Customer Reviews

Ten Thousand Bullets: The Cinematic Journey of John Woo

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1 star:		(4)

 

 

Be suspicious of any biography that cites fewer than 20 resources!

The quickie layout and flaky fonts used in the printing should clue you in: This was not a carefully, painstakingly researched work. Laughably, it didn't even catch on to the biggest wave of Woo awareness, which was probably in the mid-'90s when Quentin Tarantino was also at his peak and Woo was coming out with Broken Arrow.

Context aside, the contents of this book bear up poorly to close scrutiny. Heard dedicated less than half the book to Woo's 20-year career and personal life prior to 1986's A Better Tomorrow. Granted, that film was Woo's defining work and his commercial breakthrough, but his struggles in the productive but repressive Hong Kong film industry would have been valuable insight into his character and his working habits. Instead, Heard goes into reviewer mode and goes film by film (in the case of Woo's pre-1986 works, he skips certain ones) and basically says whether each is good or bad, successful or not. But we get no details on production, whom Woo worked with (who was Director of Photography? Screenwriter? Producer?), scheduling, any problems with the productions, and -- most grievously -- we don't get any idea on how these early productions affected Woo as a filmmaker.

Seemingly at a loss when looking for validation for this elusive, highly distinctive filmmaker whose history few in the U.S. public know, Heard is relegated to making a Quentin Tarantino reference when trying to prove that Woo's work is valuable. Even when undergoing the obvious task of citing Woo trademarks that have seeped into U.S. films, Heard neglects such extremely Woo-derivative films such as Robert Rodriguez' Desperado, Walter Hill's Last Man Standing, and the Hughes brothers' Dead Presidents. Tarantino seems to be the only filmmaker Heard ever thinks of referring to, and his description of Woo's U.S. work experiences are scanty to the point of being laughable. What happened to Woo in his private life in the U.S.? No information. Whom did he yell at, fight with, come in contact with while in the "New World"? The book tells nothing. Instead of valuable on-set experiences or interviews with key personnel (eg. Terence Chang/Christopher Godsick; Oliver Wood, DP for Face/Off; Chuck Pfarrer and Graham Yost, writers for Hard Target and Broken Arrow, respectively; Peter Levy, DP for Broken Arrow and a host of others), Heard goes into the most cliched Woo trivia such as who his "weapons expert" is and what gun he used on Face/Off. Not very useful, in general, as to what kind of *filmmaker* Woo really is. As for his personal life...nothing whatsoever. Though biographies on artists should focus on their work, bios like J. Randy Taraborelli's Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness and Stephen Davis' Led Zeppelin biography The Hammer of the Gods have proven that, in biographies, the art and the person behind it can't be separated if a true representation is sought.

I had made up a list of omissions, errors, ethnical mistakes (eg. names -- "Chow Yun-fat"'s family name is "Chow", but Heard refers to him as "Yun-fat", a common mistake) and general ineptitudes that Heard included in his book. The list has gone missing, unfortunately, because I bought the book over half a year ago and never got to review it until now. Rest assured, if you try to use this book as a factual resource, you will run into more pitfalls than you can count.

This book would have received no stars at all if I hadn't taken into account that this is so far the only biography that a 30-year film veteran has received here. So get it if you're interested in HK film and Woo...but don't expect much from it.

This is a great book to read to set you up for watching the new Mission: Impossible sequel. The book gives context and a sense of film history in better understanding the life of John Woo and how he has developed his film directing career. I cannot think of another film director from outside of the United States that has achieved the kind of commercial success in terms of box office that Woo has accomplished.

I looked forward to this book, as I'm a huge fan of Woo's films. When I received my copy, and thumbed through it, I felt let down. Almost every quote Heard used (99% of them) were taken from articles I-- and diehard Woo fans-- have already seen on the web. Heard really didn't offer any new information whatsoever. He didn't even include any photos, and his "coverage" of Woo's life prior to 1986's A Better Tomorrow film is almost non-existent. Heard slapped together newspaper articles and called it a "book." A better book on John Woo needs to be written, by a credible source who actually spoke with the individuals they write about.

Think of this book as a really extensive magazine article. If you're looking for some behind-the-scenes information on the second half of John Woo's career, look no further. However, if you're a film student looking for a complete in-depth critique of John Woo as an artist and director from both a technical and biographical perspective, this book will leave you a little hungry.

For weeks I have heard about this book from friends, publications, as well as the internet. Being a John Woo fan, I planned to purchase the title from the first time I heard it was coming out. So when I recently saw it sitting on a shelf of a book store, I immediately purchased it. It was read and completed within a few hours. Not because the book is very short, but because it was so interesting to read for me.
For John Woo fans, this is a book that definately should be looked into. From the monent I started chapter one I did not want to put the book down. To see how my favorite director came to be the man he is was very interesting, and though I had already known much of the information contained in the book from previous visits to the internet, I did not mind reading about them again.
I, like the author of the book, started my admiration of John Woo after first viewing a Better Tomorrow movie (the first film, in my case). I was browsing a store, looking for an action film to watch for the evening when I saw the Better Tomorrow DVD, sitting there, with Chow Yun Fat smiling on the cover. I bought it, went home, and watched it. Within that week I had the Better Tommorrow trilogy all on DVD, as well as a half dozen other films by John Woo and/or Tsui Hark. That is how I became a fan. So when I started this John Woo book, and learned that the author became a fan in a similiar fashion, I think it made the book a little more enjoyable to read and relate to.
For those who are more of the "casual fan" or John Woo, who have simply viewed a few of his movies and don't know much about him, this is a good book to begin learning. The writing is clear, easy to read, and really seems to be written by a real big John Woo fan. Though I would have appreciated some pictures and the asian names included in the filmography section, this book is good enough such that you won't care about those details as you read through the chapters discussing the times of one of the greatest action directors ever.

