On April 17, 2023, UK label CineAsia is release the Blu-ray & DVD for The Killer (no relation to the 1989 John Woo film of the same name), a 2022 South Korean action thriller from director Choi Jae-Hoon (The Swordsman) that stars Jang Hyuk (The Flu, The Swordsman).
The hit man’s last mission: Keep the girl safe and sound. Ui-kang is a retired hit man. While his wife goes on a trip with her friend, she asks him a special favor to take care of her friend’s daughter. He doesn’t want to be bothered by the teenage girl but Yoon-ji gets stuck with juvenile delinquents and Ui-kang unavoidably uses a little bit of violence to protect her. However strangely, the juvenile delinquents are found dead and things start to get serious. Even worse, Yoon-ji is kidnapped by a teenager trafficking unit and Ui-kang is suspected of murder. He cannot fail his wife, he must get Yoon-ji back.
This title will soon be available at The Goodie Emporium, a U.S.-based online store that currently has many Import Shaw Brothers/Golden Harvest/martial arts DVD/Blu-ray movies in-stock – with New titles being added regularly!
U.S. Blu-ray release date for The Killer has yet to be announced, but stay tuned!
The Swordsman was fantastic so I can’t wait to see this. Hopefully Well Go USA will pick it up again so we can watch it on Hi-Yah 😊
I will definitely watch this but, my God, it’s getting to the point where the trailers for these Korean action/thrillers all look the same—stylish neon lighting, guys in black suits, John Wick-style gunfights and takedowns. If you squint, I bet this trailer would look indistinguishable from the trailer to ‘Spiritwalker.’ (Don’t get me started on them swiping the title of an iconic John Woo movie…)
This is one of the best action movies I’ve seen in recent memory, had the immense privilege of seeing this at this year’s FEFF 24, DO NOT skip this people, has one of the coolest final fight scenes of the year with Bruce Khan and is just an overall really enjoyable action flick delivered under 90 mins without any bullshit or filler most action movies have these days, Paul…. I will be waiting for your review of this one 😉
and it better be positive 0_0
“John Wick-style gunfights”
Well, those guys were big big fans of Korean action thrillers and far superior movies like The man from nowhere, A bittersweet life,…
I drove out far to see The Killer 2022, and it was very satisfying. If it was reworked a little bit it could have been a sequel to The Man From Nowhere, but then all of a sudden, the movie references it by name!
Jang Hyuk held nothing back and certainly gave this movie his all. Comparing this movie with John Wick I feel like is comparing Metallica with Megadeth in that they’re the same genre, but still different. It certainly doesn’t feel derivative.
I was afraid of the girl Jang was protecting being annoying, but she managed to be a compelling character and her interactions with him gave the movie some needed heart where they slowly start caring about one another.
I imagine if Hollywood remakes this movie, the girl could potentially be an insufferable brat, but one can hope such a route isn’t taken.
The gun fights and fisticuffs were very evenly spread out and showed great techniques mixed in with fun ideas. We even got a bit of gun-kata thrown in! With The Roundup and The Killer ‘22, we certainly got a great double dose of Korean mayhem!
“South Korea’s John Wick?”
How abput Johmn Wick being USA’s The man from nowhere/ A bittersweet life?
Anyway South Korea’s cinema is in a coma since what, 5, 6, 7, 8 years?
How about The Man from Nowhere/A Bittersweet Life being South Korea’s Leon The Professional?