Any other good "heroic bloodshed" films out there?

[Ministry88]

Can anyone recommend any HK gunplay films similar to Woo's work? I know about a few one-offs like POM POM AND HOT HOT, but it seems to be very hard to find others. Perhaps the amount of martial arts films outnumbers the gunplay films, or are the gunplay films just harder to find?

[limubai2000]

Tiger on the Beat 1 & 2
Tiger Cage 1,2, 3
Red Shield
A Better Tomorrow 1,2, 3
Return to a Better Tomorrow

I think that Woo's work just overshadows the other guys coz he went to Hollywood, that also doesn't mean it's necessarily better.

[Yakuza954]

Not really many good Heroic Bloodshed gunplay movies outside of John Woo's work. Most of them have some martial arts in them, like Hong Kong Godfather and The Club, or are really bad, like some of Michael Wong's cheap flicks. I'd recommend Long Arm of the Law 1 and 2, Full Contact, Flaming Brothers, and Crime Story.. but just the first half of Crime Story. It would have been a better film had Chan not toned down the content a few notches and put in his disctinct martial arts choreography. It just comes off as unrealistic and out of place considering the subject matter on hand.

BTW, have you seen Time and Tide? I think you'd like that, though it's more like an anti-heroic bloodshed movie. What about Fallen Angels? Or City on Fire? The Mission? Not really similar to Woo's style, but some of my favorite HK films with gunplay in them. I've also heard Legacy of Rage has some good shoot outs, but thats treading more into Pom Pom and Hot Hot territory...


I think that Woo's work just overshadows the other guys coz he went to Hollywood, that also doesn't mean it's necessarily better.
No, John Woo's work in Hong Kong was easily head and shoulders above most of his peers. The only guys I can think of that could even compare to him at the time are Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark. Its when he went to Hollywood that the quality of his movies started to digress.

[limubai2000]

No, John Woo's work in Hong Kong was easily head and shoulders above most of his peers.

That would be your opinion. I don't agree, but I will give you that Hard Boiled is arguably the top of the heap. The Killer is a close 2nd at least for me.

The only guys I can think of that could even compare to him at the time are Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark.

No argument from me, but I do think Tiger Cage 1 & 2 stand up well against Woo's work, YWP just didn't have CYF in those films, so he did the best with what he had.

Its when he went to Hollywood that the quality of his movies started to digress.

Total agreement.

[Tosh]

Well it's not HK, but if it's a good Asian gunplay movie you want, I can't sing the praises of "A Bitter Sweet Life" high enough, the Koreans are taking it to the next level.

[Ministry88]

Very good recs and a great conversation here! Yes, I totally agree that it's impossible to overrate Woo's brilliance (his HK films, of course). I was just thinking about this the other day. His films really are the "total package." You get unparralled action AND a great story and characters. Too many times HK films rely too heavily on action to salvage a paper-thin plot and laughable characters. But not with Woo's stuff. And he was so consistent with his quality too. Once he got into his groove with A BETTER TOMORROW, it was one after the other. And for my money, there is NO better "total action" film than HARD BOILED. I honestly don't think I'll ever see an action film that tops that one...

*PS: Thanks Tosh for the Korean rec. I'll check out "A Bitter Sweet Life."

[Beat TG]

Ringo Lam is definitely the equal to John Woo. He invented the bullet-perspective shot which was another huge change in action filmmaking.

[MissScarlett01]

How bout City War starring Chow Yun Fat and Ti Lung

and

The Most Wanted starring Lau Ching Wan and Kent Cheng with the added bonus of seeing Robin Shou as a major gun toting bad buy. :eek

[The Running Man]

Tiger on the Beat 1 & 2
Tiger Cage 1,2, 3

None of those movies fit the category.

BTW...as silly as I find the term "Heroic Bloodshed" to be, I believe that "gun fu" is among the dumbest things ever invented.

[Chen Zhen]

surprised nobody's mentioned Bullet in the Head....a fantastic piece of john woo filmmaking...minus CYF.

[Yakuza954]

Going by his original post, he's already seen Bullet in the Head. Big Bullet is one I forgot to mention, though it sorta suffers from the Crime-story syndrome and falls apart at the end. Great film apart from that.

No argument from me, but I do think Tiger Cage 1 & 2 stand up well against Woo's work, YWP just didn't have CYF in those films, so he did the best with what he had.

Chow Yun Fat wouldn't have made Tiger Cage 1 and 2 better, those are martial arts films and he's not a martial artist.

