The Killer (1989) (4K + Blu-ray Limited Edition) (Arrow Video) [UK]

Billy Talent

Billy Talent

Gotta Collect 'Em All
Premium Supporter
May 24, 2020
4,976
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Release date: April 20, 2026
Purchase links: Arrow Films - Zavvi - HMV
Price: £30.00 (Arrow Films) - £29.99 (Zavvi - HMV)

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4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
  • Reversible sleeve and double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
  • Six postcard-sized reproduction artcards
  • Collectors' perfect-bound booklet featuring new writing on the film by critics Priscilla Page and Frank Djeng, archival writing by critic Rafik Djoumi and an excerpt from an interview with John Woo conducted by Stéphane Moïssakis
DISC ONE - FEATURE AND EXTRAS (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)

4K Ultra HD (2160p) Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
  • Original lossless Cantonese mono and Dolby Atmos audio, and lossless English mono audio
  • Optional newly translated English subtitles for the Cantonese audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English audio
  • Brand new commentary by director John Woo and film journalist Drew Taylor
  • Brand new commentary by critic David West
  • Two archival commentaries by John Woo, one with producer Terence Chang
  • Deleted and extended scenes
  • Theatrical trailers
  • Image gallery
DISC TWO - EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)
  • The Hero of Heroic Bloodshed, a brand new feature-length documentary on John Woo's career
  • A Bullet Ballet, a brand new interview with director John Woo
  • My Kind of Hero, a brand new interview with producer Terence Chang
  • Editing The Killer, a brand new interview with editor David Wu
  • Hong Kong Confidential, a new appreciation by author Grady Hendrix
  • American Cinematheque 2025 introduction with Woo
  • Archival interviews with cinematographer Peter Pau and actors Sally Yeh and Kenneth Tsang
  • Four archival featurettes from 2001 with Woo and producer Tsui Hark
DISC THREE - EXTENDED CUT (BLU-RAY)
  • High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the 130-minute Taiwan Extended Cut with lossless Mandarin mono audio and optional English subtitles (contains standard-definition inserts)
  • Option to view the Extended Cut with additional scenes from the Taiwan VHS release
  • Unrestored print of the Extended Cut (standard-definition with burnt-in subtitles only)
 
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Just finished watching my copy, transfer looked great. I haven't watched this in years it was really nice re-visiting it and I kinda fell in love with it again, great action mixed with some funny moments and some heart to top it off really made for a great watch.
 
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By modern day standards the original film elements are still quite sketchy, you can see it in the first five minutes, often with minor granular inconsistencies in overall sharpness and unit lighting within sequences; that being said, the transfer and mastering are stellar compared to the dvd I have. The colour grade alone is wonderful and superbly highlights the bold saturated palette that John Woos late 80s Hong Kong output was well known for.
Despite it's obvious limitations, I've never seen It look as good as this. Against all other transfers I've seen, in a side by side, it's night and day, though it certainly won't wow newcomers with it's old school look in 4k. It just isn't that kind of transfer.

I only meant to watch the opening shootout during my test on Saturday and ended up watching the whole thing. Lol. Great stuff.

All bets are on that Chow Yun Fat will be buried with his two Beretta's and a matchstick between his teeth.
 
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TheWildEye said:
By modern day standards the original film elements are still quite sketchy, you can see it in the first five minutes, often with minor granular inconsistencies in overall sharpness and unit lighting within sequences; that being said, the transfer and mastering are stellar compared to the dvd I have. The colour grade alone is wonderful and superbly highlights the bold saturated palette that John Woos late 80s Hong Kong output was well known for.
Despite it's obvious limitations, I've never seen It look as good as this. Against all other transfers I've seen, in a side by side, it's night and day, though it certainly won't wow newcomers with it's old school look in 4k. It just isn't that kind of transfer.

I only meant to watch the opening shootout during my test on Saturday and ended up watching the whole thing. Lol. Great stuff.

All bets are on that Chow Yun Fat will be buried with his two Beretta's and a matchstick between his teeth.
Click to expand...
Yeah I did notice a few scenes where the quality dipped significantly I assume the original elements were sparse or damaged. Overall I still get the feeling arrow did their best, the picture and sound quality were top notch, colour grading looked really nice as well, I feel like the killer popped a lot more than hard boiled due to the general colour pallet of the film.
 
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mumbles said:
Disc 3- when you play the extended cut the player locks you out of the playback controls, so no pausing , fast forwarding or skipping. Arrow will announce the replacement programme soon.
Click to expand...

I'll check mine when I get home later on.
Not gone near disc 3.

Is it every single disc or has there been mixed reports?
Could be batch dependent.
 
TheWildEye said:
I'll check mine when I get home later on.
Not gone near disc 3.

Is it every single disc or has there been mixed reports?
Could be batch dependent.
Click to expand...
I’ve checked mine this morning and it’s effected . Honestly i’ve only googled it and while there’s discussion and references to a post from arrow I’ve not been able to find anything direct .
The main issue appears to be that arrow customer service doesn’t know what’s going on, which they wouldn’t until Arrow makes its announcement.
 
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still nothing from Arrow on the socials , so I contacted them via the portal in the accounts section and they replied with
IMG_2426.png
 
Finally got around to checking my Disc 3 Ex Cut.

Yep. Same issue. No skip, FF, Chapter functionality on the 130min cut. All seems fine on the other two cuts on the disc.

Looks like I'll be putting in an email with Arrow when I get a chance too.

May as well. Not being able to pause or fast forward or chapter skip even ... I can feel future me getting angry from all the way back here in 2026. :LOL:
 

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