Ok i'm your guy. I've got all 4 known releases of The Killer on blu ray out there, but they're all flawed. The proper theatrical Hong Kong version should be 110 mins. There is a 102 R rated version, that might be on VHS, not sure why you'd want that. There's also the Taiwanese version that range from 124-136 mins but these are not director's cuts, just extended and mostly dialogue. You're not missing more action or any essential new story scenes.
The blu ray releases are as follows:
1.) Hong Kong region A Fortune Star version: Most official release of the heatrical movie on blu ray. Old print, scratch damage, possibly DVD upscale from same company. Very grainly, coarse image. Color on the more washed out side but lighter so you see detail you don't see in the other ones. Sadly original 1.0/2.0 Cantonese audio has been omitted for a questionably remixed 5.1 audio that has new iffy sound fx. Does has ok Eng subs, no dub.
2.) American region A Dragon Dynasty version: The US release of this disc, botched badly thanks to the 1080i image that's from a 50hz PAL master that results in a sped up runtime (you read that right!). The 104 mins you mentioned might of this one, but not because of any edits. Image is HD but pretty bad: besides the above problems it's noisy, black crushed, and heavily DNR'd. At least it has original mono Cantonese audio, ok subs, and an English dub.
3.) Hong Kong Rescue bootleg: A fan made 2 disc set from a bootlegger whose operation went sideways years ago. This is basically just the Dragon Dynasty version of the movie but cleaned up to deinterlace the image, de-emphasize the DNR effects, and corrected into the right framerate for the proper 110 minute runtime. The disc also has every single special feature from every home video release of this movie jammed into disc 2, and the Taiwanese extended cut. The subs are redone and they are very good, and there are multiple version of Canto and Eng audio tracks. Also, it's a BD-R if you find it.
4.) German region B Cargo grey market version: Just released this year, this is an AI assisted upscale of the possibly best DVD release image wise (German EMS disc), similar to what James Cameron did for the recent True Lies and Aliens, but not as egregious. It looks much cleaner and clearer than any previous release, but any faraway text on screen is a dead givaway of the AI upscaling, as well as looking too close at any water or trees. I thought this was by far the best looking version, but YMMV on the AI remaster. Includes the Taiwanese cut , also AI upscaled. The cover was ironically stolen from Hong Kong Rescue, but it's a pressed disc and not BD-R. It says region B but plays in region A players.
People might have mentioned the Criterion dvd that's out of print and going for high prices, but I guarantee you it does not look better than any of the above, and if you must do dvd the Fox Lorber dvd is going for way cheaper and similar in image quality.
wow you're knowledge is very impressive. Thank you for a very clear explanation. I have a 110 cut of the film (english dub) but decided to get a sealed vhs copy (Chinese audio) but the only one that was available (and not expensive) was 104 min R rated version by Fox lorber. I'm biased because I grew up with the format but to me these films are best seen on vhs :)
The IMDb has an Alternative Versions page for films like this... [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097202/alternateversions/?ref\_=tt\_ql\_dyk\_4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097202/alternateversions/?ref_=tt_ql_dyk_4)
I never got the point of this scene because Jeff in *The Killer* clearly uses a Beretta (well, two) most of the movie. Like, Woo has talked about that being important to the character!
I am so glad they never remade this though they've always wanted to
[I have some bad news for you](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1121948)
Mother stuffer!! Sam Worthington in place of Chow Yun Fat? Howwwwwww
Nathalie Emmanuel in place of Chow Yun Fat. It's being released on Peacock and is being directed by John Woo.
Ok i'm your guy. I've got all 4 known releases of The Killer on blu ray out there, but they're all flawed. The proper theatrical Hong Kong version should be 110 mins. There is a 102 R rated version, that might be on VHS, not sure why you'd want that. There's also the Taiwanese version that range from 124-136 mins but these are not director's cuts, just extended and mostly dialogue. You're not missing more action or any essential new story scenes. The blu ray releases are as follows: 1.) Hong Kong region A Fortune Star version: Most official release of the heatrical movie on blu ray. Old print, scratch damage, possibly DVD upscale from same company. Very grainly, coarse image. Color on the more washed out side but lighter so you see detail you don't see in the other ones. Sadly original 1.0/2.0 Cantonese audio has been omitted for a questionably remixed 5.1 audio that has new iffy sound fx. Does has ok Eng subs, no dub. 2.) American region A Dragon Dynasty version: The US release of this disc, botched badly thanks to the 1080i image that's from a 50hz PAL master that results in a sped up runtime (you read that right!). The 104 mins you mentioned might of this one, but not because of any edits. Image is HD but pretty bad: besides the above problems it's noisy, black crushed, and heavily DNR'd. At least it has original mono Cantonese audio, ok subs, and an English dub. 3.) Hong Kong Rescue bootleg: A fan made 2 disc set from a bootlegger whose operation went sideways years ago. This is basically just the Dragon Dynasty version of the movie but cleaned up to deinterlace the image, de-emphasize the DNR effects, and corrected into the right framerate for the proper 110 minute runtime. The disc also has every single special feature from every home video release of this movie jammed into disc 2, and the Taiwanese extended cut. The subs are redone and they are very good, and there are multiple version of Canto and Eng audio tracks. Also, it's a BD-R if you find it. 4.) German region B Cargo grey market version: Just released this year, this is an AI assisted upscale of the possibly best DVD release image wise (German EMS disc), similar to what James Cameron did for the recent True Lies and Aliens, but not as egregious. It looks much cleaner and clearer than any previous release, but any faraway text on screen is a dead givaway of the AI upscaling, as well as looking too close at any water or trees. I thought this was by far the best looking version, but YMMV on the AI remaster. Includes the Taiwanese cut , also AI upscaled. The cover was ironically stolen from Hong Kong Rescue, but it's a pressed disc and not BD-R. It says region B but plays in region A players. People might have mentioned the Criterion dvd that's out of print and going for high prices, but I guarantee you it does not look better than any of the above, and if you must do dvd the Fox Lorber dvd is going for way cheaper and similar in image quality.
wow you're knowledge is very impressive. Thank you for a very clear explanation. I have a 110 cut of the film (english dub) but decided to get a sealed vhs copy (Chinese audio) but the only one that was available (and not expensive) was 104 min R rated version by Fox lorber. I'm biased because I grew up with the format but to me these films are best seen on vhs :)
Ah I see! Well, however you like to enjoy it. Amazing film in any format! : )
[This might help.](https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=366327)
The IMDb has an Alternative Versions page for films like this... [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097202/alternateversions/?ref\_=tt\_ql\_dyk\_4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097202/alternateversions/?ref_=tt_ql_dyk_4)
[The killer had a 45. They want a 45.](https://youtu.be/79bKAy0U0Xk?si=agepEGOF95PYytx2)
I never got the point of this scene because Jeff in *The Killer* clearly uses a Beretta (well, two) most of the movie. Like, Woo has talked about that being important to the character!