John Woo

Hard Boiled - Criterion Collection
$39.95
I bought it as a gift, but the condition is great, just as described. Fast shipping.

The Killer
$29.98
The killer has more action in the first minute than most action films have in the first hour. Don't miss this gem!

John Woo: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers Series)
$22.00
Forget Christopher Heard's pathetic, hackneyed, dull mockery of a biography, Ten Thousand Bullets. John Woo: Interviews is the best book on John Woo currently on the market. Michael Bliss' Between the Bullets has some interesting insights, but it was a collection of film essays, which focus more on academic, sociological and ideological interpretations of Woo's films rather than an aim at biographical detailing.

John Woo: Interviews succeeds very well at portraying the shy, serious director by meticulous editing, mostly letting Woo's own syntax and verbal mannerisms come through with minimal tampering, and the interviews themselves delve into Woo's troubled relationship with Tsui Hark, his work with both Hong Kong and American film crews, his childhood in Hong Kong, and of course his quartet of Hong Kong classics: A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Bullet in the Head, and Hard-Boiled. My
favourite interviews are the ones with Hard Target director of photography Russell Carpenter, who goes into the nitty-gritties of working with such a visually meticulous director, and an extremely illuminating portion where Woo dissects the unique qualities of his various leading men -- Chow Yun-fat, John Travolta, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Nicolas Cage, and Tom Cruise.

The editing is smartly done, making the interviews flow into an easy read, and each interview is documented so that we have some context for interpretation. I've been reading up on Woo for quite awhile, but I'd say this is the single most comprehensive, multi-angled and absorbing source of John Woo material yet. A great read for fans of Asian cinema, and filmmakers will especially find this book an invaluable source of information for Woo's unique cinematic magic.

John Woo's the Killer (New Hong Kong Cinema)
$17.95
A classic tale of loyalty and bloody betrayal, John Woo's "The Killer" (1989) was centrally important to the growth of Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s and 1990s. It helped launch the international stardom of Woo and lead actor Chow Yun-fat, who plays a disllusioned hitman taking his fatal final assignment to help a lounge singer he accidentally blinded. Illustrating the film's place in the chivalric tradition of Chinese and Hong Kong cinema, where cops and noble villains sometimes join forces in defense of traditional virtues and personal honor, Kenneth Hall documents the strong influence of Woo's mentor Chang Cheh as well as Jean-Pierre Melville and other film noir pioneers. Hall also analyzes the film's influence on other directors, including Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.