Well it's not HK, but if it's a good Asian gunplay movie you want, I can't sing the praises of "A Bitter Sweet Life" high enough
I'd also add in Fukasaku's 70's Yakuza movies. Both he and Woo were heavily influenced by Sam Peckinpah, so their movies share some of the same themes. Sympathy for The Underdog, in particular, has a big "heroic bloodshed" finale ala John Woo.

[Beat TG]

a clip of the final gun battle:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YqGizvK-Fk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YqGizvK-Fk)

[sea kelp]

i'd appreciate some recommendations for the genre as well.

[Iron_Jinon]

the big heat(kuo chui in this one)
big bullet
island of fire(ok,bloodshed starts in last 10 mins but very enjoyable prison movie with jackie,samo,jimmy wang yu,andy lau and tony leung)
naked killer(there is enough nudity,martial arts and gunplay to make it worth seeing)
iron angels
life is a bet
hong kong godfathers
deadly china dolls

[silver hermit]

john woo is the top guy of the sub genre no doubt about that. that causes alot of films to me over looked. there is many different reasons why each of us watch these movies to be entertained. some want action, some want emotional depth, some only want the best directing and production values some want the whole package some are only willing to hide behind classics and the big names. i only need one mofo with hate in his heart on the wrong day with a reason to blow mofos to hell!
lots of movies cross the lines into this sub genre and don't belong to it so the lines become blurred so forgive our ingorance if we add a few that don't belong here

on yeah i'm a keep bring this film up untill it pops up "REQUITAL" its no john woo but its a little more character driven and the gun play delivers the goods.

i watched "STORY OF THE GUN" not too long ago and while its style is more of the cheap cookie cutter shot up i was entertained i'll see how it holds up on repeat viewing

others are
a firey family
a profile in anger
cheetah on fire
burning ambition
widow warriors
fatal termination
last but not least "TOTAL DESTRUCTION"

[silver hermit]

john woo is the top guy of the sub genre no doubt about that. that causes alot of films to me over looked. there is many different reasons why each of us watch these movies to be entertained. some want action, some want emotional depth, some only want the best directing and production values some want the whole package some are only willing to hide behind classics and the big names. i only need one mofo with hate in his heart on the wrong day with a reason to blow mofos to hell!
lots of movies cross the lines into this sub genre and don't belong to it so the lines become blurred so forgive our ingorance if we add a few that don't belong here

on yeah i'm a keep bring this film up untill it pops up "REQUITAL" its no john woo but its a little more character driven and the gun play delivers the goods.

i watched "STORY OF THE GUN" not too long ago and while its style is more of the cheap cookie cutter shot up i was entertained i'll see how it holds up on repeat viewing

others are
a firey family
a profile in anger
cheetah on fire
burning ambition
widow warriors
fatal termination
last but not least "TOTAL DESTRUCTION"

[Iron_Jinon]

burning ambition

:).I mentioned that earlier today in period vs modern thread.perfect film IMO and only time in movies I have seen non-chinese does drunken boxing.fight between jeff falcon and frankie chan is top class and so is rest of movie:D

[silver hermit]

final run is another wicked movie
but i like the cheapy HK/taiwan action B-movies with gun fire, stunts, pyro and kickboxing based choreo. final run is a perfect balance

[froffeecoffee]

Full Contact, can't believe nobody has listed this title yet. A classic!!!

[Iron_Jinon]

^check out yakuzas post in page#1:p.it`s classic indeed IMO it`s Chows 2nd best movie..a better tomorrow#2 still reigns supreme

[AlbertV]

I liked Legacy of Rage. Brandon Lee only had one martial arts fight in the film, against Bolo Yeung, but the finale where Brandon teams with Mang Hoi goes all "bullet ballet" on everyone.

[froffeecoffee]

Quote: check out yakuzas post in page#1

Found the quote right after I posted. Knew someone was going to point that out. My bad. :rolleyes:

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Return Engagement (Alan Tang, Andy Lau)
A Taste of Killing and Romance (Andy Lau, Anita Yuen)
The Last Blood (Andy Lau, Alan Tam)
Beyond Hypothermia (Lau Ching Wan, Wu Chien Lin)
Final Justice (Danny Lee)
OCTB (Danny Lee)
Peoples Hero (Ti Lung)
Bullet for Hire (Jacky Cheung)
Best of the Best (Jacky Cheung)
A Hero Never Dies (Lau Ching Wan, Leon Lai)
The Longest Nite (Lau Ching Wan, Tony Leung Chiu Wai)
Fulltime Killer (Andy Lau)

