Hero of Heroic Bloodshed, The: A John Woo Documentary (2025)

[bunniefuu]

- So, you really would k*ll me?

- I won't let you go this time.

- Fine, let's see, then.

- You can't win all the time.

Where are you, Jeffery?

Where's Dumbo? Where is he?

Right in front of you.

This film was made many years ago.

I remember back then,

I got a call from Film Workshop

asking me to work on The k*ller

as the car stunt director.

I was very excited,

as I'd seen A Better Tomorrow,

and I thought it was a very good film.

And John Woo is a renowned director,

so I was ecstatic.

I then went to meet with John Woo.

I don't remember much about the meeting,

but I remember my first scene.

It was the scene at the beach.

How would I describe

working with John Woo?

Most production budgets on action films

at that time weren't huge.

But with John Woo,

you would have three cameras,

with all three in motion.

And I would think to myself, "See?

This is how a big budget film is made."

It's very different from the ones

I made before.

John is always very focused,

and he's very demanding.

And because he's so demanding,

his resulting shots are often very detailed.

It's really different from all

the other action films being made.

Working with brother Chow Yun-fat...

...it was very pleasant, and he always

took care of the crew on the set.

We were all very young back then.

I remember that shootout scene

at his character's house.

Me and my team would go there

to the set

and watch them film the scene.

And Danny Lee played a cop in this.

He always plays the cop.

And Sally Yeh was wonderful.

She's a great singer and actress,

and very pretty.

And she sang the theme song

for the film.

Each passing day, here I will stay

This heart wanders morning and night

How I long to find a willing companion

To cease this heart's wandering...

With wine I drown away

Know joy, live free

To keep the tears at bay

It's a beautiful song.

I feel that John was able

to make a film

that was filled with g*n fights,

but also had a strong romantic feel.

The relationship

between Chow Yun-fat

and Sally Yeh's characters

was depicted very well.

The thing I remember the most

about making The k*ller was...

...before this film, I'd never filmed

as the B Team, the second unit.

There was one day when we were running

out of time, and the sky was turning dark,

and John suddenly said to me,

"Can you help me sh**t this scene?"

So I got myself a camera car,

and I got hold of a camera.

I had a cameraman with me.

We were able to sh**t some car chases

for two hours before nightfall.

I was very happy,

as I'd never done any second-unit

sh**ting before with my team.

So, for me, this was very affirming

and encouraging.

In terms of the car stunts in the film...

The one I remember the most

required a car to flip

while rolling down a hill.

The challenge was that

it was almost at the end of the day.

So I had one hour to execute the stunt

before it turned dark,

and we had to set up the rig

in order to flip the car.

The rig needed to be set up behind the hill

in order for the car to flip down the hill.

I remember John chose a position

where it was over 10 metres high.

I saw it, and I knew the car won't look good

flipping from only 10-metres in height.

So I chose an even higher spot

which was over 20 metres

to flip the car.

And John was very considerate,

and he asked me,

"Is this safe? Will you be okay?"

And I assured him

that I had done this before,

and I could actually make the stunt

look better flipping from that height.

So he just let me do it.

And after I'd finished the stunt...

...the sky started to turn dark.

So we just had enough available light

to film this car stunt.

Another stunt required me

to brake and slide off a bike sideways,

roll a few times, get up,

run a little way, and then hide.

I remember we didn't have

enough cameras.

Like I said, we had A and B Teams,

so John would sh**t the gunfight

with his team,

while the other team would film

my car chases.

- Jennie!

- Jeff!

Nostalgia is one of our saving graces.

At least when I die,

I'll know I'll be remembered by a friend.

Let's settle our dues in the next life.

The John Woo film that made the deepest

impression on me remains The k*ller.

That's because it has everything.

It has action, gunfights,

explosions and romance.

And you can see the on-off relationship

between the two lead characters...

It's a brilliant film.

- Join our strike against oppression!

- Save your breath!

- Act now, fight for our rights.

- Walk faster!

Red Bean Pudding, where do you want

to go when you get old?

Anywhere's fine with me.

How about you?

Firstly, I want to live

in peace and quiet.

Go to Iraq, it's peaceful over there.

Or heaven, the air there is fresh.

Damn you!

I've made several films with John Woo.

We're like old partners.

Hard Boiled was like

our fourth collaboration.

So it was pretty smooth

working together by then.

I already knew

what director Woo wanted.

Whatever he wanted...

...we would execute

according to his wishes,

but sometimes we would try

to make it harder.

I remember there was one scene

which we shot for days.

It was the scene with the bikers

sh**ting in the warehouse.

I remember suggesting to him

about doing two stunts

that were difficult

and challenging for me.

One was with the motorbike

losing a wheel before exploding.

The other had the bike exploding in mid-air

after Brother Chow shot at it.

I felt that those two stunts

would look really beautiful

if we could pull them off.

However, director Woo made it

even more challenging for me.

He asked me to do them

after a whole night of filming.

That was difficult for me.

But since I'd worked with him before,

I knew that when he wanted a stunt done,

then he wanted it done immediately.

I already had everything set up

by the middle of the night.

So I was ready and prepared to film

those stunts at any time,

and it was easy for me

to adapt to this ad-hoc way

of filming stunts.

Even after so many years,

people still feel that

these two stunts are classics.

- Are you always so determined?

- Yes.

- That's my style.

- Mine, too.

So, we have something in common.

Dumbo, I owe you.

You don't owe me nothing.

This is the gift of friendship.

Good luck!

Sometimes I really envy your freedom.

I just don't have that.

I believe in justice,

but nobody trusts me.

I have the same problem.

- How good a shot are you?

- I'm a cop, I've got to be good.

Sidney!

Don't you trust me anymore?

You know why.

Of course.

People in our line of work

aren't supposed to trust anyone.