John Woo

John Woo SBS (吴宇森, Ng Yu-Sum; born 1 May 1946) is a Chinese-born Hong Kong film director, writer, and producer. He is considered a major influence on the action genre, known for his highly chaotic action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and frequent use of slow motion.[2] Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow (1986), The Killer (1989), Hard Boiled (1992), and Red Cliff (2008/2009). His Hollywood films include the action films Hard Target (1993) and Broken Arrow (1996), the sci-fi action thriller Face/Off (1997) and the action spy film Mission: Impossible II (2000). He also created the comic series Seven Brothers, published by Virgin Comics. Woo cites his three favorite films as David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia, Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï.

John Woo at Cannes Film Festival in 2005
John Woo at Cannes Film Festival in 2005

John Woo Filmography

 

Poster for the movie "Paycheck"

Paycheck

Michael Jennings is a genius who’s hired – and paid handsomely – by high-tech firms to work on highly sensitive projects, after which his short-term memory is erased so he’s incapable of breaching security. But at the end of a three-year job, he’s told he isn’t getting a paycheck and instead receives a mysterious envelope. In it are clues he must piece together to find out why he wasn’t paid – and why he’s now … Read more

Poster for the movie "Mission: Impossible II"

Mission: Impossible II

With computer genius Luther Stickell at his side and a beautiful thief on his mind, agent Ethan Hunt races across Australia and Spain to stop a former IMF agent from unleashing a genetically engineered biological weapon called Chimera. This mission, should Hunt choose to accept it, plunges him into the center of an international crisis of terrifying magnitude.

Poster for the movie "Hard Target"

Hard Target

When a woman’s father goes missing, she enlists a local to aid in her search. The pair soon discover that her father has died at the hands of a wealthy sportsman who hunts homeless men as a form of recreation.

Poster for the movie "Broken Arrow"

Broken Arrow

When rogue stealth-fighter pilot Vic Deakins deliberately drops off the radar while on maneuvers, the Air Force ends up with two stolen nuclear warheads — and Deakins’s co-pilot, Riley Hale, is the military’s only hope for getting them back. Traversing the deserted canyons of Utah, Hale teams with park ranger Terry Carmichael to put Deakins back in his box.

Poster for the movie "Blackjack"

Blackjack

After saving Casey, a daughter of his friend, from hired assassins, Jack Devlin is hit with a strange phobia – fear of white color. But when his other friend, who works as a bodyguard for a supermodel, is wounded, Jack decides to step in for him. Now he must confront his fear and the assassin, who seems to be well aware of Jack’s problem.

Poster for the movie "Windtalkers"

Windtalkers

Joe Enders is a gung-ho Marine assigned to protect a “windtalker” – one of several Navajo Indians who were used to relay messages during World War II because their spoken language was indecipherable to Japanese code breakers.

Poster for the movie "Once a Thief"

Once a Thief

Three art thieves try to re-steal a painting after their crime boss double-crosses them.

Poster for the movie "Heroes Shed No Tears"

Heroes Shed No Tears

The Thai government hires a group of Chinese mercenaries to capture a powerful drug lord from the Golden Triangle. The mercenaries manage to capture the drug lord, but soon find themselves pursued by his forces, and the forces of a bitter Thai officer. The Chinese mercenaries are vastly outnumbered, and as their numbers begin to dwindle, their desperation pulls them into a corner as their enemies close in on them.

Poster for the movie "Just Heroes"

Just Heroes

The assassination of a gang lord triggers a power struggle amongst his men. Who will win the game the righteous or the villain? Starring David Chiang, Danny Lee, Kuan Tai Chen and Tien Niu.

Poster for the movie "The Young Dragons"

The Young Dragons

John Woo’s directorial feature debut. The powerful mobster Leung, who is protected by the dangerous and wicked Huan Fai, sells two hundred Japanese weapons and ammunition to a Chinese gang. He uses the smuggler Luy Fu to bring the weapons but the small-time thief Kim and his gang heist the shipment on the road and dump the cargo into the sea. However, he lures Luy Fu and asks a large amount to return the weapons … Read more

Poster for the movie "Money Crazy"

Money Crazy

Ducky is hired by Rich Chen to transport the “diamonds” he stole from Uncle Pai Mary. Uncles Tough Guy and Mary would like to get the diamond from Ducky, so volunteering to relieve Ducky of his responsibility. Somehow Tough Guy subdues the gunman and finds out the diamonds are just paste. Tough Guy and Ducky are now partners and promise Uncle Pai to recover the real diamonds. Many times they try but they get nothing … Read more

Poster for the movie "Reign of Assassins"

Reign of Assassins

Set in ancient China, Zeng Jing is a skilled assassin who finds herself in possession of a mystical Buddhist monk’s remains. She begins a quest to return the remains to its rightful resting place, and thus places herself in mortal danger because a team of assassins is in a deadly pursuit to possess the remains which holds an ancient power-wielding secret.

