The Killer: Limited Edition – Arrow Video (4K UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Hong Kong, 1989
Director: John Woo
Writer: John Woo
Cast: Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Chu Kong, Kenneth Tsang, Shing Fui-On, Ricky Yi Fan-wai, Barry Wong

Release Date: April 19th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 110 Minutes 58 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10 Dolby Vision
Rating: 18 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono Cantonese, LPCM Mono English, Dolby Atmos Cantonese
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region B (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: £34.99 (UK)

"Ah Chong (Chow Yun-Fat) is a hitman whose latest job takes a wrong turn when, during a shootout at a lavish nightclub, he accidentally blinds singer Jennie by firing his gun too close to her eyes. Racked with remorse, Ah Chong decides to retire from his life of crime and help Jennie get a cornea transplant. But when Ah Chong's rancorous former boss betrays him, Ah Chong receives an unexpected helping hand from hot-headed police detective Lee Ying (Danny Lee, City on Fire).." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "The film has been restored in 4K resolution and graded in HDR10 and Dolby Vision. The original 35mm camera negative was sourced from the Hong Kong Film Archive and scanned in 4K by Interface Video Production Ltd in Hong Kong."

The Killer comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 87.9 GB

Feature: 83.6 GB

Although Arrow Video uses Shout! Factory's master as the foundation of their source, they have performed additional color grading. I didn't have any issues with either release's color timing, though there is some debate over which one is more aesthetically pleasing. That said, the source looks phenomenal; image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

The Killer, the extended cut, comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44.9 GB

Feature: 26.1 GB (Extended Cut), 24.9 GB (Preview Cut). 17.2 GB (Preview Cut Unrestored)

This disc uses seamless branching for the three versions.

Audio: 5/5 (All Audio Tracks)

This release comes with three audio options, a LPCM mono mix in Cantonese, a LPCM mono mix in English and a Dolby Atmos mix in Cantonese. The two mono tracks are comparable to the Shout! Factory 4K UHD release, while the newly created Dolby Atmos track gives fans of this film a new way to experience it. That said, all of the tracks sound excellent, and the Dolby Atmos does a phenomenal job of expanding the sound spectrum without straying away from the original mono track’s intentions. Included are English subtitles for the Cantonese language track, English SDH for the English language track, and English subtitles for Cantonese text when watching the English language track. Language tracks and subtitles can only be changed via the setup menu and not during playback. It should be noted that Arrow Video has done additional work on their subtitles and they are not the same ones used by Shout! Factory.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an image gallery (77 images—stills/lobby cards/posters), Hong Kong theatrical trailer #1 (4 minutes 38 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Cantonese with removable English subtitles), Hong Kong theatrical trailer #2 (3 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), U.S. theatrical trailer #1 (1 minute 26 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), U.S. theatrical trailer #2 (1 minute 29 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), deleted and extended scenes (11 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Mandarin with burnt-in English and Cantonese subtitles), alternate English-language credits (3 minutes 43 seconds, Dolby Digital mono), an archival audio commentary recorded for the Criterion Collection with director John Woo and producer Terence Chang, an archival audio commentary with John Woo, an audio commentary with John Woo and film journalist Drew Taylor, and an audio commentary with film critic and author David West.

Extras on a Blu-ray disc include four archival featurettes with John Woo and producer Tsui Hark: The Birth of the Romance Killer (8 minutes 38 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with text in French and removable English subtitles), The Loneliness of the Director (7 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with text in French and removable English subtitles), Editing and Identification (11 minutes 37 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with text in French and removable English subtitles) and The Influence of Jean-Pierre Melville (4 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with text in French and removable English subtitles), American Cinematheque 2025 introduction with John Woo (14 minutes 10 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with actor Kenneth Tsang (15 minutes 7 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with actress Sally Yeh (14 minutes 57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with cinematographer Peter Pau (14 minutes 7 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with author Grady Hendrix titled Hong Kong Confidential: Inside The Killer (11 minutes 32 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo, no subtitles), an interview with editor David Wu titled Editing the Killer (11 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo, no subtitles), an interview with Terence Chang titled My Kind of Hero (6 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with John Woo titled A Bullet Ballet (44 minutes 45 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo, no subtitles), and a documentary about John Woo titled The Hero of Heroic Bloodshed, featuring interviews with John Woo, stuntman Bruce Law, producer Michael Colleary, writer Mike Werb, and producer Lori Tilkin de (74 minutes 19 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo, no subtitles).