[mark187]

the last post beat me to mentioning A Hero Never Dies! as for a recent Johnnie To film, Exiled is hard to beat. in my opinion, after John Woo, Johnnie To seems to be the next best at doing this specific genre. I really hope that project w/ Chow Yun-Fat happens soon! there are a ton of other heroic bloodshed films from the late 80's/early 90's, most of them are just average, but there are some other really good ones to be found. I don't think anyone has mentioned My Heart is that Eternal Rose or As Tears Go By, they're some of the better non John Woo ones from the late 80's. from back in the 70's there are several from Chang Cheh, although they're martial arts instead of gunplay (Vengeance, The Boxer From Shantung, etc.) one more new one that nobody seems to mention is Blood Brothers, which may not interest uninitiated viewers due to it's lack of character developement, however for fans of the genre I would recommend it, actually John Woo even produced it. essentially, it's just a loose remake of Bullet in the Head, and while certainly not as good as that film, I still enjoyed it quite well. and yes, A Bittersweet Life is also highly recommended!

[Milkyway]

it's good that you brought up Johnnie To. that guy has done some of the most interesting crime movies ever, both for story and character development and for action. he has this flavor to it that makes his stuff fascinating, very different and overall more enjoyable to watch than the usual movies of the genre. looking forward to see what movies he'll do next (he has like 2-3 movies a year too which is amazing)!

[quixote64]

what about Rich and Famous or Tragic Hero? Classic Chow Yun Fat IMO.

[The Amazing Psycho Per]

I think we can had Johnny To's recent Exiled to the category. I think it's the greatest addition to the genre in years... Really inspired gun fights.

[Iron_Jinon]

prison on fire1&2 not exactly bloodshed but more than worth checking out....category3 stuff "deadly china dolls" is about essential.

[Alex]

Ringo could never shake Jean claude, but yes his early stuff is equal to Woo. City on fire, full contact. Great stuff.

not all of his later stuff should be this easily dismissed, Victim is good for example

[Milkyway]

as is Full Alert.

[the8thsword]

I can think of an upcoming kung fu movie that might fall into the category. the film is called Broken Path starring Johnny Yong Bosch and directed by Koichi Sakamoto.

there's a trailer you might still be able to find over at twitchfilm.com. Better yet, here's a link for the one I posted on youtube not too long ago. Just copy and paste, and enjoy dude!!!:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0OZyoWJkBE

[mark187]

speaking of Johnnie To and Ringo Lam, their new film Triangle co-directed w/ Tsui Hark is available to pre-order now, the HK dvd is coming out in just 1 more week! though it won't be a heroic bloodshed-type film, from what I've read it sounds like the end which is directed by To will have a lovely shootout, many people have said it's kind of similar in feel/style to the ones in Exiled. also, Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai's new film Mad Detective opened up last week in theaters, so the dvd will probably be out in January. again, obviously not heroic bloodshed, but it also sounds like it will have a good shootout in the end. like another post indicated, practically all Milkyway crime films, directed by To or not, are pure excellence. I can't wait to see these two! going back to Ringo Lam, the vast majority of his work has also been excellent, however he doesn't really do the heroic bloodshed-style films very often. his On Fire films (City, Prison, School) are all very good, as is Full Contact and Victim. however, if I had to pick a fav. Ringo Lam film, it would be Full Alert which is just excellent in so many aspects. hopefully doing his 3rd of Triangle will get him back in the mood to do some more (Hong Kong) films. finally, two more great crime/action films that I dont think anyone mentioned yet which do have some good shootouts are Beyond Hypothermia and A War Named Desire, which I'm going to go watch both of them again right now!

[Milkyway]

I heard Triangle is very inconsistant in terms of pacing and flatness but whatever the case is, I'll still look forward to see it. as for Mad Detective, that's a def watch for me.

[sammofan]

I quite liked Purple Storm.
And Shiri.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I don't think Long Arm of the law III has been mentioned yet. Great fights and great shootouts. Kirk Wong and most of the other actors are really evil in this movie.

[Milkyway]

the story was ok (the worst in the trilogy) but great action takes place quite alot and is satisfying enough to make it the best action-wise.

[Iron_Jinon]

RC6x-BgHjaI
*dragon family*:eek:

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I didn't like Dragon Family at all, until that final fight. Damn that is good stuff.

[Iron_Jinon]

And Shiri.
brilliant.:D:):cool: