Bulletproof Monk info

Bulletproof Monk fan site offers some info and Behind the scenes pictures. Once again Chow Yun-fat is in hands of debut director. Replacement Killers, his first movie in Hollywood, was also directed byt first timer, Anthony Fuqua. But then again, there's always the first time for everything. Surely this project looks promising.Word says it is supposed to be 'The matrix' style movie with huge amount of special effects. Boy Wonder Visual Effects are doing sfx work and Bulletproof Monk fansite there would be huge 250 special effects shots. A budget of $52million has been mentioned by some sources.  

Chow Yun-fat is nameless monk, a true martial arts master who needs a follower and eventually  he finds young Kar played by Seann William Scott. Film is produced by john Woo and Terence Chang with their Lion Rock Productions and MGM will be the distributor. Movie is based on comic book Bulletproof Monk by Gotham Chopra. Movie adaption is currently being filmed in Toronto and shooting process should be finished June 4 2002. Movie should be released in December 2002. At least I hope it won't be delayed to Summer 2003 as some sources say. 

An official press release from MGM gives this synopsis of the movie:

"Chow Yun-Fat plays a mysterious monk with no name zigzagging the globe to protect an ancient scroll -- a scroll that holds the key to unlimited power. Now the monk must find a protégé, the next guardian of the Scroll of the Ultimate.  Kar (Seann William Scott) is an unlikely candidate, a streetwise young man whose only interest is himself, but when he saves the Bulletproof Monk from capture, the two become partners in a scheme to save the world from the scroll's most avid pursuer. Together, with the help of a sexy Russian mafia princess called Bad Girl (James King), they seek out, find and face the ultimate enemy in a final spectacular battle packed with dazzling effects and action."

Bulletproof Monk fan site

Buy Bulletproof Monk comic book

A Better Tomorrow Soundtrack CD!

  Daniel Wang's Action Web releaves that soudtrack CD for A Better Tomorro 1 & 2 actually was made. This CS was released in Japan 2000 by USE Corp. & TRIARROW Co. Ltd, Japan. However it is not available anymore. It was released in extremely rare Japanese A Better Tomorrow Collector's Edition box set. This nice box includes soundtrack, 16 reproduction lobby cards, 1 Mark and Ken childhood photo and a non-poseable super-deformed Brother Mark figurine. This soundtrack features music from A Better Tomorrow and A Better Tomorrow II, 16 tracks all together. Surely this looks nice but it is very hard to find.

Daniel Wang's Action Web

Windtalk-ing - chat about working with John Woo and Nic Cage

Film Force has an article about chatting with scriptwriters Joe Batteer & John Rice telling how it was to work with John Woo and Nic Cage. This was released November 20, 2001 so this is old news now but I mention it here just in case if you missed it. Film Force also has some other Windtalkers related articles like script review. 

"John was the first director we went to," Rice confesses. "There were times when we had our disagreements; there were times when there were even heated disagreements. And John Woo, to his credit, kept us on board this project from idea to production rewrites, to character changes ... John Woo is a man who has great respect for everyone, writers included." Batteer concurs with his writing partner. "The first time (Woo) heard the pitch, he clapped and said, 'That's my kind of movie. ... I see this as my Lawrence of Arabia.'"
 

Film Force article

John Woo Movies Film Scripts

So you saw the movie but it is not enough? Want to read film scripts but don't know where to find them. Actually few films scripts to Woo's latest movies are available to download from several web sites. I found quite interesting to compare early draft for Face/Off and see how much it changed before it became a John Woo movie we can see today.  

Broken Arrow (4th Draft)
Face/Off (First Draft)
Face/Off (Production Draft)
The Killer (Walter Hill's unproduced version)
Mission Impossible II (Revisited Draft 12/4/99)
Mission Impossible II (Transcript)
John Woo's Once a Thief (Transcripts for TV serie)

John Woo's Once a Thief The TV Series released on DVD

Sazuma Trading has listed few Japanese DVD releases of John Woo's Once a Thief The TV Series. These discs were released November 9. 2001 by Full Media. TV series is the remake version of John Woo's movie with the same title. John Woo directed the pilot movie but worked for the TV series as executive producer. As Japanese DVDs usually these are quite expensive, US39.00 or 44.00 € each. Sazuma lists four discs and running time 91 minutes each. Picture is non-anamorphin in original aspect ratio 4:3. Series has original English and japanese dubbed soundtrack, both in Dolby Digital 2.0. Subtitles are in Japanese only.

