The Hero of Heroic Bloodshed: A John Woo Documentary (2025) Movie Script
- So, you really would kill me?
- I won't let you go this time.
- Fine, let's see, then.
- You can't win all the time.
Where are you, Jeffery?
Where's Dumbo? Where is he?
Right in front of you.
This film was made many years ago.
I remember back then,
I got a call from Film Workshop
asking me to work on The Killer
as the car stunt director.
I was very excited,
as I'd seen A Better Tomorrow,
and I thought it was a very good film.
And John Woo is a renowned director,
so I was ecstatic.
I then went to meet with John Woo.
I don't remember much about the meeting,
but I remember my first scene.
It was the scene at the beach.
How would I describe
working with John Woo?
Most production budgets on action films
at that time weren't huge.
But with John Woo,
you would have three cameras,
with all three in motion.
And I would think to myself, "See?
This is how a big budget film is made."
It's very different from the ones
I made before.
John is always very focused,
and he's very demanding.
And because he's so demanding,
his resulting shots are often very detailed.
It's really different from all
the other action films being made.
Working with brother Chow Yun-fat...
...it was very pleasant, and he always
took care of the crew on the set.
We were all very young back then.
I remember that shootout scene
at his character's house.
Me and my team would go there
to the set
and watch them film the scene.
And Danny Lee played a cop in this.
He always plays the cop.
And Sally Yeh was wonderful.
She's a great singer and actress,
and very pretty.
And she sang the theme song
for the film.
Each passing day, here I will stay
This heart wanders morning and night
How I long to find a willing companion
To cease this heart's wandering...
With wine I drown away
Know joy, live free
To keep the tears at bay
It's a beautiful song.
I feel that John was able
to make a film
that was filled with gun fights,
but also had a strong romantic feel.
The relationship
between Chow Yun-fat
and Sally Yeh's characters
was depicted very well.
The thing I remember the most
about making The Killer was...
...before this film, I'd never filmed
as the B Team, the second unit.
There was one day when we were running
out of time, and the sky was turning dark,
and John suddenly said to me,
"Can you help me shoot this scene?"
So I got myself a camera car,
and I got hold of a camera.
I had a cameraman with me.
We were able to shoot some car chases
for two hours before nightfall.
I was very happy,
as I'd never done any second-unit
shooting before with my team.
So, for me, this was very affirming
and encouraging.
In terms of the car stunts in the film...
The one I remember the most
required a car to flip
while rolling down a hill.
The challenge was that
it was almost at the end of the day.
So I had one hour to execute the stunt
before it turned dark,
and we had to set up the rig
in order to flip the car.
The rig needed to be set up behind the hill
in order for the car to flip down the hill.
I remember John chose a position
where it was over 10 metres high.
I saw it, and I knew the car won't look good
flipping from only 10-metres in height.
So I chose an even higher spot
which was over 20 metres
to flip the car.
And John was very considerate,
and he asked me,
"Is this safe? Will you be okay?"
And I assured him
that I had done this before,
and I could actually make the stunt
look better flipping from that height.
So he just let me do it.
And after I'd finished the stunt...
...the sky started to turn dark.
So we just had enough available light
to film this car stunt.
Another stunt required me
to brake and slide off a bike sideways,
roll a few times, get up,
run a little way, and then hide.
I remember we didn't have
enough cameras.
Like I said, we had A and B Teams,
so John would shoot the gunfight
with his team,
while the other team would film
my car chases.
- Jennie!
- Jeff!
Nostalgia is one of our saving graces.
At least when I die,
I'll know I'll be remembered by a friend.
Let's settle our dues in the next life.
The John Woo film that made the deepest
impression on me remains The Killer.
That's because it has everything.
It has action, gunfights,
explosions and romance.
And you can see the on-off relationship
between the two lead characters...
It's a brilliant film.
- Join our strike against oppression!
- Save your breath!
- Act now, fight for our rights.
- Walk faster!
Red Bean Pudding, where do you want
to go when you get old?
Anywhere's fine with me.
How about you?
Firstly, I want to live
in peace and quiet.
Go to Iraq, it's peaceful over there.
Or heaven, the air there is fresh.
Damn you!
I've made several films with John Woo.
We're like old partners.
Hard Boiled was like
our fourth collaboration.
So it was pretty smooth
working together by then.
I already knew
what director Woo wanted.
Whatever he wanted...
...we would execute
according to his wishes,
but sometimes we would try
to make it harder.
I remember there was one scene
which we shot for days.
It was the scene with the bikers
shooting in the warehouse.
I remember suggesting to him
about doing two stunts
that were difficult
and challenging for me.
One was with the motorbike
losing a wheel before exploding.
The other had the bike exploding in mid-air
after Brother Chow shot at it.
I felt that those two stunts
would look really beautiful
if we could pull them off.
However, director Woo made it
even more challenging for me.
He asked me to do them
after a whole night of filming.
That was difficult for me.
But since I'd worked with him before,
I knew that when he wanted a stunt done,
then he wanted it done immediately.
I already had everything set up
by the middle of the night.
So I was ready and prepared to film
those stunts at any time,
and it was easy for me
to adapt to this ad-hoc way
of filming stunts.
Even after so many years,
people still feel that
these two stunts are classics.
- Are you always so determined?
- Yes.
- That's my style.
- Mine, too.
So, we have something in common.
Dumbo, I owe you.
You don't owe me nothing.
This is the gift of friendship.
Good luck!
Sometimes I really envy your freedom.
I just don't have that.
I believe in justice,
but nobody trusts me.
I have the same problem.
- How good a shot are you?
- I'm a cop, I've got to be good.
Sidney!
Don't you trust me anymore?
You know why.
