| Full Name | Peter Woo |
| Net Worth | $7.2 Billion |
| Date Of Birth | 1946 |
| Place Of Birth | Shanghai, China |
| Height | 1.64 m |
| Profession | Politician |
| Education | St Stephen's College, University of Cincinnati, Columbia Business School |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Spouse | Bessie Pao-Woo (m. 1973) |
| Children | Douglas Woo, Jennifer Woo, Jacqueline Woo |
| Parents | Wu Zhuoyun |
| LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-woo-6b995131 |
| IMDB | http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000247/ |
| Awards | Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director, Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film, Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film Editing, Saturn Award for Best Director, Asian Film Award for Top-Grossing Film Director |
| Nominations | Hong Kong Film Award for Best Screenplay, Asian Film Award for Best Director, Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Gemini Award for Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series, Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Award for Best Dramatic Series |
| Movies | The Killer, Hard Boiled, A Better Tomorrow, Face/Off, Red Cliff, The Crossing, Hard Target, Mission: Impossible II, Bullet in the Head, A Better Tomorrow II, Once a Thief, Broken Arrow, Paycheck, Reign of Assassins, Heroes Shed No Tears, Windtalkers, Just Heroes, Last Hurrah for Chivalry, Hand of De... |
| # | Trademark |
|---|
| 1 | Frequent use of slow motion |
| 2 | Final confrontations often take place near the ocean |
| 3 | Birthmark on the dorsum of his nose |
| 4 | His lead characters, whether good or bad, always have a code of conduct which includes a strict vow never to harm or kill innocent people. In many of his films, these lead characters often fight against villains with no such code who freely kill innocent people without remorse. |
| 5 | Often puts the opponents in his movies in verbal confrontation in different parts of a room, usually seperated by a wall or other object. |
| 6 | Berettas are mainly used as the main character's gun in his movies |
| 7 | Frequently uses unusual weapons to change the course of hand-to-hand combat scenes. |
| 8 | His characters often mimic the actions of other their counterparts, typically accompanied by flashbacks of those scenes. |
| 9 | [thrown gun]: One character throws a gun to another character |
| 10 | [guns]: "Mexican Standoff", involving two characters pointing guns at each others heads. Also mimicked by Quentin Tarantino |
| 11 | [reflection]: characters are often alerted to danger by seeing a reflection |
| 12 | [guns]: characters often use a gun in each hand |
| 13 | Slow motion or freeze-frame sequences |
| 14 | Since making films in the U.S., Woo has started to use doves as a symbol for peace in his films. They are often pictured flying away as the shooting begins. |
| 15 | Scenes of hyperkinetic, chereographed action |
| 16 | Frequently works with Yun-Fat Chow |
| 17 | Uses pleasant music that heavily contrasts with some of the more violent action on screen. |
| # | Quote |
|---|
| 1 | [on working with Jean-Claude Van Damme] That's a long story. About five or six years ago, I got many offers from Hollywood studios. The producer and script writers [for Hard Target (1993)] flew to Hong Kong to see me and they asked me to do the picture. [Van Damme was being considered to star.] Van Damme wanted a change, he wanted to prove himself as an actor. And he asked me to do the film. I thought I could do some magic. I know myself; I'm pretty sure of my abilities of how to make an actor look great on the screen, make him look like a hero. I thought I could do the same thing with Van Damme, like how I used to do with Yun-Fat Chow. So I wanted to help him. At the same time, I wanted a new experience, of working in Hollywood, so I took the chance and chose to do Hard Target (1993). The original script was pretty good. And I did try to do the things that I did with Yun-Fat Chow and tried to make Van Damme look different. |
| 2 | [on Dolph Lundgren] Directors have generally overlooked Dolph's great sense of humor. He's very funny. |
| 3 | [on Mean Streets (1973)] I saw this film before I directed my first movie. Even after I directed my first movie, I didn't have much confidence. I must confess, I think I started a little too young. I should have learned more. I started with some kung-fu movies and comedies. After I watched "Mean Streets", it made me feel ashamed--"Why don't I make a movie like that? Tell a true story?" |
| 4 | [on Akira Kurosawa] I love Kurosawa's movies, and I got so much inspiration from him. He is one of my idols and one of the great masters. |
| 5 | [on his childhood living in a Hong Kong slum] I had to fight to survive. Whenever I got beat up, I got upset, I also ran into the theater to watch a movie. But I have a very strong character, I never surrender, I [am] never afraid, no matter how big they are, how cruel they are, they never beat me down. I didn't have money. I just sneaked in or watched the movie from the peephole. I have found my heaven in musicals. When I watch a musical, it makes me believe life is still beautiful. There are still a lot of beautiful people in the world. So I like the costumes, I love the song, I love all those smiles, I love those dance. In theater I found my heaven. |
| 6 | [on working in Hollywood] Even though I enjoyed the opportunity to work in Hollywood, I never got used to their system. I didn't like much of the studio people. Well, there are too much politics and so much going on, and a lot of them have nothing to do with the movie. It's all about power, it's all about egos. |
| 7 | [on Tom Cruise] When he talks, he has so much energy it's almost like he's dancing. So I used that to choreograph his action scenes. |
| 8 | I like doves. They look so beautiful, like a woman. For me they represent peace and love and purity. And sometimes they're seen as the messengers of God, so they're important to me because I'm a Christian. |
| 9 | I'm not a master; I'm just a hard-working filmmaker. I would like everyone to see me as a friend rather than a master. |
| # | Fact |
|---|
| 1 | He was asked to direct GoldenEye (1995). He turned it down, but was honored to be asked. |
| 2 | Despite the intense gunfighting in his films, he claims that in real-life he has a pacifist temperament and does not even own a gun. |
| 3 | Brandon Lee wanted him to direct Rapid Fire (1992) but the producers were strongly against it, as they wanted a martial arts film and not the stylized films that Woo made. |
| 4 | He has never owned a car. |
| 5 | His family's roots are in Guangxi in southern China. |
| 6 | Lives in Pacific Palisades, California. |
| 7 | Is production partners with Terence Chang. |
| 8 | French director Jean-Pierre Melville has had the most influence on Woo; he based his film The Killer (1989) ("The Killer") on Le Samouraï (1967). |
| 9 | He uses doves as a symbolic device. They represent the character's soul as being saved. |
| 10 | He is the fifth Chinese director after Hark Tsui to join the board of judges for Cannes Film Festival (the 58th, in 2005). |
| 11 | Two of his films are listed in the Hong Kong Film Awards' List of The Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures on March 2005. They are The Killer (1989) and A Better Tomorrow (1986) (ranking 42 and 2, respectively). |
| 12 | His film The Killer (1989) ("The Killer") (alongside City on Fire (1987) (City on Fire) by Ringo Lam) was one of the inspirations for Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992). Although the plot came from "City on Fire", a lot of the style of "Reservoir Dogs" (e.g., the suits, the Mexican standoffs, the double guns) came from "The Killer" as well as Woo's work in general. |
| 13 | When trying to convince Universal to get him to direct Hard Target (1993), Jean-Claude Van Damme championed Woo as "the Martin Scorsese of Asia". |
| 14 | He is the first Asian director ever to make a mainstream Hollywood film (Hard Target (1993)). |
| 15 | Woo's many American admirers include the likes of Martin Scorsese, Sam Raimi (who compared his mastery of action to Alfred Hitchcock's mastery of suspense) and Quentin Tarantino (who, replying to a studio executive saying "I suppose Woo can direct action scenes" said "Sure, and Michelangelo can paint ceilings!"). |
| 16 | First job was working for Shaw Brothers studios as an assistant director to Cheh Chang. Martin Scorsese and Sam Peckinpah are his favorite directors. |
| 17 | Trademark: Birds: Many Woo films include slow-motion sequences of birds (usually doves) |
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|
| Nanjing 1937 | 1995 | producer | |
| He ping fan dian | 1995 | producer | |
| Die xue jie tou | 1990 | producer | |
| A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon | 1989 | producer | |
| Ying xiong wu lei | 1986 | producer | |
| A Better Tomorrow | 1986 | producer | |
| Zhua gui te gong dui | 1985 | producer | |
| Gu lian hua | 1985 | producer | |
| Liang zhi lao hu | 1985 | producer | |
| Nuts! | 2016/II | Short executive producer | |
| 7 Brothers | 2011 | TV Series executive producer | |
| Sai de ke · ba lai: Cai hong qiao | 2011 | producer | |
| Sai de ke · ba lai: Tai yang qi | 2011 | producer | |
| A Better Tomorrow | 2010 | executive producer | |
| Jian yu | 2010 | producer | |
| Yao tiao shen shi | 2009 | supervising producer | |
| Chi bi: Jue zhan tian xia | 2009 | producer | |
| Red Cliff | 2008 | chief producer / producer | |
| Appleseed Ex Machina | 2007 | producer | |
| Tian tang kou | 2007 | producer | |
| Stranglehold | 2007 | Video Game producer | |
| The Glass Beads | 2005 | Short producer | |
| The Robinsons: Lost in Space | 2004 | TV Movie executive producer | |
| Paycheck | 2003 | producer | |
| Bulletproof Monk | 2003 | producer | |
| Red Skies | 2002 | TV Movie executive producer | |
| Windtalkers | 2002 | producer | |
| Blackjack | 1998 | TV Movie executive producer | |
| The Big Hit | 1998 | executive producer | |
| The Replacement Killers | 1998 | executive producer | |
| Once a Thief: Family Business | 1998 | TV Movie executive producer | |
| Once a Thief: Brother Against Brother | 1997 | TV Movie executive producer | |
| Once a Thief | 1996 | TV Series executive producer - 1997-1998 | |
| Once a Thief | 1996 | TV Movie executive producer | |
| Lang man feng bao | 1996 | executive producer / producer | |
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|
| Ken San | 2016 | Documentary | Himself |
| Kurosawa's Way | 2011 | Documentary | Himself |
| At the Movies | 2010 | TV Series | Himself |
| A Moment in Time | 2010 | Documentary | Himself |
| Charlie Rose | 2009 | TV Series | Himself - Guest |
| Secret's Out | 2009 | TV Series | Himself - Guest |
| The Rotten Tomatoes Show | 2009 | TV Series | Himself - Director |
| How Bruce Lee Changed the World | 2009 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| World Film Report | 2009 | TV Series | Himself |
| Bokura no jidai | 2008 | TV Series | Himself |
| John Woo: A Life in Pictures | 2007 | Video short | Himself |
| The Light and the Dark: The Making of 'Face/Off' | 2007 | Video documentary | Himself |
| Mission: Remarkable - 40 Years of Creating the Impossible | 2006 | Video documentary short | Himself |
| Le grand journal de Canal+ | 2005 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Chang Cheh & le sabreur manchot | 2005 | Video documentary short | Himself |
| From Hong Kong to Hollywood: The Making of John Woo | 2004 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| L'art de la guerre | 2004 | Video documentary short | Himself |
| Remembering the Future: Paycheck & the Worlds of Philip K. Dick | 2004 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Paycheck: Designing the Future | 2004 | Video documentary short | Himself |
| Retrofitting 'Paycheck' | 2004 | Video documentary short | Himself |
| Tempting Fate: The Stunts of 'Paycheck' | 2004 | Video documentary short | Himself |
| Tinseltown TV | 2003 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Code Talkers: A Secret Code of Honor | 2003 | Video documentary short | Himself |
| Windtalkers: Fly-On-the-Set Scene Diaries | 2003 | Video documentary short | Himself |
| Biography | 2003 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Chop Socky: Cinema Hong Kong | 2003 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Cinema Hong Kong: Wu Xia | 2003 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| John Woo: Bullet in the Plate | 2002 | Documentary | Himself |
| The Art of Action: Martial Arts in Motion Picture | 2002 | TV Movie documentary | Himself - Interviewee |
| Hollywood Salutes Nicolas Cage: An American Cinematheque Tribute | 2002 | TV Special | Himself |
| + de cinéma | 2001 | TV Series documentary short | Himself |
| 2001 ABC World Stunt Awards | 2001 | TV Special | Himself |
| Mission: Improbable | 2000 | TV Short | Himself |
| Behind the Mission: The Making of 'M:I-2' | 2000 | Video documentary short | Himself |
| M:I-2 Impossible Shots | 2000 | Video documentary short | Himself |
