Well, I am a lucky ducky. I got a chance to see a 35mm print of The Killer as they were showing it as part of a Chow Yun-Fat festival at the Trylon Microcinema in Minneapolis.
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THE COLD HARD CHARM OF CHOW YUN-FATTHE KILLERThe Trylon microcinema
Mon Jul 27 7:00 9:15
Tue Jul 28 7:00 9:15
(1989, 35mm, 111m) dir John Woo w/Danny Lee, Sally Yeh. Woo’s over-the-top style and signature white doves would be first displayed inThe Killer’s tightly choreographed action set-pieces. Yun-Fat plays an assassin who takes on one more job to make up for accidentally blinding a lounge singer. But, there’s never a last job is there?
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The print was a bit beat up at times and I imagine it's not a super accurate color reference, but it was a treat to see. The film has a diffuse look overall, but the detail is far, far higher than any DVD. The movie, at least this print, has a warm hue to it. Whites tend to be more on the yellow side. When viewing it on film, the movie now has a strong dreamlike quality to it.
The moment the movie got to the church at the start, I was in heaven. I've never seen such detail before! Let's hope a proper BD transfer will surface eventually.