After 2003’s Ben Affleck vehicle Paycheck, the worst of the Philip K. Dick adaptations, John Woo disappeared. He took his guns and his doves and seemingly went back up the mountain to live out his days in peace, producing movies and not directing. Who could blame him? Woo spent close to a decade making American action trash when a new generation of Hong Kong action — movies that owe more than a little to Woo’s legacy — gained mainstream acceptance in the same market. Looks like John’s coming back down from the mountain with Red Cliff, his first Chinese-language film since Hard-Boiled. From this trailer, the movie looks very promising, a historical epic that eschews the neon bombast of recent Asian entries in the genre and replaces it with western grit. Despite the apparent influence of Ridley Scott though, Cliff also looks to capture some of the classic melodrama of '60s and '70s Hong Kong historical action. Here’s hoping it’s as good as it looks here.
You can check out the trailer at Yahoo Taiwan here.
It’s good to have you back, John.