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Vᴇʀɴ @outlawvern
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WELCOME TO THE WOO ZONE: a mega-thread on the awesomeness of John Woo.

John Woo's new movie MANHUNT is now on Netflix and on import blu-ray. It has his great action, themes of brotherhood, and a scene where doves save the lives of the two leads.

outlawvern.com/2018/03/15/man…
Woo is also on my mind because he might remake his most iconic movie THE KILLER (1989) with Lupita Nyong'o in the Chow Yun Fat role. I love that idea! It's a beautiful story for Woo to re-imagine at a different stage of his career and life.

outlawvern.com/2016/06/22/the…
To me his masterpiece is HARD BOILED, the most insanely over-the-top cop-movie action ever put on film. It may never be topped.

(Consider this crappy 16 year old review a placeholder for a better one. Don't read it, just watch the movie.)

outlawvern.com/2002/01/01/har…
I mean...
TRIVIA: Although Woo created some of the most extravagant and influential shootouts in the history of cinema, he once claimed he'd never fired a real gun. "I just like the look."
Woo's big breakthrough was A BETTER TOMORROW (1986), a kickass gangster melodrama that ignited the Hong Kong crime genre and Chow Yun Fat's reign as an anti-hero with Steve-McQueen-level cool.

outlawvern.com/2010/10/14/a-b…
A BETTER TOMORROW II (1987) is more convoluted and silly, but arguably more fun. The action is very exaggerated and Chow plays the twin brother of his part 1 character!

outlawvern.com/2010/10/15/a-b…
The sensitivity that makes Woo a true poet of action cinema is on display in BULLET IN THE HEAD (1990), the story of 3 friends who get into guns, crime and war, and learn the toll they take. One of Woo's best and most emotional.

outlawvern.com/2012/05/30/bul…
WOO ZONE U.S.A.! When Woo came to Hollywood and made a Van Damme movie, it took me a bit to adjust. HARD TARGET (1993) is no HARD BOILED, but it's topnotch JCVD swagger with strong working class themes, dripping with Woo style. A classic of its genre.

outlawvern.com/2016/04/26/har…
A taste of my favorite sequence:
BROKEN ARROW (1996) is... not as good.

outlawvern.com/2016/04/27/bro…
But FACE/OFF (1997) is *great*. Woo uses a goofy sci-fi premise to explore duality, marriage and fatherhood, Nic Cage has one of his most layered performances, and it's the biggest and most stylish action Woo ever pulled off in the States. Absurd & pure.

outlawvern.com/2010/09/01/fac…
BLACKJACK (1998) is the one not enough people know about. Made for TV, but it's Woo directing Dolph MF Lundgren as a bodyguard protecting a model from a stalker with henchmen on motorcycles. And he's afraid of the color white. Preposterous b-action fun.

outlawvern.com/2005/12/05/bla…
I bet you've seen MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 (2000). Yeah, I get it, pretty laughable. But I've learned to kinda love it as an odd piece of the Woo filmography.

outlawvern.com/2015/09/09/mis…
Because I truly believe no other director would do shit like this:
WINDTALKERS (2002) had to grow on me too. It's Woo reteaming with Cage for a heart-on-his-sleeve war-is-hell movie. Corny, but with plenty of the Woo spirit.

outlawvern.com/2016/05/03/win…
Next he, uh, made PAYCHECK (2003)...

outlawvern.com/2013/02/24/pay…
...but that's okay, because then he went back to China and made the beautiful, astounding two-part historical epic RED CLIFF (2008-2009). The maestro on a gigantic canvas. This movie is stunning.

outlawvern.com/2010/12/04/red…
I wish I could find a gif of the messenger pigeon, or the tortoise formation. There's also more intimate stuff like this:
I'm always trying to convince people RED CLIFF is a must-see, but they're intimidated by the running time. My review has a chart in case you can't follow the characters and factions, but you guys watch Game of Thrones. You can handle it. I believe in you!
If you never have, or haven't lately, I beckon you, implore you, *dare* you to enter THE WOO ZONE. Your life will be improved.

thanks friends.

signed,
VERN

the end
Ah, shit. I meant to link to my later revisit of BLACKJACK. (I love it so much I've reviewed it twice.)

outlawvern.com/2016/05/02/bla…
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