Die xue jie tou (1990)

Director:

John Woo

Writers:

Janet Chun (writer)
Patrick Leung (writer)

Release Date:

17 August 1990 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | History | Thriller | War

Plot:

In 1967, on the way to the wedding of a friend a young man is accosted by a local gang member. Later...

Plot Keywords:

Friend | Escape | Hong Kong | Friendship | Criminal

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Tony Leung Chiu Wai	...	Ben / Ah Bee
Jacky Cheung	...	Frank / Fai
Waise Lee	...	Paul / Little Wing
Simon Yam	...	Luke
Fennie Yuen	...	Jane
Yolinda Yam	...	Sally Yen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yue Ding
Shek Yin Lau	...	Fatso
Chung Lin	...	Y.S. Leong
Hee Ching Paw	...	Ben's mother
Hang Shuen So	...	Jane's mother
Kan-Wing Tsang	...	Jane's father
Chang Tseng	...	Paul's father
Kwong Lam Tsui	...	Frank's father
John Woo	...	Police inspector

Also Known As:

Bullet in the Head (Hong Kong: English title) (USA)
Bloodshed in the Streets (Hong Kong: English title) (literal title)
Dip huet gaai tau (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

Runtime:

136 min | Australia:126 min | New Zealand:125 min | Germany:97 min (video version) (heavily cut)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | English | Vietnamese | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Germany:18 (video rating) (heavily cut) | Germany:18 (re-rating) (uncut) | Netherlands:16 | Brazil:18 (DVD rating) | Hong Kong:III (video rating) | Malaysia:18SG | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | USA:R | Australia:R | Czech Republic:15 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:18 | Japan:R-15 | Italy:VM14 | Ireland:18 | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Golden Princess Film Production Limited

Trivia:

Was originally planned to be a prequel to Ying hung boon sik (1986) but a falling out between John Woo and producer Hark Tsui prevented this from happening. Woo reworked the script into what it is today, and Tsui made his own prequel, _Ying hung boon sik III (1989)_.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When the action moves to Vietnam the movie posters ('Dien Bien Phu', etc.) shown are films that came out well after the Vietnam war was over.

Quotes:

Ben: Mr Leong. I think think you're mistaken. When we were in Hong Kong we admired Miss Yen. We like listening to her sing. We were all staring at her just now, as we were wondering... wondering why she had changed so much. She's not pretty any more.
Paul: Ah Bee!
Ben: She's lost her innocence. She's not happy any more. I wonder who was responsible for that?
Y.S. Leong: You're criticizing me? Not many people would speak to me like that. Young man, you've got balls. Bring me wine!

Movie Connections:

References Ying hung boon sik (1986)

Soundtrack:

I'm a Believer

definitively a must seen!!

one of the best, hardest and pitilessest war/action/drama movies ever. thank you john woo for this masterpiece. a movie which you can't get out of your mind once you have seen it.