The Replacement Killers (1998)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Antoine Fuqua

Writer (WGA):

Ken Sanzel (written by)

Release Date:

6 February 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Kill or be replaced.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Hitman | Police | Drug Lord | Chinatown | Revenge

Cast

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

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and for language.

Runtime:

87 min | USA:96 min (extended cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Cantonese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | Argentina:13 | Peru:14 | France:-12 | USA:Unrated (extended version) | Finland:K-16 (VHS) (1998) | Finland:K-18 (35 mm) (1998) | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Philippines:R-18 | Australia:MA | Belgium:KNT | Canada:18A | Germany:18 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Ennis-Brown House - 2655 Glendower Avenue, Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Brillstein-Grey Entertainment

Trivia:

The Chinese character engraved on Lee's bullets means "death".

Goofs:

Factual errors: During the shootout at the arcade, Ryker uses an MP5K in a briefcase. If the briefcase were actually used in this manner, the shooter would most likely end up with a calf-full of lead. The proper technique of employing an MP5K in a briefcase (as taught by the HK International Training Div.) is to hold it with both hands and brace it against the chest/stomach (muzzle toward the target, of course).

Quotes:

Meg Coburn: Hostage etiquette: kidnapper pays the incidentals.

Movie Connections:

References Ying hung boon sik (1986)

Soundtrack:

Boom Boom Caw

Top quality post-pub idiocy

I'm not entirely sure what some people out there were expecting from a film called The Replacement Killers, but if you can spot the cunning suggestion of an hour and a half of manic gunfire and ridiculous slo-mo death scenes in place of a coherent plot up ahead then you're in for a treat.

Basically it's just Mira Sorvino standing around looking gorgeous while Chow Yun-Fat spins all over the place pulling an endless succession of guns from his magic crotch holster, filling the bad guys with at least five times as many bullets as necessary, and it's great fun. Purists may disagree, but you can't really go wrong when applying sky-high Hollywood production values to the sheer aestheticism of modern-day Hong Kong gunslinging shenanigans. The Replacement Killers: it's great.

The only niggle I have is the fact that Jurgen Prochnow's actual choice of replacement killers, when he's told to hire "men of John [Yun-Fat]'s talent", turn out to be a couple of trigger-happy gibbons every bit as hopeless as all the other goons in their bullet-riddled wake. He probably just gave some guns to a pair of tramps and spent the change on sweets. The dirty swine.