4/5 4.5 Stars. Just like Gene Siskel (RIP) said, I'd like to see it again.
  by The Whatever Dude (houston, tx United States)
Having seen the trailer multiple times as well as seeing 2 other Walter Hill films (Red Heat and Trespass), I had come across this underrated gem at Borders for $15. And I decided, why not? For me, the movie was $15 well spent.

Mickey Rourke plays John Sedley, a small-time hood whose deformation has given him the nickname, "Johnny Handsome", who is in the midst of planning a robbery with his friend, Mikey Chalmette (Played by Scott Wilson) and 2 other criminals, Rafe and Sunny (Played by the always great Lance Henriksen and Ellen Barkin.) In the middle of the robbery, John and Mikey are double-crossed by Sunny and Rafe. Mikey ends up killed and Johnny is arrested. While in jail, Lt. Drones (Played by Morgan Freeman) offers Johnny a chance to participate in a rehab program. Johnny accepts the offer and while at the rehab, Johnny is stabbed and taken to a hospital. At the hospital, a sympathetic surgeon (Played by Forest Whitaker) gives Johnny a new face, a new identity (Johnny is given the name Johnny Mitchell), and a new shot at life. Johnny is eventually granted parole and gets a job at a plant. Going straight isn't all that easy, however. What Johnny really intends to do is get even with Rafe and Sunny.

I found the film to be an intense and underrated revenge noir that really deserves more attention than it already has. The score by Ry Cooder (Also responsible for the equally good score for Trespass) fits the film well too. The only thing that I did not like about the film was the ending, which was pretty sad. Nevertheless, it's a fun film that will hopefully, get more recognition in the future.

Highly recommended.

DVD Extras: The movie is presented in a crisp 1.33:3 full frame format, although I really don't know why Artisan decided against showing the film in it's original 1.85 aspect ratio, but it's still a good presentation. It's also VHS sourced, so if you watch the film all the way to the end, you'll see the I.V.E. logo.

4/5 Walter Hill directs a terrific cast in New Orleans film noir
  by Dennis W. Wong
Along with "Southern Comfort", "Hard Times" and "Geronamo", this film noir set in New Orleans is one of director Walter Hill's best work. With a sultry blues score by Ry Cooder and a terrific cast headed by Mickey Rourke in the title role along with Morgan Freeman as the greek chorus, Elisabeth McGovern (the love interest), Forrest Whittaker as a kindly surgeon, Ellen Barkin as a fatal femme fatale and Lance Henrickson as her partner in crime, "Johnny Handsome" never lets up in the action and tension that ensues when a career criminal (Rourke) tries out a life changing operation. There's a slam bang robbery heist that goes south plus a dynamic conclusion to this under-rated film noir that will leave you breathless, thanks to Hill's direction. If you like your films down and dirty--this is it!! One of Rourke's best films along with "Barfly" and the recent "Wrestler".

1/5 VHS transfer to DVD
  by R. Silvey (Fresno, CA United States)
Horrible rip-off by Artisan! Cheap VHS full-screen transfer. I sent mine back and get a refund!

3/5 Terrific thriller, lousy DVD
  by Trevor Willsmer (London, England)
Walter Hill's 1989 morality play sees Mickey Rourke gives one of his very best performances as a deformed crook given plastic surgery and a second chance for either redemption or revenge. Given short shrift from most critics and making little impact at the box-office, Johnny Handsome is a minor classic waiting to be discovered, a pulp noir thriller in the RKO mold lifted into another class by the conviction of the cast and direction.

Hill's direction is a refreshing return to the form he hadn't quite managed to hit since The Driver, with a title sequence reminiscent of The Warriors briskly setting both the scene and the pace and acting as a prelude to the fluid, fast-cut action scenes. Originally developed for Robert De Niro, Rourke lends considerable depth to the part, making interesting use of his voice in the early scenes, Ellen Barkin and Lance Henriksen make a convincingly sleazy pair of villains, Freeman walks away with everybody else's scenes and, as usual, Elizabeth McGovern does her best with an almost non-existant role. Only the normally reliable Whittaker stumbles with his role, serving the narrative demands of his part without ever really getting inside it, but that's a small price to pay for a thriller as good as this.

Unfortunately LionsGate's DVD is a shoddy fullframe transfer, so those with multi-region players might want to pick up the PAL Region 2 DVD instead, which boasts a decent 1.8:1 transfer and the original trailer.

3/5 LET'S HAVE A WIDESCREEN RELEASE ALREADY!
  by Wayne Racine
This is a great movie that deserves a better DVD release - audio/video remastered and, please, PLEASE! Get it right and make it widescreen this time around.