The Long Good bye aka The Headhunter is an early Chow Yun Fat action flick that is not nearly as bad as the other user reviews on here indicate. I can somewhat agree however that this movie could have been better and is nowhere near the quality of Chow Yun Fat's film work once his movie career took off. I will say if you expect this film to be along the lines of A Better Tomorrow or The Killer, you will be bummed out big time with The Headhunter. This film is a low budget post Vietnam war action film set in Hong Kong. Chow Yun Fat plays a Vietnamese immigrant and Vietnam war veteran working as a stuntman in the film industry. To make ends meet and support his family at home he also is employed by the local syndicate as a hit-man. There is nothing glamorous about Chow Yun Fat's character, Yuen Lick. He is a violent hood living in poverty. He ends up falling in love with a news reporter played by Rosemund Kwan. He also is being stalked by his former commander from Vietnam. He left behind his former c.o. to the enemy and is played by Phillip Chan. Phillip Chan is best known for playing Chow Yun Fat's boss in Hard Boiled and also a cop in JCVD's classic Bloodsport. He now is a professional killer as well and is on a collision course with his former brother in battle Yuen Lick. The tone of the film is bleak and there is nothing fancy or stylized going on here. The film is gritty and the characters are caught in a vicious circle of violence and misery. The action level is low for a HK production and not as crazy as I am used to watching in other films. However it is on par with what you would see from similar, low budget action films made in the west during the same period (late 70's/early 80's). For what this is, it is pretty decent. I could see this film being booked as a double or triple feature in one of those scuzzy grindhouse theaters with similar films.