| M:I-2 Mission Incredible | 2000 | Video short | Himself |
| 2000 MTV Movie Awards | 2000 | TV Special documentary | Himself |
| The RDA | 2000 | TV Series | Himself |
| Kurosawa: The Last Emperor | 1999 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| 1998 MTV Movie Awards | 1998 | TV Special | Himself |
| Making of 'Blackjack' | 1998 | Video short | Himself |
| Jackie Chan: My Story | 1998 | Video documentary | Himself |
| Naamsaang-neuiseung | 1998 | Documentary | |
| The 50th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards | 1998 | TV Special | Himself |
| Nulle part ailleurs | 1997 | TV Series | Himself |
| HBO First Look | 1996 | TV Series documentary short | Himself |
| Cinema of Vengeance | 1994 | Documentary | Himself (uncredited) |
| Year | Award | Ceremony | Nomination | Movie |
|---|
| 2015 | Samurai Award | Tokyo International Film Festival | | |
| 2012 | UNESCO Award | Asia Pacific Screen Awards | | Sai de ke · ba lai: Tai yang qi (2011) |
| 2012 | UNESCO Award | Asia Pacific Screen Awards | | Sai de ke · ba lai: Tai yang qi (2011) |
| 2010 | Asian Film Award | Asian Film Awards | Top-Grossing Film Director | Chi bi Part II: Jue zhan tian xia (2009) |
| 2010 | Career Golden Lion | Venice Film Festival | | |
| 2009 | Huabiao Film Award | Huabiao Film Awards | Outstanding Abroad Director | Chi bi (2008) |
| 2009 | Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Cinema | Shanghai International Film Festival | | |
| 2003 | DVD Premiere Award | DVD Exclusive Awards | Best Internet Video Premiere | Hostage (2002) |
| 2001 | Action Movie Director Award | World Stunt Awards | | |
| 1998 | Saturn Award | Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA | Best Director | Face/Off (1997) |
| 1997 | Jupiter Award | Jupiter Award | Best International Film | Face/Off (1997) |
| 1997 | Jupiter Award | Jupiter Award | Best International Director | Face/Off (1997) |
| 1997 | Jury Grand Prize | Sweden Fantastic Film Festival | | Face/Off (1997) |
| 1993 | Hong Kong Film Award | Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Film Editing | Lat sau san taam (1992) |
| 1992 | Best Editing | Asia-Pacific Film Festival | | Lat sau san taam (1992) |
| 1991 | Hong Kong Film Award | Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Film Editing | Die xue jie tou (1990) |
| 1990 | Hong Kong Film Award | Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Director | Dip huet seung hung (1989) |
| 1987 | Hong Kong Film Award | Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Picture | Ying hung boon sik (1986) |
| 1986 | Golden Horse Award | Golden Horse Film Festival | Best Director | Ying hung boon sik (1986) |
| Year | Award | Ceremony | Nomination | Movie |
|---|
| 2010 | Hong Kong Film Award | Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Film | Chi bi Part II: Jue zhan tian xia (2009) |
| 2010 | Hong Kong Film Award | Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Director | Chi bi Part II: Jue zhan tian xia (2009) |
| 2009 | Asian Film Award | Asian Film Awards | Best Director | Chi bi (2008) |
| 2009 | Hong Kong Film Award | Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Director | Chi bi (2008) |
| 1998 | Gemini | Gemini Awards | Best Dramatic Series | Once a Thief (1996) |
| 1994 | Saturn Award | Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA | Best Director | Hard Target (1993) |
| 1992 | Hong Kong Film Award | Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Director | Zong heng si hai (1991) |
| 1992 | Best Film | Mystfest | | Lat sau san taam (1992) |
| 1991 | Hong Kong Film Award | Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Director | Die xue jie tou (1990) |
| 1990 | Golden Horse Award | Golden Horse Film Festival | Best Supporting Actor | Yong chuang tian xia (1990) |
| 1990 | Golden Horse Award | Golden Horse Film Festival | Best Film Editing | Die xue jie tou (1990) |
| 1990 | Hong Kong Film Award | Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Screenplay | Dip huet seung hung (1989) |
| 1987 | Hong Kong Film Award | Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Director | Ying hung boon sik (1986) |
| 1987 | Hong Kong Film Award | Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Screenplay | Ying hung boon sik (1986) |
| 1986 | Golden Horse Award | Golden Horse Film Festival | Best Feature Film | Ying hung boon sik (1986) |