Of course.
People in our line of work
aren't supposed to trust anyone.
- I won't let you go this time.
- Fine, let's see, then.
- You can't win all the time.
Where are you, Jeffery?
Where's Dumbo? Where is he?
Right in front of you.
This film was made many years ago.
I remember back then,
I got a call from Film Workshop
asking me to work on The Killer
as the car stunt director.
I was very excited,
as I'd seen A Better Tomorrow,
and I thought it was a very good film.
And John Woo is a renowned director,
so I was ecstatic.
I then went to meet with John Woo.
I don't remember much about the meeting,
but I remember my first scene.
It was the scene at the beach.
How would I describe
working with John Woo?
Most production budgets on action films
at that time weren't huge.
But with John Woo,
you would have three cameras,
with all three in motion.
And I would think to myself, "See?
This is how a big budget film is made."
It's very different from the ones
I made before.
John is always very focused,
and he's very demanding.
And because he's so demanding,
his resulting shots are often very detailed.
It's really different from all
the other action films being made.
Working with brother Chow Yun-fat...
...it was very pleasant, and he always
took care of the crew on the set.
We were all very young back then.
I remember that shootout scene
at his character's house.
Me and my team would go there
to the set
and watch them film the scene.
And Danny Lee played a cop in this.
He always plays the cop.
And Sally Yeh was wonderful.
She's a great singer and actress,
and very pretty.
And she sang the theme song
for the film.
Each passing day, here I will stay
This heart wanders morning and night
How I long to find a willing companion
To cease this heart's wandering...
With wine I drown away
Know joy, live free
To keep the tears at bay
It's a beautiful song.
I feel that John was able
to make a film
that was filled with gun fights,
but also had a strong romantic feel.
The relationship
between Chow Yun-fat
and Sally Yeh's characters
was depicted very well.
The thing I remember the most
about making The Killer was...
...before this film, I'd never filmed
as the B Team, the second unit.
There was one day when we were running
out of time, and the sky was turning dark,
and John suddenly said to me,
"Can you help me shoot this scene?"
So I got myself a camera car,
and I got hold of a camera.
I had a cameraman with me.
We were able to shoot some car chases
for two hours before nightfall.
I was very happy,
as I'd never done any second-unit
shooting before with my team.
So, for me, this was very affirming
and encouraging.
In terms of the car stunts in the film...
The one I remember the most
required a car to flip
while rolling down a hill.
The challenge was that
it was almost at the end of the day.
So I had one hour to execute the stunt
before it turned dark,
and we had to set up the rig
in order to flip the car.
The rig needed to be set up behind the hill
in order for the car to flip down the hill.
I remember John chose a position
where it was over 10 metres high.
I saw it, and I knew the car won't look good
flipping from only 10-metres in height.
So I chose an even higher spot
which was over 20 metres
to flip the car.
And John was very considerate,
and he asked me,
"Is this safe? Will you be okay?"
And I assured him
that I had done this before,
and I could actually make the stunt
look better flipping from that height.
So he just let me do it.
And after I'd finished the stunt...
...the sky started to turn dark.
So we just had enough available light
to film this car stunt.
Another stunt required me
to brake and slide off a bike sideways,
roll a few times, get up,
run a little way, and then hide.
I remember we didn't have
enough cameras.
Like I said, we had A and B Teams,
so John would shoot the gunfight
with his team,
while the other team would film
my car chases.
- Jennie!
- Jeff!
Nostalgia is one of our saving graces.
At least when I die,
I'll know I'll be remembered by a friend.
Let's settle our dues in the next life.
The John Woo film that made the deepest
impression on me remains The Killer.
That's because it has everything.
It has action, gunfights,
explosions and romance.
And you can see the on-off relationship
between the two lead characters...
It's a brilliant film.
- Join our strike against oppression!
- Save your breath!
- Act now, fight for our rights.
- Walk faster!
Red Bean Pudding, where do you want
to go when you get old?
Anywhere's fine with me.
How about you?
Firstly, I want to live
in peace and quiet.
Go to Iraq, it's peaceful over there.
Or heaven, the air there is fresh.
Damn you!
I've made several films with John Woo.
We're like old partners.
Hard Boiled was like
our fourth collaboration.
So it was pretty smooth
working together by then.
I already knew
what director Woo wanted.
Whatever he wanted...
...we would execute
according to his wishes,
but sometimes we would try
to make it harder.
I remember there was one scene
which we shot for days.
It was the scene with the bikers
shooting in the warehouse.
I remember suggesting to him
about doing two stunts
that were difficult
and challenging for me.
One was with the motorbike
losing a wheel before exploding.
The other had the bike exploding in mid-air
after Brother Chow shot at it.
I felt that those two stunts
would look really beautiful
if we could pull them off.
However, director Woo made it
even more challenging for me.
He asked me to do them
after a whole night of filming.
That was difficult for me.
But since I'd worked with him before,
I knew that when he wanted a stunt done,
then he wanted it done immediately.
I already had everything set up
by the middle of the night.
So I was ready and prepared to film
those stunts at any time,
and it was easy for me
to adapt to this ad-hoc way
of filming stunts.
Even after so many years,
people still feel that
these two stunts are classics.
- Are you always so determined?
- Yes.
- That's my style.
- Mine, too.
So, we have something in common.
Dumbo, I owe you.
You don't owe me nothing.
This is the gift of friendship.
Good luck!
Sometimes I really envy your freedom.
I just don't have that.
I believe in justice,
but nobody trusts me.
I have the same problem.
- How good a shot are you?
- I'm a cop, I've got to be good.
Sidney!
Don't you trust me anymore?
You know why.
Of course.
People in our line of work
aren't supposed to trust anyone.