My Week 04/06 - 04/12
I went on a bit of an unplanned John Woo Vision quest this week.
A Better Tomorrow II - 1987 - Jon Woo
Just like the first one with the volume turned up. If it weren't for the fact that everything in in these movies is a little silly, the twin brother excuse to bring Chow Yun Fat would be a bit of a stretch but it works out fine.
Just Heroes - 1989 - John Woo & Ma Wu
Having multiple men credited as director makes it hard to tell if Woo is doing a bit of self-parody or not. Having a character quote lines from and act out scenes from A Better Tomorrow must be a joke but I don't know if it is from Woo or Wu.
The Killer - 1989 - John Woo
This is peak Woo. The gun fights are amazing as always but now he has his dove game working. We are also treated to a beautiful love story, not so much between Ah Jong and Jennie but, between Ah Jong and Inspector Li. Two men on opposite sides of the law brought together by a shared moral code.
Bullet in the Head - 1990 - John Woo
The (apocryphal?) story is that Woo and Tsui Hark had a falling out during the editing of A Better Tomorrow II that lead to Hark making A Better Tomorrow III. Woo already had a script for this prequel completed so he made that script without Hark. The result on Woo's end is Bullet in the Head. In all fairness to Hark, I have not seen his movie but I have a hard time believing it could hold up to the power of Woo's Vietnam tale.
Three friends run off to Saigon after one of them kills a rival gang member. The trio imagines that can become wealthy smuggling during the chaos of the war. But this is Vietnam and that means nobody gets away clean.
This film belongs on the same list as The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now as best Vietnam War movies.
Once a Thief - 1991 - John Woo
Action-comedy is not easy to pull off. This one doesn't really work but it has moments.
Hard Boiled - 1992 - John Woo
It says something when a movie can have a sequel, of sorts, that is a videogame. The plot is propelled almost exclusively by the action with bits of interstitial dialogue to give some humanity to the characters. The hospital shootout is a ballet of violence but it feels empty when compared to earlier Woo set pieces.
I also made a ranked list over on Letterboxd for Woo's work from '86 -'92
Best of the Week: Bullet in the Head - 1990 - John Woo
A Better Tomorrow II - 1987 - Jon Woo
Just like the first one with the volume turned up. If it weren't for the fact that everything in in these movies is a little silly, the twin brother excuse to bring Chow Yun Fat would be a bit of a stretch but it works out fine.
Just Heroes - 1989 - John Woo & Ma Wu
Having multiple men credited as director makes it hard to tell if Woo is doing a bit of self-parody or not. Having a character quote lines from and act out scenes from A Better Tomorrow must be a joke but I don't know if it is from Woo or Wu.
The Killer - 1989 - John Woo
This is peak Woo. The gun fights are amazing as always but now he has his dove game working. We are also treated to a beautiful love story, not so much between Ah Jong and Jennie but, between Ah Jong and Inspector Li. Two men on opposite sides of the law brought together by a shared moral code.
Bullet in the Head - 1990 - John Woo
The (apocryphal?) story is that Woo and Tsui Hark had a falling out during the editing of A Better Tomorrow II that lead to Hark making A Better Tomorrow III. Woo already had a script for this prequel completed so he made that script without Hark. The result on Woo's end is Bullet in the Head. In all fairness to Hark, I have not seen his movie but I have a hard time believing it could hold up to the power of Woo's Vietnam tale.
Three friends run off to Saigon after one of them kills a rival gang member. The trio imagines that can become wealthy smuggling during the chaos of the war. But this is Vietnam and that means nobody gets away clean.
This film belongs on the same list as The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now as best Vietnam War movies.
Once a Thief - 1991 - John Woo
Action-comedy is not easy to pull off. This one doesn't really work but it has moments.
Hard Boiled - 1992 - John Woo
It says something when a movie can have a sequel, of sorts, that is a videogame. The plot is propelled almost exclusively by the action with bits of interstitial dialogue to give some humanity to the characters. The hospital shootout is a ballet of violence but it feels empty when compared to earlier Woo set pieces.
I also made a ranked list over on Letterboxd for Woo's work from '86 -'92
Best of the Week: Bullet in the Head - 1990 - John Woo
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