Extras on a 2nd Blu-ray disc include the Taiwanese extended preview cut with additional scenes from the Taiwan VHS release (129 minutes 28 seconds, LPCM mono Mandarin with removable English subtitles, contains standard-definition inserts), the Taiwanese extended preview cut unrestored from a 35mm print (129 minutes 28 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Mandarin with burnt-in English and Cantonese subtitles, in standard-definition), and the extended Taiwanese cut (136 minutes 49 seconds, LPCM mono Mandarin with removable English subtitles, 1080p with standard-definition inserts).

Other extras include a reversible cover art, a double-sided foldout poster, six postcard-sized art cards, a chipboard slipcase, a slipcover, and a 40-page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay titled The Killer, John Woo’s Elegy for Chivalry written by Priscilla Page, an essay titled John Woo’s The Killer, Honour, Melancholy and a Ballet of Bullets written by Frank Djeng, an essay titled Heart Target written by Rafik Djoumi, an interview with John Woo conducted by Stéphane Moïssakis, and information about the transfer.

Summary:

John Woo dedicated his entire career to making The Killer, and following the unprecedented success of A Better Tomorrow and A Better Tomorrow II, he finally had the liberty to craft a film according to his vision. Although The Killer features elements that are in common with his two A Better Tomorrow films, the result is a film that feels more like something that was influenced by the French New Wave. That said, when all was said and done, The Killer solidified John Woo's place as one of Hong Kong cinema's greatest filmmakers.

A hitman agrees to do one last job for a friend, and during the hit he accidentally blinds a nightclub singer. Feeling guilty, the hitman works his way into her life, and when he needs money for an operation to restore her sight, he takes on another contract killer job. Although he kills his target, the person who hired him double-crosses him and sends a hit squad to eliminate him.

The Killer, like John Woo’s two A Better Tomorrow films, is most recognized for its highly stylized action sequences, and yet, like those two films, it is a film that actually connects on an emotional level. While the action sequences rightfully receive significant attention, John Woo’s most overlooked talent as a filmmaker lies in his ability to craft dramatic moments that are just as exhilarating as his explosive action scenes.

The Killer’s flawlessly constructed narrative is filled with tense moments that build upon each other and culminate in an exemplary finale that’s overflowing with symbolism and a hellfire of bullets. The narrative opens big with a nightclub shootout where the protagonist accidentally blinds a woman who gets in the crossfire of the mayhem unfolding. This sequence works on so many levels; it does a superb job setting the foundation for what unfolds, and it quickly establishes what kind of man the protagonist is.

The Killer, like the other five films that make up John Woo’s key six Hong Kong films, is blessed with an outstanding cast. Chow Yun-fat (Hard Boiled) is cast in the role of a hitman named Ah Jong. Ah Jong is fiercely loyal and demonstrates compassion for those he unintentionally harms through his actions. While he shares traits with the characters that Chow Yun-fat portrayed in A Better Tomorrow and A Better Tomorrow II, this portrayal arguably represents the best character he has ever played.

Another performance of note is Danny Lee (City on Fire) in the role of Detective Li Ying. Although his character starts off as Ah Jong’s adversary, by the time the finale rolls around, they have formed an inseparable bond. He delivers an exceptional performance that perfectly counterbalances Chow Yun-fat’s Ah Jong. Rounding out the cast is Sally Yeh (Shanghai Blues) in the role of Jennie, the nightclub singer who loses her sight, and Shing Fui-on (The Blue Jean Monster) in the role of Wong Hoi, the man who hired and double-crossed Ah Jong.

Besides the aforementioned nightclub shootout, there are three other significant action set pieces. The first of these is an ambush at Ah Jung’s apartment and the aftermath in which the police investigate. This sequence features a tracking shot that starts with Detective Li Ying and concludes with Ah Jung seated in the same chair. It is a striking moment that allows the detective to delve into Ah Jung's mindset for a deeper understanding of him. The second of these is a virtually dialogue-free 20-minute sequence where Ah Jung, sitting in a speedboat, kills his target, then flees the scene, is attacked by assassins while being chased by police, and takes a critically injured young girl to the hospital. That said, the biggest and best action set piece is saved for a finale that takes place inside of a church.

The unsung hero of The Killer is its score/soundtrack, which greatly heightens the mood. A trio of songs sung by Sally Yeh and George Frideric Handel's Messiah when a Virgin Mary statue is blown into pieces are the most notable music cues. The Killer is a film in which every element harmoniously comes together, creating a work that far exceeds the sum of its parts. Ultimately, it stands out not only as one of the best action films but also as one of the greatest films ever made.

For their release, Arrow Video has added a substantial amount of new extras and two alternate versions of the film. In comparing the two releases, it is evident that Arrow Video’s version stands out as the superior choice over Shout! Factory’s offering. The Killer gets a definitive release from Arrow Video. Highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer