The Replacement Killers
Encyclopedia
The Replacement Killers is a 1998
American
action film
, directed by Antoine Fuqua
in his directorial debut. It stars Chow Yun-fat
and Mira Sorvino
. The film was Chow's American debut, but not his first shot on American soil; he previously appeared in John Woo
's A Better Tomorrow 2
, which was filmed partially in New York
.
The film earned $8 million during its opening weekend in the U.S. and a total of $19.2 million in U.S. box office.
An "Extended Edition" DVD of the film with approximately 11 minutes of additional footage was released on April 25, 2006.
) is a hitman hired by a Chinese Triad boss named Wei (Kenneth Tsang
) to kill the 7-year old son of an L.A. cop, Stan Zedkov (Michael Rooker
), who killed Wei's son during a shootout. He finds his conscience will not allow him to do it, and the Triad boss Wei responds by threatening Lee's family back in China as well as hiring other hitmen to finish the job of killing the child. Desperate to return and protect his family, Lee turns to forger Meg Coburn (Mira Sorvino
) to provide him with a new passport, but Wei's men track them down and shoot up her office before she can complete the papers. Now Coburn and Lee must outrun both the new hitmen and the police while finding a way to save Lee's family as well as the officer's.
critics, only 12 of 30 (40%) rated it "Fresh", though the website's "Cream of the Crop" reviews were 60% favorable. Roger Ebert
, included in the latter group, liked the film's "simplicity of form and its richness of visuals". He continued:
Stephen Holden
, in a review for The New York Times
, was less impressed, calling it a "seamless fusion of Hong Kong action-adventure style and cool, Los Angeles street chic... that is otherwise devoid of content".
1998 in film
-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
, directed by Antoine Fuqua
Antoine Fuqua
Antoine Fuqua is an American film director. He directed the film Training Day as well as Tears of the Sun, King Arthur, Shooter and Brooklyn's Finest...
in his directorial debut. It stars Chow Yun-fat
Chow Yun-Fat
Chow Yun-fat, SBS is an actor from Hong Kong. He is best known in Asia for his collaboration with filmmaker John Woo in heroic bloodshed genre films A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled; and to the West for his role as Li Mu-bai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...
and Mira Sorvino
Mira Sorvino
Mira Katherine Sorvino is an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Mighty Aphrodite and is also known for her role as Romy White in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.- Early life :Sorvino was born in Tenafly, New Jersey...
. The film was Chow's American debut, but not his first shot on American soil; he previously appeared in John Woo
John Woo
John Woo Yu-Sen SBS is a Hong Kong-based film director and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard...
's A Better Tomorrow 2
A Better Tomorrow 2
A Better Tomorrow 2 is a 1987 Hong Kong action and crime directed by John Woo and starring Chow Yun-fat, Dean Shek, Leslie Cheung, and Ti Lung.A follow-up to its popular predecessor, A Better Tomorrow...
, which was filmed partially in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
The film earned $8 million during its opening weekend in the U.S. and a total of $19.2 million in U.S. box office.
An "Extended Edition" DVD of the film with approximately 11 minutes of additional footage was released on April 25, 2006.
Plot
John Lee (Chow Yun-fatChow Yun-Fat
Chow Yun-fat, SBS is an actor from Hong Kong. He is best known in Asia for his collaboration with filmmaker John Woo in heroic bloodshed genre films A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled; and to the West for his role as Li Mu-bai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...
) is a hitman hired by a Chinese Triad boss named Wei (Kenneth Tsang
Kenneth Tsang
Kenneth Tsang Kong is a Hong Kong actor. Tsang's career has spanned 50 years and included a variety of acting roles.Tsang was born in Shanghai, China with family roots in Jida, Zhuhai, Guangdong. He attended high school in Wah Yan Hong Kong and then Wah Yan, Kowloon...