John Wooat the American Cinematheque for a retrospective of his work

April 18 -  21, 2001

HOLLYWOOD - Hong Kong born filmmaker John Woo will appear in-person on selected evenings for the American Cinematheque's presentation of HARD BOILED: A TRIBUTE TO JOHN WOO IN-PERSON (April 18-21, 2002), a five night retrospective featuring seven of his films - from both Asia, and the US (MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2; FACE/OFF), where he is now based. Woo is scheduled to appear in person for discussion on Friday, April 19th and Saturday, April 20th. All guests are subject to their availability. All screenings are at the newly renovated Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the historic Egyptian (6712 Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Las Palmas) in Hollywood.

American Cinematheque, 1800 North Highland Avenue, Suite 717, Hollywood,  CA 90028
(tel) 323.466-FILM (fax) 323.461.9737  
On the web: http://www.egyptiantheatre.com

Thursday, April 18, 2002
7:30 PM  Double Feature: 
A BETTER TOMORROW (1986, 95 min.), 
A BETTER TOMORROW 2 (1987, 105 min.)

Friday, April 19, 2002
7:00 PM THE KILLER, (1989, 110 min.) 
9:45 PM HARD BOILED, (1992, 126 min.) 

Saturday, April 20, 2002
5:00 PM. BULLET IN THE HEAD, (1990, 136 min.)  
8:30 PM is FACE/OFF, (1997, 138 min.) 

Sunday, April 21, 2002
5:00 PM a Double Feature.
ONCE A THIEF, (1990, 107 min.)
THE KILLER, (1989, 110 min.) 

Thursday, April 18, 2002
The Thursday, April 18th program begins at 7:30 PM with a Double Feature. First up is A BETTER TOMORROW, (1986, Golden Princess, 95 min.), the film that brought world attention to the Hong Kong brand of "heroic bloodshed" cinema and set director Woo on the fast track. It remains one of the highest grossing Asian films ever released.  Mark (Chow Yun Fat) and best friend, Ho (Ti Lung) are cocky, C-note burning gangsters embroiled in a massive counterfeiting scheme - while trying to keep news of Lung's criminal ties from his clean-as-a-whistle policeman brother, Kit (Leslie Cheung).   "Never before had the underworld life of the triads been so lovingly rendered in scenes of slow-motion mythologizing and bullet-riddled elegizings" - Stefan Hammond & Mike Wilkins, Sex And Zen And A Bullet In The Head. 
Next on the same bill is A BETTER TOMORROW 2, (1987, Golden Princess, 105 min.) .Chow Yun-Fat returns as Ken, Mark's twin brother, to team up once more with Ho (Ti Lung) to redeem their mentor, shipping magnate Lung (Dean Shek) when he's forced to flee to New York after his daughter is killed and he's framed  for murder.  Labyrinthine plot twists, double-crosses and a bullet ballet of escalating massacres punctuate this fever dream sequel. With Leslie Cheung.

Friday, April 19, 2002
The program begins at 7:00 PM on Friday, April 19th with THE KILLER, (1989,
Kino, 110 min.) The film that put John Woo on the international map, and almost single-handedly redefined the style, pace (and body count) of the modern gangster film.  Sensitive, honorable hit-man Chow Yun Fat accidentally blinds singer Sally Yeh in a nightclub shoot-out, then falls in love with her.  Rule-breaking cop Danny Lee, hot on Chow's trail, forms an uneasy alliance with the killer when gonzo gang boss Fui-On Shing goes ballistic, trying to take them all out in an escalating series of gloriously operatic gun-battles, punctuated by white doves, swirling pop music and Chow's impossibly cool demeanor.  Discussion following with director John Woo. 
    Following at 9:45 PM is HARD BOILED, (1992, Golden
Princess/Wellspring, 126 min.)  Cop Chow Yun-Fat and enigmatic killer Tony
Leung join forces to take down a bloodthirsty gang of arms dealers in Woo's
over-the-top, expertly orchestrated follow-up to THE KILLER.  The
nail-bitingly suspenseful hospital-full-of-hostages third act manages to
coax warmth and humor out of one of the most hypnotically violent climaxes
in cinema history.  Director John Woo to introduce screening.

