The Replacement Killers (1998)

Failing to kill anymore because of his conscience, a troubled hit-man seeks aid from a forger to help him get papers to China. However, the drug-lord has hired replacements to finish the job and kill the hit-man.

Director:

Antoine Fuqua

Writer:

Ken Sanzel

Stars:

Yun-Fat Chow, Mira Sorvino, Michael Rooker

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yun-Fat Chow	...	John Lee (as Chow Yun-Fat)
Mira Sorvino	...	Meg Coburn
Michael Rooker	...	Stan 'Zeedo' Zedkov
Kenneth Tsang	...	Terence Wei
Jürgen Prochnow	...	Michael Kogan (as Jurgen Prochnow)
Til Schweiger	...	Ryker
Danny Trejo	...	Collins
Clifton Collins Jr.	...	Loco (as Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez)
Carlos Gómez	...	Hunt (as Carlos Gomez)
Frank Medrano	...	Rawlins
Leo Lee	...	Lam
Patrick Kilpatrick	...	Pryce
Randall Duk Kim	...	Alan Chan
Andrew J. Marton	...	Stevie
Sydney Coberly	...	Sara

Storyline

John Lee is the best hitman money can buy. But when John refuses to kill because of the seven year-old son of his target, John's bosses send someone after John to kill him and then take his place in the ring of hitmen. John then teams up with Meg Coburn to help him escape these "Replacement Killers."

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Plot Keywords:

passport | replacement | hitman | drug lord | chinatown | 

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Taglines:

Kill or be replaced.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Cantonese

Release Date:

6 February 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Assassinos Substitutos

Filming Locations:

Belmont Tunnel - 1304 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£151,464 (UK) (5 June 1998)

Gross:

£359,183 (UK) (19 June 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, WCG Entertainment Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min 96 min (extended cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mira Sorvino speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. Yun-Fat Chow is a Cantonese Chinese native speaker but can also speak some Mandarin. Sorvino was able to help translate for Chow who was just learning English at the time.

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Goofs

In the alleyway, when John pulls out a pistol for the third time, he shoots a man on a fire escape, but no report from the gun is heard, nor is a flash seen.

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Quotes

John Lee: It will be the last death I cause.

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Connections

Featured in Where the Action Is (1998)

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Soundtracks

"33"
Written by Jerrad Shain, Wes Ger and Ben Vaught
Performed by Hed Planet Earth (as (hed) pe)
Courtesy of Jive Records

User Reviews

Good stuff

When the son of a powerful underworld boss, Mr. Wei, is killed in a police raid he swears vengeance. John Lee is the hit-man assigned with the task to carry out the hit, but despite a successful career as a contract killer he finds himself unable to pull the trigger. Even more upset, Wei sends in a duo of ruthless assassins, the replacement killers of the title, to kill both John and carry out his assignment.

This is the first feature length film for a successful music video director so it probably doesn't look so hot, but don't be fooled: this is one terrific action movie. Antoine Fuqua serves up a very assured and stylish direction while keeping the film going at an exciting pace. The shootouts are spectacular and are among the most furious seen outside of Hong Kong cinema. The film's performances are also strong and while the action makes the film exciting, they make the film involving.

The film is not to high on the originality scale as Chow Yun-Fat has played the self-conscious hit-man going against a ruthless underworld many times and the screenplay is for the most part predictable, but as an action movie it works very well. 8/10

Rated R for intense violence, and profanity