Replacement Killers (Extended Cut) (Blu-ray) (1998)

"...a fist-full-of-frenzied fun.  Frank Ochieng, Rec.Arts.Movies.Reviews
"Chow Yun-Fat is a legend in the making.  Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"A sleek piece of filmmaking.  Stephen Holden, The New York Times

Editor's Note Versatile Hong Kong box office giant Chow Yun-Fat makes a Hollywood splash as a John Lee, Chinese hitman beholden to drug kingpin Mr. Wei (Hong Kong stalwart Ken Tsang, in an interesting reversal of his "crusty cop" persona). The good news is that Lee's free after one hit; the bad news is that Wei wants revenge on a cop who killed his son--by killing the cop's son. Lee decides to run rather than kill the boy, and Wei doesn't take kindly to the betrayal. Tough-talking passport forger Meg Coburn (Mira Sorvino) creates a new identity for Lee, but that's of little help when they must face Wei's army of "replacement killers." First-timer Fuqua provides eye-candy visuals and plenty of action set pieces. John Woo executive produced.

	Chow Yun-Fat
	Jurgen Prochnow
	Michael Rooker
	Mira Sorvino
	Antoine Fuqua - Director
	Brad Grey - Producer
	David Lazan - Art Director
	Harry Gregson-Williams - Original Music By
	Jay Cassidy - Editor
	John Woo - Executive Producer
	Ken Sanzel - Writer
	Naomi Shohan - Production Designer
	Peter Lyons Collister - Cinematographer

Rolling Stone
"...Chow Yun-Fat is a legend in the making..." 02/19/1998 p.63

Sight and Sound
"...[Sorvino] attacks her role with skill. She never smiles until the final scene, but has stolen the show long before..." 06/01/1998 p.54-5

New York Times
"...A sleek piece of filmmaking....[With] a mood that is dreamlike and almost lulling..." 02/06/1998 p.E19

Box Office
"...THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS is a dazzlingly slick actioner that should not only thrill Chow's many devoted fans, but win him legions of new admirers as well..." 03/01/1998 p.54

Premiere
"...As many stateside viewers get their first glimpse of Hong Kong action icon Chow, they're sure to be transfixed by [his] sexy combination of vulnerability and higher purpose..." 02/01/1998 p.21

Chicago Sun-Times
"...It's a high-gloss version of a Hong Kong action picture....It's done with a tilt and a zoom....Cool and self-assured..." 02/26/1998 p.34

ReelViews 7 of 10
In these days of high-tech special effects and big screen derring-do, watchable action films typically come in one of two categories: those that tell a good story and those that don't tell much of a story, but look good all the same. The Replacement Killers, Chow Yun-Fat's entrance into American multiplexes, falls squarely in the latter category. The plot is so thin that it's not really worth thinking about, but director Antoine Fuqua and cinematographer Peter Lyons Collister have put so much effort into the feel and appearance of the movie that it held my attention...The terms "eye candy" and "testosterone flick" were coined for movies like The Replacement Killers -- mildly entertaining features that don't amount to much. It's all sound and fury signifying nothing. Nothing, that is, except the arrival of Chow Yun-Fat into the American mainstream. If he makes any kind of impact, the action genre will never be quite the same. - James Berardinelli

Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
``The Replacement Killers'' is all style. It's a high-gloss version of a Hong Kong action picture, made in America but observing the exuberance of a genre where surfaces are everything. The characters are as flat as figures on a billboard...What I liked about the film was its simplicity of form and its richness of visuals. There's a certain impersonality about the story; Chow and Sorvino don't have long chats between the gunfire. They're in a ballet of Hong Kong action imagery: bodies rolling out of gunshot range, faces frozen in fear, guys toppling off fire escapes, grim lips, the fetishism of firearms, cars shot to pieces, cops that make ``Dragnet'' sound talky. The first-time director, Antoine Fuqua, is a veteran of commercials and music videos; with cinematographer Peter Lyons Collister, he gets a sensuous texture onto the screen that makes you feel the roughness of walls, the clamminess of skin, the coldness of guns...``The Replacement Killers'' is as abstract as a jazz instrumental, and as cool and self-assured. - Roger Ebert