***definite spoilers - beware***
In the cinema version of Bullet in the Head screened in Australia, the film concludes in the boardroom with Jacky Cheung's bullet-punctured skull being unveiled to Waise Lee before his former friend shoots him stone dead in front of the other executives.
An alternative version seen on cable in Taiwan - the one discussed by other reviewers here and often criticised - sees the pair retire somehow (how???) from the boardroom and engage in a protracted and bizarre, almost gladiatorial combat somewhere by the docks of Victoria Harbour (presumably).
The first ending was easily superior and no less bleak; the second suffers terribly in comparison. But despite that, the second ending's ferocity indicates just what John Woo lost when he packed his things and moved to LA. For all of the clumsiness of the second ending, it still rammed home Woo's unrelenting fury at the thought of friendship betrayed. This "non sequitur" ending is redeemed by the honesty of that fury.
Hong Kong movies are (were?) so often like that - short on technical and narrative polish, but long on passion and drive. Compare Broken Arrow, Face/Off and MI2 (or almost all of the films made by other HK expats in recent years) - they're the exact opposite. None of these come close to Bullet in the Head. Woo may never top it.
In the cinema version of Bullet in the Head screened in Australia, the film concludes in the boardroom with Jacky Cheung's bullet-punctured skull being unveiled to Waise Lee before his former friend shoots him stone dead in front of the other executives.
An alternative version seen on cable in Taiwan - the one discussed by other reviewers here and often criticised - sees the pair retire somehow (how???) from the boardroom and engage in a protracted and bizarre, almost gladiatorial combat somewhere by the docks of Victoria Harbour (presumably).
The first ending was easily superior and no less bleak; the second suffers terribly in comparison. But despite that, the second ending's ferocity indicates just what John Woo lost when he packed his things and moved to LA. For all of the clumsiness of the second ending, it still rammed home Woo's unrelenting fury at the thought of friendship betrayed. This "non sequitur" ending is redeemed by the honesty of that fury.
Hong Kong movies are (were?) so often like that - short on technical and narrative polish, but long on passion and drive. Compare Broken Arrow, Face/Off and MI2 (or almost all of the films made by other HK expats in recent years) - they're the exact opposite. None of these come close to Bullet in the Head. Woo may never top it.