Bullet in the Head: A Middling Woo Outing That Doesn't Quite Come Together (4K/Blu-ray)

The Film:

Once again we return to Shout! Studios' incredible Hong Kong Cinema Classics series with another offering from the great John Woo, the filmmaker behind such action classics as "Hard Boiled" and "The Killer." This time we're taking a look at an entry in his filmography that's perhaps not as well-known as his more popular works entitled "Bullet in the Head," a curious blend of drama, crime, action, and romance that he made not long after the latter of the aforementioned classics. As usual, Shout! is giving the film a marvelous 4K upgrade and packing it with several brand new extras, so let's dive right in and see where this lesser-known project from the beloved director ranks.

Starting in 1967 Hong Kong, the film centers on three best friends and gang members: Ben (Tony Leung), Paul (Waise Lee), and Frank (Jacky Cheung). When Ben becomes engaged to his girlfriend, Frank decides to take out a loan to pay for the reception. However, he is attacked by a gang leader who tries to take the money, causing Ben and Frank to retaliate against them, which results in the gang leader's death. To escape the police, the three friends decide to flee Hong Kong and go to Vietnam, where they hope to earn some money as smugglers.

Unfortunately this doesn't go as planned, as their smuggled goods get destroyed in the chaos of the war-torn country, eventually leading them to plan the daring rescue of a nightclub singer from a life of captivity with the help of their new friend Luke (Simon Yam). They carry out their incredibly dangerous plan, which also results in them obtaining a box of gold, but they soon find that their troubles have only just begun.

"Bullet in the Head" has the start of a rather interesting premise, and for its first half it's actually pretty successful in establishing these three best friends as compelling characters as they go about trying to make a new life for themselves in a different country. It even does a fine job of upping those stakes once they have to change their plans entirely, throwing in new elements that add an exciting dynamic to their situation. However, when it comes to its second half, we start to see several cracks in this intriguing story that show how Woo and co-writers Patrick Leung & Janet Chun perhaps didn't think the narrative progression all the way through.

For starters, we have one of the trio becoming comically obsessed with the box of gold that they acquire from the nightclub. That is to say that it's extremely over the top and not done in a very convincing way. It's like they were trying to go for a level of obsession found in Humphrey Bogart's character in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," but couldn't quite get there, leading to it coming off as more than a little silly. This is on top of several instances of the boys getting drawn into the chaos of the Vietnam War, which seemed to distract from the main plot quite a bit. With all of the effort & production value thrown into those scenes, you almost get the feeling that Woo would've rather been making a film focusing on that subject as opposed to the three friends trying to get to safety.

All of this comes to a head (no pun intended) in the third act, where the plot takes an even crazier turn that requires a rather significant suspension of disbelief, all leading up to an overblown finale that tries to bring things back full circle. This brings us back full circle to say that the second half of the film simply has too many issues that prevent it from coming together in a satisfying manner. It's hardly a bad attempt at putting together an exciting adventure for these characters, but some of its developments really needed a little more thought put into them in order to integrate them into the story better. What we're ultimately left with is a middling Woo outing in which he took a big, wild swing, but which sadly had him missing in the end.

Video/Audio:

This edition of "Bullet in the Head" comes with the film on both 4K (2160p, UHD) and Blu-ray (1080p, HD) in 1.85:1 transfers of fantastic quality, featuring a beautifully sharp image throughout its 131-minute runtime that perfectly highlights its period details & action sequences. Likewise, the mono DTS-HD Master Audio tracks are outstanding, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in excellent quality. Overall, Shout! Studios has done a marvelous job in both areas for the film's new upgrade.

Special Features:

Brilliance with a Bullet (43 Minutes): An interview with director/co-writer John Woo.

Head Case! (18 Minutes): An interview with actor Waise Lee.

Army of One (5 Minutes): An interview with producer Terence Chang.

Apocalypse Woo (8 Minutes): An interview with editor David Wu.

Tumultuous Times (15 Minutes): An interview with production planner Catherine Lau.

Hong Kong Confidential (13 Minutes): An inside look at the film with author Grady Hendrix.

Apocalypse How? (27 Minutes): An interview with Professor Lars Laamann.

Festival Cut (136 Minutes)

Alternate Boardroom Ending (6 Minutes)

Conclusion:

John Woo's "Bullet in the Head" has the start of an intriguing premise about three young men trying to make a new life for themselves in a different country, but sadly the second half is not developed nearly as well as the first, leading to a number of elements that are merely silly & distracting, ultimately making for a middling work from the acclaimed director that doesn't quite satisfy in the end.

Score: 3/5

Now available on 4K/Blu-ray.

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