Poster for the movie "Manhunt"

Manhunt

Framed for murders, felled by love, fight and flight are his only way out. Accused of heinous crimes he didn’t commit, a prosecutor sets out on a mission to clear his name.

Poster for the movie "To Hell with the Devil"

To Hell with the Devil

A shmo makes a deal with the devil so he can become a great Pop star just to impress his dream girl. After he makes the deal, a catholic priest hangs around him to try and convince him that he screwed up and he needs to get his soul back or he’ll be damned for eternity. Well, everything goes bad for the shmo and he wants his soul back. But, the devil’s lacky doesn’t want … Read more

Poster for the movie "The Time You Need a Friend"

The Time You Need a Friend

John Woo’s melodramatic tragicomedy The Time You Need a Friend (1985) stands at the crucial crossroads in the director’s career. Woo had been churning out innocuous comedies for more than a few years, and after establishing the “heroic bloodshed” genre, he’d never look back. But this tale of two comedians – estranged former pals who bury the hatchet for one last show together – blends the pathos and male-bonding of Woo’s later dramas with the … Read more

Poster for the movie "The Pilferer's Progress"

The Pilferer’s Progress / Money Crazy

Ducky is hired by Rich Chen to transport the “diamonds” he stole from Uncle Pai Mary. Uncles Tough Guy and Mary would like to get the diamond from Ducky, so volunteering to relieve Ducky of his responsibility. Somehow Tough Guy subdues the gunman and finds out the diamonds are just paste. Tough Guy and Ducky are now partners and promise Uncle Pai to recover the real diamonds. Many times they try but they get nothing … Read more

Poster for the movie "Run Tiger Run"

Run Tiger Run

Two street urchins meet up with a sad and lonely rich kid. They become friends when the kid’s shady uncle mistakes them for his nephews.

Poster for the movie "Hello, Late Homecomers"

Hello, Late Homecomers

An incredibly rare chance to see John Woo’s least-known comedy, co-directed and co-written with two other directors and shot on a tiny budget in (reputedly) three days.

Poster for the movie "From Riches to Rags"

From Riches to Rags

Ricky and Fatso are friends in need. They are in dire need of money since they are only paid slave wages at the bottling factory. However, they become millionaires overnight after buying a winning lottery ticket. During one of their swingin’ nights on the town, Ricky is suddenly attacked by an upset stomach; and in no time, a quack doctor diagnoses the seizure as terminal cancer. Ricky seriously considers suicide. But he is appalled by … Read more

Poster for the movie "A Better Tomorrow II"

A Better Tomorrow II

A restaurant owner his ex-con brother and a policeman team up to avenge the murder of his old friends daughter by the Triad.

Poster for the movie "Bullet in the Head"

Bullet in the Head

When three close friends escape from Hong Kong to war-time Saigon to start a criminal’s life, they all go through a harrowing experience which totally shatters their lives and their friendship forever.

Poster for the movie "A Better Tomorrow"

A Better Tomorrow

A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.

Poster for the movie "The Killer"

The Killer

Hong Kong’s preeminent director John Woo transforms genres from both the East and the West to create this explosive and masterful action film. Featuring Hong Kong’s greatest star, Chow Yun-fat, as a killer with a conscience, the film is an exquisite dissection of morals in a corrupt society, highlighted with slow-motion sequences of brilliantly choreographed gun battles on the streets of Hong Kong.

Poster for the movie "Hard Boiled"

Hard Boiled

A take-no-prisoners cop is on the trail of the triads when his partner is killed during a gun battle. His guilt propels him into an all-out war against the gang, including an up-and-coming soldier in the mob who turns out to be an undercover cop. The two men must come to terms with their allegiance to the force and their loyalty to each other as they try to take down the gangsters.

Poster for the movie "The Crossing II"

The Crossing II

A story of three couples and their intertwining love stories set in 1940s Taiwan and Shanghai, centered around the 1949 sinking of Taiping.

Poster for the movie "Plain Jane to the Rescue"

Plain Jane to the Rescue

Jane, with plain looks but a heart of gold, is always in between jobs. Once she gets a job, her knack for creating awkward situations immediately loses it for her. Ricky is her suitor, but he gets nowhere as the girl has no time for love. So Ricky goes along with her in job hunting. Somehow, Jane lands on a job as governess. Not to a child, but to an uncouth very old, very rich … Read more

Poster for the movie "The Crossing"

The Crossing

During the Chinese Revolution in 1949, three couples flee from China to an island of Taiwan.

Poster for the movie "Red Cliff Part II"

Red Cliff Part II

In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance.

Poster for the movie "Red Cliff"

Red Cliff

In the early third century, the land of Wu is invaded by the warlord Cao Cao and his million soldiers. The ruler of Wu, Sun Quan, calls on the rival warlord Liu Bei for help, but their two armies are still badly outnumbered. However, the Wu strategist Zhou Yu sees that Cao Cao’s army is unused to battling on the sea, which may just give them a chance if they can exploit this weakness properly.