So, first off...just this disclaimer on #8 and #9 - both are John Woo films, both are out of print on Criterion, and I was unable to find those copies anywhere in my usual library channels. They are currently distributed in the US by Dragon Dynasty, and this one was on Netflix streaming, so I broke my no streaming rule for this one.
John Woo is a Hong Kong director who came to America in the early 90's to do such films as Face-Off and Mission Impossible II - he has a distinct action cinema style which according to Wikipedia includes Mexican Standoffs, slow motion action, and lots of bullets. Chow Yun-Fat is his principal actor in most of these. The style that John Woo style pushed forward during this time was part of a group of films characterized by the term "Gun Fu" and "Heroic Bloodshed"
Truth is, the kind of stuff John was doing has infused it's way into our modern cinema so that this may not look as innovative or as interesting today as it did back then - but this was this highest grossing Hong Kong film in the States at that time up to Enter The Dragon.
As for myself, my favorite Hong Kong films have been the Martial Arts films - Shaw Brothers, Iron Monkey, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - that sort of thing but I have caught a few modern day Hong Kong films as well - (Infernal Affairs is my favorite) - and this is a really good movie I probably would have gotten around to seeing someday
The usual anti-hero with honor is trying to do one last job to help someone he wronged on what was supposed to be his previous last job - he's got Cops and former Employers in the Triad gunning for him - (get it, gunning? - sorry) - and the bullets and blood are flying everywhere - I do find some of these movies amusing in their use of firearms and the protagonist's ability to just bounce back from 2-3 bullet wounds like their muscle and bone and sinew aren't screaming in agony. I've fired a few guns in my day too and the whole two-fisted approach isn't the best way to hit a target, but boy, does it give you a lotta action.
This and the next film I'll be watching (Hard Boiled) were among Woo's last before going to America - he's also an accomplished producer and writer. Chow Yun-Fat is probably best known by me for his role in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. which was the film that turned me on to Wuxia Martial arts films and was, in fact, his first Martial Arts film. He had already turned out several flicks in the early 80's before John Woo got ahold of him. Hong Kong in the late 80's and 90's turned out some excellent cinema, and this is a great entry -
Pay attention to foreshadowing and Christian imagery in this one - Woo is a Christian, and without knowing that I suspected it while watching the movie - good stuff - just don't expect them to waste time trying to reload when they can always just pick up someone else's gun and keep shooting :)
RB
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