Born in Guangzhou in 1946 and raised in Hong Kong, John Woo began at Shaw Brothers as an assistant to Chang Cheh and directed comedies before A Better Tomorrow (1986) transformed Hong Kong action cinema. His 'heroic bloodshed' films with Chow Yun-fat, The Killer (1989) and Hard Boiled (1992), are marked by operatic gunfights, slow motion, doves, and themes of honour and brotherhood between men on opposite sides of the law. He moved to Hollywood for Hard Target, Broken Arrow and Face/Off (1997), and returned to China to make the epic Red Cliff (2008).
Filmography
- A Better Tomorrow (1986)
- A Better Tomorrow II (1987)
- The Killer (1989)
- Bullet in the Head (1990)
- Once a Thief (1991)
- Hard Boiled (1992)
- Broken Arrow (1996)
- Face/Off (1997)
- Red Cliff (2008)