The Replacement Killers


The Replacement Killers is a 1998 American action film directed by Antoine Fuqua in his feature film directorial debut, and written by Ken Sanzel. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Mira Sorvino, Michael Rooker, and Kenneth Tsang. The film was released in the United States on February 6, 1998. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Ken Sanzel. Veteran action director John Woo executive-produced and choreographed the action sequences. The film is set in modern-day Los Angeles and follows an emotionally disillusioned assassin who is forced to settle a violent vendetta for a ruthless crime boss. The film marks the American acting debut for Chow, as his previous film credits included Hong Kong action cinema only.
The film was a co-production between the motion picture studios of Columbia Pictures, Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, and WCG Entertainment Productions. The Replacement Killers explores assassination, violence and the influence of triads in modern society. The film score was orchestrated by Harry Gregson-Williams; the soundtrack was released by the Varèse Sarabande music label on March 10, 1998.
The Replacement Killers premiered in theaters nationwide in the United States on February 6, 1998, grossing $19.2 million in US ticket receipts and $39.5 million worldwide from a $30 million budget. It has a 38% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a consensus of "mixed reviews" on Metacritic.

Plot

During an orchestrated drug bust at a marine loading dock, LAPD detective Stan Zedkov kills Triad lieutenant Peter Wei.
Looking to exact revenge for his son's death, Peter's father, Terence, sends for professional assassin John Lee. Paying off an old debt, Lee has already killed two targets for Wei, who now tells him that this third and final job will settle the obligation. However, Lee's conscience prevents him from completing his final assignment: to assassinate Zedkov's seven-year-old son Stevie before the detective's eyes.
Realizing that his actions will result in retaliation against his mother and sister, Lee prepares to return to China, enlisting the help of old friend Alan Chan, a monk in a local Buddhist temple, to make arrangements to have his family moved to a secure location. Infuriated by Lee's disobedience, Wei orders his head lieutenant, Michael Kogan, to lead the hunt for Lee, and has his people in China begin the search for Lee's family.
No longer able to use the Triad network to get out of the country, Lee searches for alternative means outside Wei's sphere of influence, and looks to skilled forger Meg Coburn for a new passport. Before she can finish the job, Wei's men storm Meg's office, destroying the computerized tools of her trade in the ensuing shootout. Lee escapes; Coburn is picked up by the police, unsuccessfully interrogated by Zedkov, and released as bait so the detective can see who tries to kill her. Meanwhile, Wei hires two skilled out-of-town contract killers named Ryker and Collins to take over the hunt for Lee and the Zedkov contract.
Lee finds Coburn when she returns to her destroyed office. Having been made aware that the Triads are involved, Coburn wants out, but Lee forces her to finish her original task of creating a forged passport. Traveling with Coburn, and with the two "replacement killers" in pursuit, Lee gets pictures from a photo booth and phones Alan, who offers the use of his passport. When Lee arrives at the temple, he discovers that Alan has been tortured to the point of death. Alan tells Lee that his family was moved to Canton—but he told his torturers they were in Shanghai. Lee has little more than 24 hours before his family is found. The monk gives Lee his passport before dying in his arms.
Holed up in a hotel, Coburn finishes altering Alan's passport for Lee. The two exchange stories, and Coburn becomes sympathetic to Lee. Feeling compelled to stop the killing of Zedkov's son before leaving the country, Lee forces one of Wei's men to reveal the plan, which is to kill Stevie while he and his father are at a movie festival inside a cinema. Lee and Coburn, who insists on helping, arrive barely in time to prevent Ryker and Collins from killing the boy, and Ryker is killed by Lee in the subsequent gunfight.
Concerned that Lee and Coburn will make their way back to his base of operations, Wei makes plans to flee the country and hunt down Lee's mother and sister himself. However, when two guards open the main gate for Wei and his entourage to leave in a limo, Lee is just outside. He launches a two-handed handgun assault while Coburn surfaces moments later, driving a truck through the melee, incapacitating Kogan, and later killing him. When Collins fires from a high perch on Lee and Coburn, Lee soon outflanks Collins, killing him from behind. Finally, Lee corners Wei on a fire escape platform. Though both men have emptied their guns, Lee is first to reload. Wei promises Lee that the boy and Lee's family will still die, but Lee replies, "Not in your lifetime", and kills him. Though Zedkov arrives before Lee and Coburn can get away, he lets them go, taking only their guns.
Coburn reluctantly bids goodbye to Lee at the airport, presenting him with one last gift, passports for his mother and sister.