And for the author to come onto this site to defend his malodorous slapped together quickie bio is contemptible. Heard, the author, "takes offense" and makes claims of having spoken extensively with mssrs. Woo and Chow, and yet these "talks" are not included in the book. All we get are the same story beats featured in mainstream magazines such as People and Time. Anyone who buys this odious ripoff will, in fact, receive nothing but quotes featured in articles posted on www.chowyunfat.com, or www.johnwoo.com, or bullet in the web or any number of other sites available by typing the words 'John Woo' into any search engine. Available for free, mind you. Christopher Heard, unfortunately, is a hack who did not put in the necessary legwork, and who now feels the need to attack his critics and defend his own deficiencies as a writer and "reporter." For all the "authoritative posturing," where is the interview with Kenneth Tsang, who has starred in almost every post ABT Woo work (including Chow's American debut The Replacement Killers)? the detailed examination of Woo's work (how the two-gun stance was swiped specifically from The Shootist and Taxi Driver)? details about his gun-happy works before 1986's A Better Tomorrow? Why didn't Ti Lung become Woo's leading man? why Chow? and who is Ti Lung anyway? and what about the many other projects Woo was supposed to do once he got to America? Band of Assassins? Full Circle? Tears of the Sun? Metal Machine? the sequel to Hard Boiled? Who wrote these? How did they come to Woo's attention? Christoper Heard doesn't know any of this because he didn't know what questions to ask Woo (or Chow). He focused solely on the well known movies, as opposed to the person behind the typewriter and camera. Where was the discussion about how Woo (and later Chow's) work suffered once they reached America? Why is this happening? These answers are not in this "book." This slapped together quickie's contents can be found, free of charge, on the aforementioned sites, where ironically, amateur webmasters offer more answers than this so-called biography. Don't bother with Heard's hackwork. He didn't bother trying to write a real book; he slapped other peoples' quotes together and called it his own work. Don't bother buying it. A better book has yet to be written on John Woo.

And for the author to come onto this site to defend his malodorous slapped together quickie bio is contemptible. Heard, the author, "takes offense" and makes claims of having spoken extensively with mssrs. Woo and Chow, and yet these "talks" are not included in the book. All we get are the same story beats featured in mainstream magazines such as People and Time. Anyone who buys this odious ripoff will, in fact, receive nothing but quotes featured in articles posted on www.chowyunfat.com, or www.johnwoo.com, or bullet in the web or any number of other sites available by typing the words 'John Woo' into any search engine. Available for free, mind you. Christopher Heard, unfortunately, is a hack who did not put in the necessary legwork, and who now feels the need to attack his critics and defend his own deficiencies as a writer and "reporter." For all the "authoritative posturing," where is the interview with Kenneth Tsang, who has starred in almost every post ABT Woo work (including Chow's American debut The Replacement Killers)? the detailed examination of Woo's work (how the two-gun stance was swiped specifically from The Shootist and Taxi Driver)? details about his gun-happy works before 1986's A Better Tomorrow? Why didn't Ti Lung become Woo's leading man? why Chow? and who is Ti Lung anyway? and what about the many other projects Woo was supposed to do once he got to America? Band of Assassins? Full Circle? Tears of the Sun? Metal Machine? the sequel to Hard Boiled? Who wrote these? How did they come to Woo's attention? Christoper Heard doesn't know any of this because he didn't know what questions to ask Woo (or Chow). He focused solely on the well known movies, as opposed to the person behind the typewriter and camera. Where was the discussion about how Woo (and later Chow's) work suffered once they reached America? Why is this happening? These answers are not in this "book." This slapped together quickie's contents can be found, free of charge, on the aforementioned sites, where ironically, amateur webmasters offer more answers than this so-called biography. Don't bother with Heard's hackwork. He didn't bother trying to write a real book; he slapped other peoples' quotes together and called it his own work.

This book, though very informative, is taken from so many other already available sources that it reads more like some student's book report. The most inaccurate passage being that Jeff in "The Killer" wears white gloves like Jeff in "Le Samourai". I own "The Killer" and do not remember seeing him wearing gloves. Also, Christopher Heard claims that some scenes from "The Killer" match "Le Samourai" shot for shot. That is completely untrue. Obviously Mr. Heard has not done his homework and thoroughly researched his subject matter. All in all, it is an interesting read if you are unfamiliar from where some of the material is plagerized.