lo
Production companies	Film Workshop[2] Magnum Presentations
Distributed by	Golden Princess Film Production
Release date	6 July 1989 (1989-07-06) (Hong Kong)
Running time	110 minutes[3]
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese
Box office	HK$18.3 million

The Killer (Chinese: 喋血雙雄^[4]) is a 1989 Hong Kong action crime film directed by John Woo and stars Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee and Sally Yeh. In the film, an assassin (Chow) accidentally damages the eyes of a singer (Yeh) during a shootout and sets out to perform one-last-hit for her treatment.

After the financial backing from Tsui Hark became problematic following the release of 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.^[5] Woo wanted 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 internationally with reviewers praising its action sequences and over-the-top style. The film became Woo's steppingstone to Hollywood and has been a strong influence on many directors, including Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Johnnie To. In the years since, The Killer has come to be considered one of the greatest action films ever made.