John Woo

One of Woo's best, with the incomparable Chow Yun-Fat playing a good guy for once. No one has ever done poetic violence better than Woo--well, maybe Sam Peckinpah? I still rate The Killer as my favorite of Woo's Hong Kong movies, but this one and the Better Tomorrow series are close behind.

Perhaps Woo's best film; certainly the best of the early ones. The opening scene as Chow-Yun-Fat carries out an assassination and makes his escape, pulling out weapons he has hidden along the route, is a classic. And it takes place while Sally Yeh sings the best song in all of Hong Kong's movies, resulting in--well, that's sort of the point of the story, so let's not spoil it. If you've seen later Woo efforts, such as Face Off, you'll see how he reuses devices from this movie. But this is show more the original. Watch it with the subtitles and marvel not just at the stylistic violence, but the incredible acting and direction as well. show less

Truly epic war story has incredible (and violent) battle scenes, great acting, particularly by Tony Leung, and a story that keeps you engaged despite the length of the film. Like just about every Chinese film of this type, it also has a few deliberately silly moments, but overall it is a smashing success and certainly demonstrates that John Woo's directing talent extends beyond the contemporary action flicks he became famous for. Highly recommended--but be sure to get the full version, not show more some chopped down alternative. show less

A cop goes undercover by wearing somebody's actual face.

2/4 (Indifferent).

It's the sort of Spectacularly Bad that would have been pretty fun to watch, if it hadn't been twice as long as necessary.