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A number of prominent American directors, most notably Quentin Tarantino and the Wachowski brothers, cite John Woo as one of their inspirations and idols.
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A widely publicized March 2005 list of "The Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures" included two John Woo films, The Killer and A Better Tomorrow.
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To differentiate his films from various martial arts (which rarely use firearms) categories, John Woo films are often referred to as "Gun Fu".
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In the seventies, he had a great deal of success making comedies.
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John is a Christian, having grown up in a Lutheran family, and often uses Christian symbols (especially doves) in his films.
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Due to religious persecution, Woo's parents left the mainland for Hong Kong when he was five years old.
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His favorite handgun is the Beretta 92F/FS, which is used in most of his films. He likes the way the gun looks and considers it to be an "important character".
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Woo's movie The Killer (1989) became the most successful Hong Kong film in the U.S. since 1973's Enter the Dragon.
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In 2005, he became only the fifth Chinese director to sit on the board of judges for the Cannes Film Festival.
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With the 1993 film Hard Target, John Woo became the first Asian director ever to make a mainstream Hollywood film.
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His trademark style of beautifully choreographed extreme violence was established with the 1986 film A Better Tomorrow.
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John Woo is 5' 4.5" tall or 1.64 meters.
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Although he was born in Mainland China, Woo grew up in Hong Kong.
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His film career started in 1969, working for Cathay studios.
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In 1971 he went to work as an assistant director for the Shaw Brothers Studios.