John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong film director and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard Boiled and Red Cliff. His Hollywood films include Hard Target, Broken Arrow, Face/Off and Mission: Impossible 2. He also created the comic series Seven Brothers, published by Virgin Comics. Woo was described by Dave Kehr in The Observer in 2002 as "arguably the most influential director making movies today". Woo cites his three favorite films as David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, and Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï.

Filmography

• 2024The Killer — Director, Producer, Original Film Writer
• 2023Silent Night — Producer, Director
• 2018A Better Tomorrow — Original Story
• 2017Manhunt — Director, Writer
• 2015The Crossing II — Director
• 2014Breaking the Waves — Executive Producer
• 2014The Crossing I — Director
• Voice
• 2012Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale — Producer
• 2011Beginning of the Great Revival — Lin Sen
• 2011Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale - Part 1: The Sun Flag — Producer
• 2011Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale - Part 2: The Rainbow Bridge — Producer
• 2010A Better Tomorrow — Executive Producer, Screenplay, Original Story
• 2010Color Me Love — Producer
• 2010Reign of Assassins — Producer, Director
• 2009My Fair Gentleman — Producer
• 2009Red Cliff II — Screenplay, Director, Producer
• 2009The Founding of a Republic — Liu Wenhui, National Army Officers
• 2008Red Cliff — Director, Screenplay, Producer
• 2008Team-Up: John Woo and Shinji Aramaki
• 2007Appleseed: Ex Machina — Producer
• 2007Blood Brothers — Producer
• Bokura no Jidai
• 2007The Making of Hard Boiled
• 2007The Making of Stranglehold — Producer
• 2006All the Invisible Children — Director
• Be My Guest
• 2004The Robinsons: Lost in Space — Director
• 2003Bulletproof Monk — Producer
• 2003Paycheck — Director, Producer
• 2003The Life and Times of Wu Zhong Xian — As himself
• 2003The Master: Chang Cheh Documentary
• 2002Hostage — Director
• 2002Red Skies — Executive Producer
• 2002Windtalkers — Producer, Director
• 2001Mission: Improbable — John Woo
• The Hire — Director
• 2000Mission: Impossible II — Director
• 1998Blackjack — Director, Producer
• 1998The Big Hit — Executive Producer
• 1998The Replacement Killers — Choreographer, Executive Producer
• 1997Face/Off — Director, Storyboard
• 1997Task Force — Police Chief
• 1996Broken Arrow — Director
• 1996Once a Thief — Director
• Once a Thief — Creator
• 1996Somebody Up There Likes Me — Producer
• 1995Don't Cry, Nanking — Producer
• 1995Peace Hotel — Executive Producer
• 1993Hard Target — Director
• 1992Hard Boiled — Mr. Woo, Director, Editor, Story
• 1992Twin Dragons — Priest
• 1991Once a Thief — Stanley Wu, Director, Screenplay, Story
• 1991The Banquet — Man on Stairs
• 1990Bullet in the Head — Policeman, Producer, Director, Editor, Writer
• 1990Rebel from China — Kwong
• 1989A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon — Producer
• Celebrity Talk Show — 吴宇森
• 1989Just Heroes — Director
• 1989Sunset in Paris — Maggie's uncle
• 1989The Killer — Director, Screenplay
• 1988I Love Maria
• 1988Starry Is the Night — Father Fan
• 1987A Better Tomorrow II — Director, Writer
• 1987The Thirty Million Dollar Rush — Ling's Husband
• 1986A Better Tomorrow — Inspector Wu, Director, Writer
• 1985Ghost Bustin — Producer
• 1985Happy Union 2 — Producer
• 1985Love, Lone Flower — Producer
• 1985Run Tiger Run — Director, Producer
• 1985Super Citizen — Producer
• 1984Happy Union — Producer
• 1984Heroes Shed No Tears — Producer, Director, Writer
• 1984The Time You Need a Friend — Director
• 1982Plain Jane to the Rescue — Self, Director, Screenplay
• 1982To Hell with the Devil — Director, Writer
• 1981The Idiot Assassin — Producer
• 1980From Riches to Rags — [cameo], Director, Writer
• 1980Laughing Times — Screenplay, Director
• 1979Itchy Fingers — Triad Boss on Lorry
• 1979Last Hurrah for Chivalry — Director, Writer
• 1978Follow the Star — Miss Chen's Father, Director, Writer, Screenplay
• 1978Hello, Late Homecomers — Director, Screenplay
• 1977Money Crazy — Director, Screenplay
• 1976Hand of Death — Zhang Yi, Director, Screenplay
• 1976Princess Chang-Ping — Director, Screenplay
• 1976The Private Eyes — Producer
• 1975The Dragon Tamers — Director, Writer
• 1974The Young Dragons — Message Deliverer, Writer, Director
• 1974Young Lovers on Flying Wheels — Man at Bike Reclaim Centre
• 1973Blood Brothers — Assistant Director
• 1973Fist to Fist — Assistant Director
• 1973The Devils — Assistant Director
• 1973The Mandarin — Second Unit
• 1972Four Riders — Assistant Director
• 1972The Boxer from Shantung — Assistant Director
• 1972The Water Margin — Assistant Director
• 1972Young People — Assistant Director
• 1970Begging — Thanks
• 1970The Ruthless Heart — Story
• 1969Dead Knot — Boy, Writer, Producer, Editor, Director
• 1968Accidentally — Young Man, Director, Writer, Editor
• Better Tomorrow — Original Film Writer
• Gambino — Director
• X-Crucior — Director

Appearances as themselves (22)

• 2026Twist & Shoot: Mister Suzuki — Self
• 2022The King of Wuxia Part 1 — Self
• 2022The King of Wuxia Part 2 — Self
• 大侠胡金铨 — self
• 2021Life in 24 Frames a Second — Self
• 2017John Travolta, le miraculé d'Hollywood — Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
• 2016Ken San — Self
• 2011Kurosawa's Way — Self
• 2010Mission: Remarkable - 40 Years of Creating the Impossible — Self
• 2009How Bruce Lee Changed the World — Self
• 2007The Light and The Dark: The Making of Face/Off — Self
• A Century of Light and Shadow — Self
• 2004Crossings: John Woo — Self
• 2003Chop Socky: Cinema Hong Kong — Self
• 2003Cinema Hong Kong: Kung Fu — Self
• 2003Cinema Hong Kong: Wu Xia — Self
• 2002The Art of Action: Martial Arts in the Movies — Self - Interviewee
• 1999Kurosawa: The Last Emperor — Self
• 1998Yang ± Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema — Self
• 1994Cinema of Vengeance — Self (uncredited)
• 1993Film ohne Fesseln - Das neue Hongkong Kino — Self
• Golden Horse Awards — Self