John Woo:King of Gunfire News Column
First of all, my sincere apologizes for the lack of news recently on
John Woo and everything WOO, the Woo camp has been pretty quiet lately
with all the hype on
Mission Impossible 2
finally dying off. As always this page will focus on Woo's current
involvement and more frequently, the release of Woo's films on the
home entertainment format whether it's DVD,VHS,LD or even VCD.
Any additional news on John Woo are always welcome !
Click here to access
last year's news.
12/11/2001:Hong Kong Legends to release four John Woo films on DVD
Hong Kong Legends
has signed a major deal with Golden Princess to secure the home video and
theatrical rights to seventeen HK classics including four of John Woo's HK masterpieces.
The reputable and much respected UK DVD label now owns the rights to
The Killer,
Bullet In The Head,
Once A Thief
and
A Better Tomorrow II
which were
previously released on VHS under the UK distributor Made In The Hong Kong.
Made In Hong Kong made quite a name for themselves in the UK home video market but strangely
enough never venture into the DVD home video market.
Hong Kong Legends
on the other hand, has gone from strength to strength
since starting on the DVD home video scene eighteen months ago. As with their previous outstanding
releases,
Hong Kong Legends
promised to restore each film frame-by-frame as well as digitally
remastering the mono soundtrack into proper 5.1 Dolby Stereo Surround. DVD buffs can expect the
films to be presented in the best possible viewing format, namely 16x9 anamorphic widescreen
and a host of extras to accompany the films. Naturally the trade-off to the deal will probably
result in these scheduled DVDs not hitting the market so soon as these restoration process takes
quite some time.
On a similar note, French DVD label HKVideo has just released
The Killer
on a double-disc limited edition DVD collector set. The first disc will feature the original cut of
the film along with a making-of documentary featuring interviews with John Woo. The second disc will
feature the Taiwan extended version of The Killer for the first time on DVD (probably the only time
on DVD unless HKLegends decides to really spoil us Woo fanboys). Both versions of the film are
presented in enhanced 16x9 anamorphic widescreen with the mandarin soundtrack naturally accompanying
the Taiwan version.
20/05/2001:Windtalkers Official Site Opens!
As Windtalkers comes closer to release date, the promotion of
the film begins to kick in with a poster of the film already unveiled.
The
official website
is already in full-gear with a host of picture gallery on John Woo
and Nicolas Cage working on the film. You can also a informative
promotion reel on the shooting of the film plus exclusive interviews
with producer Terence Chang.The film will mark another career
milestone for John Woo as it’s the first Hollywood picture which
he directs and produce, hopefully allowing him more creative freedom
than his recent Hollywood films. The film is moving into
post-production right now and will be release this fall.
23/03/2001: Hard Boiled DVD comparisons covered !
Finally, someone has made the effort and covered the four (or five if you count the inferior Tartan English version) Hard Boiled DVDs that were released.
Bullets n'Babes DVDs
compared the Hard Boiled DVDs and see how each stack up with one another. It's no surprise to see that the Criterion Collection
remains the definitive version although it's unfair for them to dismiss it as a "poor version" as it's the best us Woo fans have right now. They sound a bit shallow when talking of John Woo films but they know their stuffs when it comes to DVD.
For all you DVD fanatics,head over to the web site right now!
23/03/2001:John Woo to direct Harrison Ford in Andrew Marlowe-penned script
According to
Harrison Ford Online,
John Woo is likely to be directing Harrison Ford in an up-coming film
penned by Air Force One's writer Andrew Marlowe.Variety report that
Warner Brothers Pictures will pay screenwriter Andrew Marlowe
(Harrison Ford's "Air Force One") an upfront fee of $750,000 to pen
an untitled project for Harrison Ford to topline and Mr. Woo to
direct.
In my personal opinion, I can't say I'm filled with as much excitement
at the people at
Harrison Ford Online.
Don't get me wrong, Harrison Ford is a fine actor and all but Andrew
Marlowe and Air Force One ? According to a recent interview
with the man himself, John Woo he quoted that Air Force One
was the worse film he saw in that year (while Shine was his
favourite) simple because it was a typical American action film with
plently of action and no character development. I myself didn't think
Air Force One was all that amazing too especially with the
fine talents of Gary Oldman and William Macey being wasted.
Get Andrew Kevin Walker to pen the script (Seven and 8MM)
and then I would really be filled with excitement!
23/02/2001:Tartan Video to re-release Hard Boiled DVD on 19th March 2001
UK World Cinema Distributor Tartan Video who made less than a
splash on the DVD scene last year wants to correct their mistake by
re-releasing Hard Boiled
on DVD. Tartan Video initially put
Hard Boiled
out on DVD last year but only include the dubbed english audio track.
Now Tartan Video is going to remastered the film on DVD with the
original cantonese audio track as well as restoring the scenes that
were originally cut off the UK version (I have only seen the interview
on the DVD as I couldn't bear sitting through an entire dubbed version
of
Hard Boiled
so I can't comment on which scene is cut). Other extras available on
the initial Tartan Video release will also be feature on the
remastered version like the John Woo interview, stills gallery and
interview transcripts with Chow Yun Fat and Tony Leung as well as a
new uncut scene comparsion feature. The DVD is said to be presented
in widescreen format(no word on anamorphic widescreen at the moment)
and is region-coded 2. It remains to be seen whether the initial
Tartan Video release is going to be out of print.
The DVD is set for release on the 19th of March 2001 but you can
pre-order the DVD at UK's top online store
BlackStar.
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