John Woo Collection DVD 2-Pack: The Killer/ Hard Boiled

This is an excellent, affordable deuce of John Woo classics. They are an interesting pair, showing different facets of John Woo's directorial style. While primarily known for his action, I find John Woo more compelling for his ability to weave a good story and compelling characters into action scenes. This is what separates his movies from the American equivalent."The Killer" is a story driven, personal, Shakespearian epic of honor and loyalty. Chow Yun Fat and Danny Lee are flip sides of a coin, one a cop, the other a paid killer, who find themselves drawn into an unavoidable admiration for each other. The violence in this film is poetic rather than gratuitous. The ending is personal and the deaths are meaningful. I find this to be the superior film."Hard Boiled" is the counterbalance to "The Killer." It is sheer, over the top violence. Shotguns fire the famous "John Woo Bullets" that explode upon impact. Sub machine guns never run out of ammo. In this film, Chow Yun Fat is the hard boiled policeman and Tony Leung Chiu Wai is an undercover agent that may have gone too far. Like "The Killer," these two dangerous characters gain a grudging respect for each other. Unlike the "The Killer," "Hard Boiled" finds it's big finish in a Hollywood style extravaganza of blood and bullets on a major scale.Again, this is a really great package with interesting commentary and a few features. Who knew that John Woo's films are influenced by the American musical? I recommend "A Better Tomorrow" to follow up this great set.

When the Beastie Boys claim that they've "got more action than my man John Woo", they're making quite a claim. These two videos are classic Woo, before he came to Hollywood. Put that disastrous MI:2 out of your head. This is the real stuff. In any one action scene in either of these movies, more bullets are fired than in any other action movie's duration. This is balletic violence at its best. It's where Chow Yun Fat (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Li Mu Bai) first got his recognition. Not only are the action scenes incredible, but the story and characterization are good, too. The only painful thing (other than that suffered by the actors) is the voice dubbing. If a subtitled version is offered, get that. It's not like you're going to be able to take your eyes off the screen.

John Woo and Chow Yun-fat are incredible in these two masterpieces of HK Chinese action movies. Unequalled action scenes in a non-stop sequence of breathtaking scenes. Makes Western remakes seem slow and stodgy in comparison. Great storylines and acting throughout (with a good dose of humour as Woo takes on small roles with gusto!). Strongly recommended.

I'm a HUGE John Woo fan. Nice to have them in this format.

I won't get into a movie review, but I though I should say something about the DVDs. Each disc is not full of extras but what is there ranks up in quality with most DVDs. The main problem with the discs is the sound and film quality. Voices are muted compared to the background sound. The film is definitely not digitally remastered as can be noticed in the beginning of the films, where there are noticeable scratches. Maybe the master was low quality, I don't know. For me, the defects became less noticeable as I was drawn into the story. Bottom line: I thought they were worth the price, but if the defects will bother you (because we expect the highest quality from a DVD) then wait and hope for another release.

"Give a man a gun and he is a hero. Give him two and he is God"Nothing can quite prepare you for the amount of bullets that are used in this film - all done to an impeccable action style that has still not been beat. If there was ever a Guinness Book of Records for the "Most bullets shot in a film" John Woo's Hard Boiled would be first place for a very long time. It is a terrible shame that this director has only been toned-down by Hollywood. There is not a hope that he would be allowed to do what he has done here with Hong Kong actors to the Hollywood cream of the crop. It seems that it is okay to have a Hong Kong Asian to shoot the hell out of everything but this same action when applied to Western culture would only shock and shame. The same can be said for the star of Hard Boiled - Chow Yun-Fat (Crouch Tiger, Hidden Dragon) who since moving to the West has fired less bullets in all his Hollywood films put together than he does in the first five minutes of this film. Does that really matter? In many ways - Yes it does. Unlike THEIR Hollywood films the gun violence here is not gratuitous. It is artistic and warrented. No one can come away from this film to say that have seen unjustified and unnecessary amounts of actions. It is all integral to the style and plot of this movie. Yes, innocent people do get mowed down in a hail of hot lead and yes the violence is bloody, but is that not what gun violence is? Here you see exactly what guns do to people. Forget Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" - The true message of gun control is right here! The plot is even about the dangers of gun smuggling!One thing for sure is that there is more gratuitous gun violence in most Hollywood productions than there is here. Here we have a hard boiled cop who is assigned to tracking down gun smugglers. He is a hard boiled cop because he knows how to use his guns. His superiors are using him to fight fire with fire. The action gets going from the word go as the hard boiled cop busts a gun dealing operation. His buddy cops and innocent people get killed in the process. He then goes to extract some revenge and put the big gun runners out of business - only problem is there are literally thousands of them he must cut down. Cue unrelenting battle sequences from start to finish all done in excellent style and slow-mo. You have not seen anything like Hard Boiled before, nor will you again. The ending in the hospital is like DIE HARD with ten thousand times more suspense.Hard Boiled is also a wonderfully acted movie with excellent first rate action direction. The story is also coherent and good, especially for an Asian production. This is every action fans wet dream. Believe me if you have not seen Hard Boiled then it is about time that you did.Majestic Filmmaking, not to mention John Woo's greatest film. This is the stuff of Legend with an action hero to root for.

Three very different types of John Woo films, three BONA FIDE CLASSICS. "Bullet In The Head" is a war epic about three brothers from Hong Kong who escape tp Vietnam after getting involved with the triads. "Once A Thief" is a high-fidelity heist film fronted by Chow Yun Fat. Finally, "The Killer" pits Chow Yun Fat against Danny Lee in a wild cop vs killer caper, with a RIDICULOUSLY high body count.Genre-defining Hong Kong action cinema at it's brilliant best. The only omission from the collection is "Hard Boiled", but you can buy it alongside it.

i enjoyed the product a lot... pretty much like it was advised and even more... i can say im satisfied

cant get better than jon woo films, and this cheap.. this is a must get dvd box set for all

Great

excellent value