John Woo was born on May 1, 1946 Guangzhou, China. He is a Chinese film director and producer.

He made his reputation as an action film director in Hong Kong during the 1980s, but since 1992 has worked in Hollywood directing big-budget thrillers such as Face/Off (1997) and Mission Impossible II (2000).

Woo started his filmmaking career with the Shaw Brothers studios in Hong Kong in 1969. He directed his first feature film in 1973 and followed with a string of action movies during the '70s and '80s.

Woo gained international attention for the stylized violence in A Better Tomorrow (1986), The Killer (1989) and Hard-Boiled (1992), all starring Chow Yun-Fat, and in 1993 made his first movie in the U.S., Hard Target.

His films are known for their choreographed violence, themes of loyalty and honor and visual trademarks like guns and doves. His other films include the drama Windtalkers (2002) and the sci-fi thriller Paycheck (2003).

Currently, John Woo is directing and producing a videogame called Stranglehold. He is also slated to return to China with Chow Yun-Fat sometime in 2008 to shoot his next major project, Red Cliff.

Director

• Red Cliff (2008)
• Stranglehold (2007)
• All the Invisible Children (2005)
• The Robinsons: Lost in Space (2004)
• Paycheck (2003)
• Hostage (2002)
• Windtalkers (2002)
• Mission: Impossible II (2000)
• Blackjack (1998)
• Face/Off (1997)
• Once a Thief (1996)
• Broken Arrow (1996)
• Hard Target (1993)
• Lat sau san taam (1992)
• Zong heng si hai (1991)
• Die xue jie tou (1990)
• Yi dan qun ying (1989)
• Dip huet seung hung (1989)
• Ying hung boon sik II (1987)
• Ying hung boon sik (1986)
• Ying xiong wu lei (1986)
• Liang zhi lao hu (1985)
• Xiao jiang (1984)
• Ba cai Lin Ya Zhen (1982)
• Hua ji shi dai (1981)
• Mo deng tian shi (1981)
• Qian zuo guai (1980)
• Hao xia (1979)
• Da sha xing yu xiao mei tou (1978)
• Ha luo, ye gui ren (1978)
• The Brave Lion (1977)
• Fa qian han (1977)
• Shao Lin men (1976)
• Nu zi tai quan qun ying hui (1975)
• Dinü hua (1975)
• Tie han rou qing (1974)
• Chu ba (1973)
• Ouran (1968)
• Sijie (1968)

Awards

• MTV Movie Award Best Action Sequence "Mission: Impossible 2" 2001
• MTV Movie Award Best Action Sequence "Face/Off" 1998
• Hong Kong Film Award Best Editing "Hard Boiled" 1992
• Hong Kong Film Award Best Editing "A Bullet to the Head" 1990
• Hong Kong Film Award Best Director "The Killer" 1989