John Woo films

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OK, I'm a huge fan of action movies and of course a lot of my favorite action movies were directed by the mastero himself, John Woo.

Of course, he has gotten a bit a bad rap in the past few years, since most folks seem to know him more for movies like Mission:Impossible 2 and Paycheck, but to me its his early hong kong work that shows what he is truly capable of when it comes to filmmaking. His early films combines operatic stories with some of the best gun fights I have ever seen. Many tried to replicate it, but IMO its kids stuff compared to the way Woo shoots and edits his action scenes.

So what do you guys think of him? Anybody here seen his early hong kong stuff?

I guess my only problem with him is he's formulaic to a fault. It's like watching the same movie over and over again, with different actors thrown in.

I've always found John Woo to be slightly overrated. Don't get me wrong, his earlier films are all still enjoyable to watch but, like Mage says, he does seem reluctant to stray from his own formula too often. And, with the exception of Face/Off, all his American films have been disappointments. Yeah, he broke some new ground with his earlier work but now he seems content with self parody.

FACE/OFF

I agree that his recent work, especially in America, is pretty lousy...but it doesn't get much better than Hard-Boiled.