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->''"You want revenge, motherfucker? I never lose any contest, not in Vietnam and not tonight!"''
-->-- '''Paul'''

''Bullet in the Head'' (Chinese: ''喋血街頭'', ''"Dip Hyut Gaai Tau"'', meaning ''"Bloodshed in the Streets."'') is a 1990 HeroicBloodshed film by Creator/JohnWoo.

Paul (Creator/WaiseLee), Ben (Creator/TonyLeungChiuWai) and Frankie (Creator/JackyCheung) are three poor hoodlums in 1967 Hong Kong. Ben wants to get married and find a better life for himself, something that's quickly kiboshed when he and Frankie accidentally kill a rival gangbanger in revenge for him jumping Frankie earlier. In desperation, the three of them flee to wartorn [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam]], where Pauls uncle has found work for them with his buddy, the South-Vietnamese gangster Leong (Chung Lin).

Things can't get any worse right? Yes they can. Sweet merciful heavens, they can.

''Bullet in the Head'' is by far Woo's most personal film. Equally inspired by his own dirt poor upbringing in a Hong Kong ghetto, the tragedy of June 4th in Beijing, as well as the angst permeating Hong Kong society at the time (it was made at the same time as the 1997 turnover to China had all but been made official) it is an emotionally draining experience. If the standard [[GunFu epic firefights]] don't get you, the tragedy of the story will.

Creator/SimonYam also co-stars as Luke, a badass CIA agent who had a SmallRoleBigImpact to the three main protagonists.

Not to be confused with ''Film/BulletToTheHead''.

