History Creator / JohnWoo

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: For all the stylized gun violence in his films, fistfights in Woo's movies tend to be no-frills, brutal, exhausting affairs.

* ''Film/ABetterTomorrow'' (1986) - A classic story of brothers on opposite sides of the law. The younger brother Sung Tse Kit, the cop, was played by Creator/LeslieCheung, and the older brother Sung Tse Ho, the Triad gangster, was played by Ti Lung. This is the movie that kick-started the HeroicBloodshed genre in earnest, and it would also provide Creator/ChowYunFat's first major starring role as Mark Gor, an angry young gunslinger whose bond with Ho [[BloodBrothers borders on brotherhood itself]]. The movie's most memorable scene is Mark Gor's one-man vengeance spree at the restaurant that features Woo's first use of GunsAkimbo, a trope that would later come to define the genre in general. It also prompted the formation of Hong Kong's [[UsefulNotes/MediaClassifications rating system]] for movies due to its violence, and would later receive the rating of Category [=IIb=] (equivalent to the R rating).

* ''Film/BulletInTheHead'' (1990) - Woo's grimmest and most emotionally devastating flick yet, this movie combines the trademark John Woo gangland action with the horrors of [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam]], and showcases the destructive power of GoldFever on the HeroicBloodshed [[BloodBrothers bond of brotherhood]] between three would-be gangsters who try to strike it rich in the Nam while the war is in full swing.

* BloodBrothers: A very common theme in his Hong Kong works.

* RealMenLoveJesus: Woo is a devout Christian and this reflects heavily in his filmography, which prominently features religious imagery and iconography.

Woo returned to Hollywood in 2023, and his next project is [[SilenceIsGolden no dialogue]] action-thriller film ''Film/SilentNight2023''.

Woo left Hollywood and returned to Chinese cinema in 2008 by directing ''Film/RedCliff'', a big-budget two-part film inspired by a famous battle in ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', and the {{wuxia}} movies ''Reign of Assassins'' and the two-part movie ''The Crossing''. He later returned to the genre that made him famous with 2017's ''Manhunt''.

* TheTriadsAndTheTongs

Woo left Hollywood and returned to Chinese cinema in 2008 by directing ''Film/RedCliff'', a big-budget two-part film inspired by a famous battle in ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', and the {{wuxia}} movies 'Reign of Assassins'' and the two-part movie ''The Crossing''. He later returned to the genre that made him famous with 2017's ''Manhunt''.

* ''Film/TheKiller'' (1989) - One of John Woo's best-known movies next to ''Hard-Boiled'', and often regarded as his best. Chow Yun-fat plays a HitmanWithAHeart who takes on one final job in order to raise the money to fix a tragic mistake that he made that left a singer (Sally Yeh) blinded, only to be double crossed by his boss (Shing Fui-On) who would rather [[ContractOnTheHitman kill Chow than give him the money]]. Chow's only ally is a CowboyCop played by Danny Lee who comes to form a close bond with the man he had sworn to bring to justice. Contains an iconic MexicanStandoff between Chow and Lee, and a [[BloodstainedGlassWindows furious shootout in a church]] with [[DisturbedDoves doves flying everywhere]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Film/TheKiller'' and ''Film/BulletInTheHead'' are quite possibly his darkest and most somber films.

* RatedMForManly: Very much so.

* CreatorThumbprint: Expect his characters to wield a Beretta 92 or [[GunsAkimbo even two]]. He has said it's the only gun he likes, finding all others ugly.

* WeaponBasedCharactrization: If a character in his films is using a handgun, it will almost invariably be a Beretta 92 and likely [[GunsAkimbo not just one.]] The pistol's use and presence in pop culture is now inherently linked to Woo's films and he's said it's his favorite gun to use in films, describing all others as ugly.