Bullet in the Head: John Woo’s Long-Neglected Masterpiece Gets a New 4K Set
When people think of John Woo’s classic Hong Kong period, the movies that come to mind are usually Hard-Boiled or The Killer (or maybe A Better Tomorrow if you’re into the deeper cuts). But the movie that Woo was actually the most passionate about—and the one he considered his greatest, most personal work—is still largely obscure, even in Asia. That movie is Bullet in the Head. A sprawling epic that, at the time, was by far the most expensive movie ever made in Hong Kong, the film was a notorious financial disaster. It was despised by both critics and audiences in Asia, but ironically was well received in the U.S. when it played a handful of festivals (although it never received a Stateside release on video). In the years since its release, a bunch of different, largely compromised cuts have been floating around, with it never getting a great Blu-ray release…until now.
A Record-Breaking Budget — and a Notorious Box Office Disaster
Bullet in the Head is Shout Select’s latest Hong Kong classic to get a re-release, and in its 4K edition, it looks better than ever. The film is the story of three young men—Ben (Tony Leung), Frank (Jacky Cheung), and Paul (Waise Lee)—who, in 1960s Hong Kong, yearn to escape their impoverished existence and strike it rich. They resolve to find their fortunes in Vietnam, working as smugglers, going to work for a gangster and befriending a Eurasian hitman named Luke (Simon Yam). Things go awry when Ben and Frank are no longer willing to turn a blind eye to the cruelty of their boss, who is sexually exploiting a young Chinese singer named Sally (Yolinda Yam). Along with Luke and a reluctant Paul, they opt to rescue Sally from her predicament, but things steadily go from bad to worse for the trio, who at one point end up in a North Vietnam prisoner-of-war camp where they are forced to participate in deadly games for the amusement of the camp guards.
It all sounds pretty heavy, and indeed, Bullet in the Head is easily Woo’s harshest film. But it’s also jam-packed with action, with some incredibly mounted sequences, including the climactic escape from the POW camp, which ranks among Woo’s best-ever action sequences. The cast is solid too, with one of Woo’s favorite leading men, Tony Leung, getting an excellent role as Ben, a would-be gangster who’s a little too compassionate for the job. Jacky Cheung, a huge pop star at the time in Asia, is similarly good as the good-natured Frank, while Waise Lee—who was the baddie in A Better Tomorrow—is the greedy Paul. Of the three, Paul is the weakest character, with him going from conflicted to satanic in the space of about fifteen minutes of screen time. Best of all is Simon Yam, a familiar face for fans of Hong Kong action cinema, who plays a role very much in the mold of those Chow Yun-Fat played for Woo.
The 4K Release: Multiple Cuts and the Definitive Version
The 4K set is great—with one caveat. There have always been many cut versions of the film floating around, and Shout tried to reassemble the longest cut, which played at some film festivals, from a variety of sources. Yet, in some cases, the sources turned out to be censored prints. That’s why your best bet is to stick with the 4K theatrical version, which is uncut and looks great.
Once again, the extras are killer and built around an extensive interview with Woo. He opens up about how the film was a passion project for him, but it goes deeper than that. He admits to being badly hurt when, in the wake of A Better Tomorrow 2, he had a huge falling-out with many of his friends in the industry, who he says badmouthed him and betrayed him. Indeed, Woo had initially pitched the concept for Bullet in the Head as another Better Tomorrow movie, and his former producer, Tsui Hark, took it for himself, making A Better Tomorrow: Love and Death in Saigon, which was rushed to theaters to beat Bullet in the Head. He remembers the Hong Kong premiere of his movie being nightmarish, with the industry crowd storming out, noting that the only person who enjoyed the movie and comforted him was Chow Yun-Fat, who he admits was a steadfast friend during that whole time. Sadly, Woo also reveals that at least thirty minutes of the movie were cut and that when he got famous in the West, he tried to buy the rights to the film so he could restore it, only to discover that all the footage had been burned.
Final Verdict: A Must-Own for Woo Fans
While the theatrical cut is compromised, at least it is Woo’s vision, with him having done the re-editing himself. The 4K set is a must-own, with some dazzling special features, including an alternate ending that ended up on some prints of the film, which is even darker than what played in theaters. If you like Woo’s other Hong Kong movies, you are in for a serious treat with this one. BUY IT HERE!
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