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!!This film provides examples of:
* AbusiveParents: Frankie's mother beats him with a shoe and kicks him out of the house for fighting, when he was actually attacked and beaten by Ringo's gang.
* ActionPrologue: The insanely violent gang fight between Ben and Ringo's gangs. Features people being stabbed, [[ChainPain hit with chains]] and having their heads shoved through car windows in slow motion.
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: Frankie's]] fate, after taking the titular bullet to the head. He doesn't die, but is doomed to spend his life as a raging, brain-damaged freak on the streets of Saigon. The bullet in his head also causes him constant pain, which he attempts to soooth by shooting ungodly amounts of heroin.
* AnArmAndALeg: Luke's arm is injured by an explosion during the attack on the prison camp. When Ben reunites with him after the war, his arm is missing.
* BadGuyBar: Leong's club in Saigon.
* BigBadEnsemble: There's the two factions of UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, both of which are committing war crimes, Y.S. Leong, a crime boss PlayingBothSides, and [[spoiler:Paul]], whose greed ends up getting the trio in all kinds of trouble.
* BigDamnHeroes: In the film's most intense moment when Ben and Frankie are surrounded by the VC, suddenly a group of GI - led by Luke - comes in guns-a-blazing.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Ben finally manages to avenge Frankie's death by killing Paul, but is left haunted by the fact that his two best friends are gone. That said, he does have a wife and son]].
* BoomHeadshot: The title scene has Paul putting a bullet in Frankie's head. [[spoiler:Tragically, it doesn't kill him and causes Frank to suffer horribly before Ben ultimately has to put him out of his misery]].
* BreakTheCutie: Poor Frankie is the most happy-go-lucky of the trio and he suffers the worst out of all of them.
* BrokenBird: Sally.
* CarFu: The film ends with the archetypal car duel where Ben and Paul just end up destroying each other's cars with head-on collisions and .45 bullets.
* TheCavalry: Luke shows up with the U.S. Army to save the trio from the prison camp.
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment. Leong forces Ben to chug [[NauseaFuel an entire bottle of Whiskey in one sitting]] as revenge for being insulted in his Saigon club. Frankie takes the punishment for him, and passes the test gallantly.... Only for Leong to give all three of them a bottle each.
* ColdSniper: An American one picking of NVA sentries in the final assault.
* CrapsackWorld: Nearly every character in the film is a criminal. Hong Kong is full of pro-Communist riots. Vietnam is in the middle of a civil war with both sides committing war crimes with impunity.
* DarkerAndEdgier: If you thought ''Film/TheKiller1989'' was Creator/JohnWoo's most depressing movie, check this one out as well.
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler:Having escaped Mr. Leong and the AVRN, Sally dies of her wound on the boat in Luke's arms. A despondent Luke then lets her body float downriver]].
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Ringo, a small-time gangster harassing our protagonists, initially seems like the Big Bad, but is killed fifteen minutes in, after which we're thrown into a giant BigBadEnsemble with [[spoiler:Paul]] being the TrueFinalBoss.
* DramaticAmmoDepletion: During the shoot-out at Mr. Leong's place, one of Frank's pistols clicks empty, giving Leong the opportunity to overpower him and take Sally hostage.
* ExplosiveCigar: Luke has some of the non-joking variety. He uses them during the raid on Mr. Leong's club and they're more like hand grenades.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** The rendezvous at the river bank after the bomb attack in Vietnam, is shot near frame for frame like the latter Mexican standoff in the Sampan.
** Paul's promise that one day "he'll hit this town in a Rolls-Royce!" He keeps his promise alright...[[spoiler: while locked in a firefight with his best childhood friend.]]
* FireForgedFriends: Inverted as the trio becomes more distant from each other as they endure the vicious cycle of poverty and experience the Vietnam War for themselves.
* FreudianExcuse: Paul grew up in poverty like his friends and his roadsweeper father urged him to not turn out like him. This fuels his dream of becoming rich, albeit at the cost of his humanity.
* FreudianTrio: Ben is the Superego, Paul the Id and Frankie the Ego.
* GenreShift: The film starts as your typical HeroicBloodshed movie involving three triad gangsters looking to make a big score. But then they go to Vietnam, where The War is in full swing, and the movie becomes a psychological war drama akin to ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' and ''Film/TheDeerHunter'' that tears apart the bond between [[SwornBrothers blood brothers]] which in Woo's other movies was all but unbreakable, before going into something combining the two for the finale as [[spoiler:Ben goes after Paul in revenge for killing Frank]].
* GoldFever: Paul, full-stop. He's even accused of it to his face, by Frankie.
* GoryDeadlyOverkillTitleOfFatalDeath
* GunsAkimbo: It is a John Woo film after all. Frank wields a pair of pistols during the nightclub shoot-out.
* {{Homage}}:
** The opening gang fight was inspired to one of Woo's favourite films, ''Film/{{West Side Story|1961}}''.
** The scenes in the POW camp were clearly inspired by ''Film/TheDeerHunter''. The influence of ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' is also clear.
* IHaveNoSon: Frankie's parents kick him out of the house for getting into a fight that wasn't even his fault.
* ImproperlyPlacedFirearms: The M203 grenade launcher is used, despite not entering service until 1969. Likewise, the Colt Model 653 Carbine didn't enter service until 1973.
* MercyKill: [[spoiler:Ben is forced to put Frank out of his misery when the bullet in his brain is making him suffer]].
* MexicanStandoff: Paul pulls a gun on Ben when he starts throwing gold in the river, prompting Frank to pull a gun on him.
* RagsToRiches: Paul is the son of a roadsweeper and has dreams of becoming rich. By the end of the film, he achieves that goal.
* RevisedEnding: [[spoiler:The film originally [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHNqLb-NrK0 ended]] with Ben confronting Paul in the boardroom and [[KarmicDeath shooting him in the same manner he did Frank]].]]
* ShootTheDog: [[spoiler:Ben is reunited with Frank, who is now a crazy homeless heroin addict as a result of the bullet in his brain. Luke tells him that even with surgery, he'll be a vegetable. Ben is forced to put his friend out of his misery. Frank puts the gun to his heart]].
* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:The trio, plus Luke, pull off a daring raid to rescue Sally from Mr. Leong. Ultimately, she gets taken hostage, shot, and later dies on the boat in Luke's arms]].
* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: While holed up in Mr. Leong's office, Luke tosses Ben a pistol-gripped Remington 870 that he uses to escape from Mr. Leong's club.
* SociopathicSoldier: Both sides in the Vietnam war are portrayed as this. The ARVN are shown executing civilians and openly looting a jewelry store after tearing it to shreds with an M60. The NVA for their part are sadistic torturers, who force their prisoners to execute each other with pistols and assault rifles.
* SoundtrackDissonance: An instrumental version of "I'm a Believer" by Music/TheMonkees plays during the opening gang fight. Later on, a different version plays as Luke guns a man down in the restroom.
* StealthInsult: Ben tries doing this to Leong. He basically calls him a complete creep, under the guise of being concerned for Sally's well being. Unfortunately for him, Leong is very much aware of what he's doing, [[OhCrap and will have none of it.]]
* StockFootage: The helicopter footage used in the camp raid was a mixture of stock footage from the Vietnam war, as well as scenes from another Vietnam movie.
* TisOnlyABulletInTheBrain: Paul shoots [[spoiler:Frankie]] in the head. [[spoiler:He survives, but is addicted to morphine to take away the pain, forcing Ben, his remaining friend to perform a MercyKill]].
* WarIsHell: None of the main characters, except for [[spoiler:Paul]], are left better off after enduring the Vietnam War.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: A thoroughly straightforward (and deeply tragic) example. Paul's dirt-poor upbringing might serve to explain things, but it can never excuse his [[spoiler: betrayal of Ben and attempted murder of Frankie.]]
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