) to kill the 7-year old son of an L.A. cop, Stan Zedkov (Michael Rooker
Michael Rooker
Michael Rooker is an American actor.-Early life:Rooker, who has eight brothers and sisters, was born in Jasper, Alabama and studied at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago, where he moved with his mother and siblings at the age of thirteen, after his parents divorced.-Movie career:He made his...
), who killed Wei's son during a shootout. He finds his conscience will not allow him to do it, and the Triad boss Wei responds by threatening Lee's family back in China as well as hiring other hitmen to finish the job of killing the child. Desperate to return and protect his family, Lee turns to forger Meg Coburn (Mira Sorvino
Mira Sorvino
Mira Katherine Sorvino is an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Mighty Aphrodite and is also known for her role as Romy White in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.- Early life :Sorvino was born in Tenafly, New Jersey...
) to provide him with a new passport, but Wei's men track them down and shoot up her office before she can complete the papers. Now Coburn and Lee must outrun both the new hitmen and the police while finding a way to save Lee's family as well as the officer's.
Cast
- Chow Yun-fatChow Yun-FatChow Yun-fat, SBS is an actor from Hong Kong. He is best known in Asia for his collaboration with filmmaker John Woo in heroic bloodshed genre films A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled; and to the West for his role as Li Mu-bai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...
as John Lee - Mira SorvinoMira SorvinoMira Katherine Sorvino is an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Mighty Aphrodite and is also known for her role as Romy White in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.- Early life :Sorvino was born in Tenafly, New Jersey...
as Meg Coburn - Michael RookerMichael RookerMichael Rooker is an American actor.-Early life:Rooker, who has eight brothers and sisters, was born in Jasper, Alabama and studied at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago, where he moved with his mother and siblings at the age of thirteen, after his parents divorced.-Movie career:He made his...
as Stan "Zeedo" Zedkov - Jurgen ProchnowJürgen ProchnowJürgen Prochnow is a German actor. His most well-known roles internationally have been as the sympathetic submarine captain in Das Boot , Duke Leto Atreides I in Dune , the minor, but important role of Neo-Stalinist dictator General Ivan Radek in Air Force One and the villain Maxwell Dent in...
as Michael Kogan - Til SchweigerTil SchweigerTilman Valentin "Til" Schweiger is a German actor, director, and producer.He is one of Germany’s most successful filmmakers. Since 1968, when the FFA started counting, no other German actor has drawn more people to the cinemas. He runs his own production company, Barefoot Films, in Berlin.-Early...
as Ryker - Kenneth TsangKenneth TsangKenneth Tsang Kong is a Hong Kong actor. Tsang's career has spanned 50 years and included a variety of acting roles.Tsang was born in Shanghai, China with family roots in Jida, Zhuhai, Guangdong. He attended high school in Wah Yan Hong Kong and then Wah Yan, Kowloon...
as Terence Wei - Danny TrejoDanny TrejoDan "Danny" Trejo is an American actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, most notably in roles as an antagonist, or anti-hero.-Early life:...
as Collins - Clifton Gonzalez GonzalezClifton Collins, Jr.Clifton Craig Collins, Jr. is an American actor.-Life and career:Clifton Craig Collins, Jr. was born in Los Angeles, of half Mexican descent and the grandson of actor Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez. He has sometimes been credited as Clifton Gonzalez-Gonzalez to honor his grandfather...
as Loco - Randall Duk KimRandall Duk KimRandall Duk Kim is a Korean-American stage, television and film actor. Kim was also the artistic director and mainstay lead actor at the American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin, which he founded with Anne Occhiogrosso and Charles Bright...
as Alan Chan
Critical response
Among Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
critics, only 12 of 30 (40%) rated it "Fresh", though the website's "Cream of the Crop" reviews were 60% favorable. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, included in the latter group, liked the film's "simplicity of form and its richness of visuals". He continued:
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
, in a review for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, was less impressed, calling it a "seamless fusion of Hong Kong action-adventure style and cool, Los Angeles street chic... that is otherwise devoid of content".