Cast

Filming

Production for the film began on February 10, 1997, in downtown Los Angeles. The first shoot was set in the historic Mayan Theater, refurbished as a trendy nightclub and cast with hundreds of extras for the film's opening scene. The eight-story, nearly condemned Giant Penny building in the middle of Los Angeles served as the location for a police station interior, a hotel room, and Meg Coburn's office. A chaotic gunfight was filmed amid the spray, brushes, and hoses of Joe's Car Wash, also in Los Angeles. A Chinatown-like streetscape of damp, narrow alleys and blinking red neon lights was created for the night-time finale, where Yun-Fat shot off 546 rounds of two-fisted shooting; the repetitive action left his hands blistered and shaking. More gunplay took place in a video arcade replicated at the original Lawry's California Center, just north of downtown Los Angeles. Lee's tranquil Buddhist temple was fashioned under this same roof.
Director Antoine Fuqua stressed to his team that the aim was to design a "Taxi Driver for the 1990s". In addition to physical training, Mira Sorvino, who had never handled a gun prior to this film, took weapons training to prepare for her role. Sorvino, who majored in Asian studies at Harvard, speaks Mandarin, and lived for eight months in Beijing, where she studied Chinese, taught English, and saw Chinese films, including Hong Kong action films. She felt The Replacement Killers brought her a step closer to her goal of making a film in Mandarin and working with a Chinese director. Prior to the start of filming, Sorvino had blown out her voice from screaming in reshoots of Mimic; Fuqua liked the effect and asked her to keep it, which required Sorvino to yell prior to each day's shoots to burn out her voice.

Music

Soundtrack

The original motion picture score was composed by Harry Gregson-Williams. Alan Meyerson mixed the sound elements for the chorus, while Richard Whitfield edited the film's music. The soundtrack for the film was released on March 10, 1998, by the Varèse Sarabande music label. In an interview with Hideo Kojima, he stated it was the film's soundtrack that led him to hire Harry to work on the soundtrack of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

Additional music

In addition to the film score by Harry Gregson-Williams, several modern songs by cutting-edge artists were included on the soundtrack including:
The Replacement Killers premiered in cinemas on February 6, 1998, in wide release throughout the US, and had a five-week theatrical run.

Home media

Following its cinematic release in theaters, The Replacement Killers was released on DVD and VHS by Columbia TriStar Home Video in the United States on July 1, 1998. Special features for the DVD included scene selections, the "Chow Yun-Fat Goes Hollywood" featurette, and the HBO special "Where the Action is". A VHS format edition was released on March 30, 1999.
On March 5, 2002, a Special Edition DVD was released. Features included digitally mastered audio and anamorphic video, widescreen presentation, audio in English 5.1, Spanish, French, Portuguese, subtitles in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai, director's commentary, the HBO making-of "Where the Action Is", deleted scenes, alternate ending, the "Chow Yun-Fat Goes Hollywood" featurette, theatrical trailers, filmographies, animated menus, and scene selections with motion images.
A UMD version of the film for the Sony PlayStation Portable was released on August 9, 2005. The disc features DVD quality picture, languages in Chinese, English, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Thai, and viewing options for color and black and white.
An extended-cut DVD adding approximately 10 minutes to the film was released on April 25, 2006. Special features included the "Chow Yun-Fat Goes Hollywood" featurette, digitally remastered picture and sound, and the edited HBO special "Where the Action Is".
The widescreen hi-definition Blu-ray version of the film was released on September 11, 2007. Special features included HBO's making-of "Where the Action Is" and the "Chow Yun-Fat Goes Hollywood" featurette. A supplemental Video on demand viewing option is available as well.