Directing

John Woo

Born September 22, 1946 · Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China (age 79)

John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong film director and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard Boiled and Red Cliff. His Hollywood films include Hard Target, Broken Arrow, Face/Off…

Known For

Mission: Impossible II

Mission: Impossible II · 2000

Mission: Impossible II

MovieAdventureAction

With computer genius Luther Stickell at his side and a beautiful thief on his mind, agent Ethan Hunt races across Australia and Spain to stop a former IMF agent from unleashing a genetically engineered biological weapon called Chimera. This mission, should Hunt choose to accept it, plunges him into the center of an international crisis of terrifying magnitude.

Face/Off

Face/Off · 1997

MovieActionCrime

In order to foil a terrorist plot, an FBI agent undergoes facial transplant surgery and assumes the identity of a criminal mastermind. The plan turns sour when the criminal wakes up prematurely and seeks revenge.

Hard Target

Hard Target · 1993

MovieActionThriller

When a woman's father goes missing, she enlists a local to aid in her search. The pair soon discover that her father has died at the hands of a wealthy sportsman who hunts homeless men as a form of recreation.

Hard Boiled

Hard Boiled · 1992

MovieActionThriller

A cop who loses his partner in a shoot-out with gun smugglers goes on a mission to catch them. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring he joins forces with an undercover cop who's working as a gangster hitman. They use all means of excessive force to find them.

The Killer

The Killer · 2024

MovieActionThriller

Zee is a feared contract killer known as "the Queen of the Dead," but when she refuses to murder a young blind woman, she finds herself hunted both by criminal colleagues and a determined police detective.

Broken Arrow

Broken Arrow · 1996

MovieActionThriller

When rogue stealth-fighter pilot Vic Deakins deliberately drops off the radar while on maneuvers, the Air Force ends up with two stolen nuclear warheads -- and Deakins's co-pilot, Riley Hale, is the military's only hope for getting them back. Traversing the deserted canyons of Utah, Hale teams with park ranger Terry Carmichael to put Deakins back in his box.

Red Cliff

Red Cliff · 2008

MovieAdventureDrama

In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance.

A Better Tomorrow

A Better Tomorrow · 1986

A Better Tomorrow

MovieActionCrime

A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.

Filmography

Sort

Mission: Impossible II

Mission: Impossible II · 2000

Mission: Impossible II

MovieAdventureAction

With computer genius Luther Stickell at his side and a beautiful thief on his mind, agent Ethan Hunt races across Australia and Spain to stop a former IMF agent from unleashing a genetically engineered biological weapon called Chimera. This mission, should Hunt choose to accept it, plunges him into the center of an international crisis of terrifying magnitude.

Director

Face/Off

Face/Off · 1997

MovieActionCrime

In order to foil a terrorist plot, an FBI agent undergoes facial transplant surgery and assumes the identity of a criminal mastermind. The plan turns sour when the criminal wakes up prematurely and seeks revenge.

Director

Hard Target

Hard Target · 1993

MovieActionThriller

When a woman's father goes missing, she enlists a local to aid in her search. The pair soon discover that her father has died at the hands of a wealthy sportsman who hunts homeless men as a form of recreation.

Director

Hard Boiled

Hard Boiled · 1992

MovieActionThriller

A cop who loses his partner in a shoot-out with gun smugglers goes on a mission to catch them. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring he joins forces with an undercover cop who's working as a gangster hitman. They use all means of excessive force to find them.

Director

The Killer

The Killer · 2024

MovieActionThriller

Zee is a feared contract killer known as "the Queen of the Dead," but when she refuses to murder a young blind woman, she finds herself hunted both by criminal colleagues and a determined police detective.

Director

Broken Arrow

Broken Arrow · 1996

MovieActionThriller

When rogue stealth-fighter pilot Vic Deakins deliberately drops off the radar while on maneuvers, the Air Force ends up with two stolen nuclear warheads -- and Deakins's co-pilot, Riley Hale, is the military's only hope for getting them back. Traversing the deserted canyons of Utah, Hale teams with park ranger Terry Carmichael to put Deakins back in his box.

Director

Red Cliff

Red Cliff · 2008

MovieAdventureDrama

In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance.

Director

A Better Tomorrow

A Better Tomorrow · 1986

A Better Tomorrow

MovieActionCrime

A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.

Director

Paycheck

Paycheck · 2003

MovieActionAdventure

Michael Jennings is a genius who's hired – and paid handsomely – by high-tech firms to work on highly sensitive projects, after which his short-term memory is erased so he's incapable of breaching security. But at the end of a three-year job, he's told he isn't getting a paycheck and instead receives a mysterious envelope. In it are clues he must piece together to find out why he wasn't paid – and why he's now in hot water.

Director

The Killer

The Killer · 1989

MovieActionCrime

Mob assassin Jeffrey is no ordinary hired gun; the best in his business, he views his chosen profession as a calling rather than simply a job. So, when beautiful nightclub chanteuse Jennie is blinded in the crossfire of his most recent hit, Jeffrey chooses to retire after one last job to pay for his unintended victim's sight-restoring operation. But when Jeffrey is double-crossed, he reluctantly joins forces with a rogue policeman to make things right.