Saturday, April 20, 2002
The program Saturday, April 20th begins at 5:00 PM. First up is BULLET IN THE HEAD, (1990, Film Workshop/Magnum Ent./Golden Princess/John Woo Prod., 136 min.)  Hailed by many as Woo's finest and most personal film, BULLET... is a thrillingly beautiful and searingly cathartic drama of three friends
(Tony Leung, Jacky Cheung and Waise Lee) in 1967 Hong Kong, who are forced
to flee after becoming unintentionally embroiled in a gang vendetta.  Woo unflinchingly charts their harrowing escape from the frying pan n into the fire of the Viet Nam inferno, as the trio becomes targets for black marketeers as well as Viet Cong... running a gauntlet that will tear apart their friendship in the process.  Discussion following with director John Woo.     
Following at 8:30 PM is FACE/OFF, (1997, Paramount, 138 min.) A wild, dizzying thrill ride of a pulp epic that is probably the closest in spirit to Woo's earlier Hong Kong thrillers.  Federal agent John Travolta and psychotic master criminal Nicolas Cage exchange identities when a  bizarre undercover operation to coax information out of Cage's brother goes horribly wrong.  Cat-and-mouse pyrotechnics mushroom as the beleaguered undercover man feverishly tries to recapture his nemesis and his face! "A cinema of violent delirium so breathtaking it plays like visual poetry." -- Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times  With Joan Allen, Gina Gershon. 
Director John Woo to introduce screening.

Sunday, April 21, 2002
The Sunday, April 21st program begins at 5:00 PM with a Double Feature. First up is ONCE A THIEF, (1990, Columbia Pictures, 107 min.) Full of jaw-dropping action but without a "body count," this fast moving caper stars Chow Yun Fat, Leslie Cheung and Cheri Chung as street urchins grown up to be art thieves, combing Paris and Europe to acquire a mysterious painting that has become a 'holy grail' for the trio.  Director Woo expertly balances the humor and romance with more serious conflicts of personal loyalty amongst members of an improvised, untraditional family.  Next on the same bill is 
THE KILLER, (1989, Kino, 110 min.) An encore screening of the film that put John Woo on the international map, and almost single-handedly redefined the 
style, pace (and body count) of the modern gangster film.  Sensitive, honorable hit-man Chow Yun Fat accidentally blinds singer Sally Yeh in a nightclub shoot-out, then falls in love with her. Rule-breaking cop Danny Lee, hot on Chow's trail, forms an uneasy alliance with the killer when gonzo gang boss Fui-On Shing goes ballistic, trying to take them all out in an escalating series of gloriously operatic gun-battles, punctuated by white doves, swirling pop music and Chow's impossibly cool demeanor. 

All films are separate admission except those listed as Double Features
which are one ticket price for both films. There is a five minute break
between films on double bills.

Forthcoming John Woo books

In June 2002 two new John Woo related books will be found on bookstores. One is about making of Windtalkers, a forthcoming John Woo war movie. This full colour book tells the true story behind this movie. Another book will be a journey into Woo's cinematic world written by  Michael Bliss.

Windtalkers : The Making of the John Woo Film about the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II (Newmarket Pictorial Movebooks)
Paperback - 144 pages (June 2002)

With more than 100 dramatic movie and historical photos, the official tie-in to the film starring Nicolas Cage, based on real events about the Navajo Marine code talkers, who developed the only American code the Japanese never cracked—from MGM in June 2002. In the first movie made on the subject, director John Woo (Mission: Impossible 2, Face/Off) reveals the invaluable actions of the Navajo code talkers during the war in the Pacific, heroes whose bravery earned them the Congressional Medal of Honor. The code talkers transmitted radio messages using a secret, efficient, unbreakable code based on their native language. The film's gripping climax takes place during the Battle of Saipan, when the Marines, fighting off the Japanese, must risk their lives to safeguard the code. This full-color companion book tells the fascinating story behind the movie—from facts about the code's creation to historical background of the Navajo nation; from a glimpse into the rigorous code talker training program to production details about transforming a Hawaiian landscape into a Saipan battlefront. The pages are filled with captivating color images from the film and historic photographs from the U.S. Marines and the National Archives, as well personal reflections by Woo and Senator Jeff Bingaman, screenwriters, producers, and actors—plus samples and translations of the Navajo code. Approx. 100 color photos.

Between the Bullets: The Spiritual Cinema of John Woo
Hardcover - 136 pages (June 2002)

Not much information about this book but it will be written by Michael Bliss. He has written books like Doing It Right : The Best Criticism on Sam Peckinpah's the Wild Bunch, Dreams Within a Dream : The Films of Peter Weir, Martin Scorsese and Michael Cimino (Filmmakers, No 8), Brian De Palma (Filmmakers, No 6) and many others. 

Buy Between the Bullets: The Spiritual Cinema of John Woo

Buy Windtalkers : The Making of the John Woo Film about the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II

Woo directs Men of Destiny (?)

According to Los Angeles Times Woo is supposed to direct a $90 million epic adventure called Men of Destiny. Not much detailes yet about it.