John Woo is a Chinese filmmaker. His films are noted for their combination of highly stylized violence, symbolism, and melodramatic portrayals of male bonding.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1418353/John-Woo He spent nearly two decades in Hong Kong making kung fu, comedy, and, most notably, action films before moving to Hollywood in 1993.http://allmovie.com/artist/john-woo-117248/bio He returned to the Hong Kong film industry in 2008. In 2010, Woo received the Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Venice Film Festival.http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/09/04/john-woo-honored-at-venice-film-festival/

Woo worked his way up through Hong Kong's film industry, working a variety of jobs with Cathay and Shaw Brothers Studios. He directed a number of low-budget kung fu pictures, including Jackie Chan's first major starring vehicle, 1975's Hand of Death.http://allmovie.com/artist/john-woo-117248/bio He directed a series of hit comedies in the late 1970s before reigniting his career with A Better Tomorrow (1986), an action film that cemented the star status of actor Chow Yun-Fat.http://www.filmreference.com/Directors-Ve-Y/Woo-John.html The duo continued to make gangster action films together, including The Killer (1990) and Hard Boiled (1992), films that introduced Woo's talents to U.S. audiences and Hollywood studios.http://www.filmreference.com/Directors-Ve-Y/Woo-John.html

Woo's Hollywood debut, the 1993 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Hard Target, initially received an NC-17 rating, and never found its audience after being re-edited.http://allmovie.com/artist/john-woo-117248/bio Woo found a successful partnership with John Travolta, who starred in his next two films, Broken Arrow and Face/Off.http://www.filmreference.com/Directors-Ve-Y/Woo-John.html Woo then directed Tom Cruise in the hit sequel Mission: Impossible II, but followed that up with films that performed poorly both with critics and at the box office.http://allmovie.com/artist/john-woo-117248/bio

After growing discontent with his Hollywood career, Woo returned to China to make the two-part epic film Red Cliff, based on a popular 13th Century novel.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1418353/John-Woo The film took over four years to shoot and, with an $80 million budget, is the most expensive film ever made in China.http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2009/11/17/2009-11-17_forget_twilight_john_woos_chinese_epic_red_cliff_is_the_biggest_film_on_the_plan.html Woo co-directed another Chinese film in 2010. He is currently developing a film called Flying Tigers, about American aviators flying for the Chinese Air Force during the outbreak of World War II. Woo's Mission: Impossible II star Tom Cruise is developing a competing project.http://geektyrant.com/news/2010/10/8/tom-cruise-battling-it-out-with-john-woo-for-flying-tigers.html

2010: Reign of Assassins

2008: Red Cliff

2007: Stranglehold (Video Game)

2005: All the Invisible Children

2004: The Robinsons: Lost in Space (TV movie)

2003: Paycheck

2002: Hostage (short)

2002: Windtalkers

2000: Mission: Impossible II

1998: Blackjack (TV movie)

1997: Face/Off

1996: Once a Thief (TV movie)

1996: Broken Arrow

1993: Hard Target

1992: Hard Boiled

1991: Once a Thief

1990: Bullet in the Head

1989: Yi dan qun ying

1989: The Killer

1987: A Better Tomorrow II

1986: Ying hung boon sik