Director

Windtalkers

Windtalkers · 2002

Joe Enders is a gung-ho Marine assigned to protect a "windtalker" - one of several Navajo Indians who were used to relay messages during World War II because their spoken language was indecipherable to Japanese code breakers.

Director

The Replacement Killers

The Replacement Killers · 1998

The Replacement Killers

MovieActionCrime

Hired assassin John Lee is asked by Chinatown crime boss Terence Wei to murder the young son of policeman Stan Zedkov. Lee has the boy in his sights, but his conscience gets the better of him, and he spares the child's life. Afraid that Wei will take revenge on his family in China, Lee seeks out expert forger Meg Coburn to obtain the passport he needs to get out of the country, but a band of replacement killers is soon on his trail.

Executive Producer

Silent Night

Silent Night · 2023

MovieActionThriller

A tormented father witnesses his young son die when caught in a gang's crossfire on Christmas Eve. While recovering from a wound that costs him his voice, he makes vengeance his life's mission and embarks on a punishing training regimen in order to avenge his son's death.

Producer

Bullet in the Head

Bullet in the Head · 1990

Bullet in the Head

MovieActionCrime

Three childhood friends from the slums of Hong Kong flee to war-time Saigon after accidentally murdering a gang leader, but their troubles only escalate.

Director

A Better Tomorrow II

A Better Tomorrow II · 1987

A Better Tomorrow II

MovieActionCrime

A restauranteur teams up with a police officer and his ex-con brother to avenge the death of a friend's daughter.

Director

Twin Dragons

Twin Dragons · 1992

MovieActionComedy

Identical twins are separated at birth, one becoming a streetwise mechanic, and the other an acclaimed classical concert conductor. Finally meeting in adulthood, they're mistaken for the other and entangled in each other's worlds.

Priest

Red Cliff II

Red Cliff II · 2009

MovieActionAdventure

The battle of Red Cliff continues and the alliance between Xu and East Wu is fracturing. With Cao Cao's massive forces on their doorstep, will the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu survive?

Screenplay

Once a Thief

Once a Thief · 1991

MovieActionComedy

Three orphans grow up to become art thieves under the tutelage of a crime boss. Romance complicates matters when the trio are double-crossed.

Director

The Big Hit

The Big Hit · 1998

MovieActionComedy

Affable hit man Melvin Smiley is constantly being scammed by his cutthroat colleagues in the life-ending business. So, when he and his fellow assassins kidnap the daughter of an electronics mogul, it's naturally Melvin who takes the fall when their prime score turns sour. That's because the girl is the goddaughter of the gang's ruthless crime boss. But, even while dodging bullets, Melvin has to keep his real job secret from his unsuspecting fiancée, Pam.

Executive Producer

Bulletproof Monk

Bulletproof Monk · 2003

Bulletproof Monk

MovieActionComedy

A mysterious and immortal Tibetan kung fu master, who has spent the last 60 years traveling around the world protecting the ancient Scroll of the Ultimate, mentors a selfish street kid in the ancient intricacies of kung fu.

Producer

Reign of Assassins

Reign of Assassins · 2010

Reign of Assassins

MovieActionAdventure

Set in ancient China, Zeng Jing is a skilled assassin who finds herself in possession of a mystical Buddhist monk's remains. She begins a quest to return the remains to its rightful resting place, and thus places herself in mortal danger because a team of assassins is in a deadly pursuit to possess the remains which holds an ancient power-wielding secret.

Producer

A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon

A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon · 1989

A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon

MovieActionCrime

Before the events of A Better Tomorrow (1986), Mark 'Gor' Lee heads to Saigon during the Vietnam War to bring home his uncle and cousin, but his task becomes complicated when a well-known criminal tries to help him.

Producer

Manhunt

Manhunt · 2017

MovieActionThriller

Accused of a murder he didn't commit, a prosecutor sets out on a mission to clear his name.

Director

The Private Eyes

The Private Eyes · 1976

The Private Eyes

MovieComedyThriller

The kingpin of the Manix Private Detective Agency and his fellow detective solve cases together.

Producer

Voice

Celebrity Talk Show

Celebrity Talk Show · 1989

Celebrity Talk Show

吴宇森

Be My Guest

Be My Guest · 2006

Once a Thief

Once a Thief · 1996

SeriesAction & AdventureDrama

Once a Thief is a 1997 Canadian television show inspired by the 1996 film of the same name.

Creator

The Hire

The Hire · 2001

SeriesAction & AdventureCrime

BMW Films presents "The Hire", a series of nine short films produced for the Internet in 2001 and 2002, with a ninth short film following in 2016. A form of branded content, all nine short films feature popular filmmakers from across the globe, star Clive Owen as the "Driver", and highlight the performance aspects of various BMW automobiles.

Director

Bokura no Jidai

Bokura no Jidai · 2007

Bokura no Jidai

A talk show broadcast on Fuji TV every Sunday.