How John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow launched action-film era in Hong Kong, and the wuxia and kung fu roots of hits like The Killer and City on Fire

John Woo’s 1986 film A Better Tomorrow triggered a new era of action films in Hong Kong, with gunplay replacing swordplay

As film expert Frank Djeng explains, much of the fight choreography and brotherhood themes of wuxia and kung fu films remained intact in the new genre

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Chow Yun-fat (left) and Danny Lee in a still from The Killer (1989). The action film “is definitely a bromance, it is John Woo doing chivalry in modern times”, says expert on Hong Kong film Frank Djeng.

Published: 5:15am, 31 Oct 2021Updated: 9:47pm, 10 Nov 2021

Modern-day Hong Kong action films such as The Killer and City on Fire didn’t spring out of nowhere – they were directly connected to the city’s long line of wuxia and kung fu films.

When John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow hit big in 1986, filmmakers switched their focus from the declining martial arts genres to modern-day action, but kept much of the fight choreography and the themes intact.

The action was often like swordplay with guns, while the male bonding and brotherhood made famous by martial arts movie director Chang Cheh proved popular in new settings.

The Post spoke with Hong Kong-born Asian film expert and DVD commentator Frank Djeng about how three popular action films – John Woo’s The Killer (1989), Ringo Lam Ling-tung’s Full Alert (1997) and Tsui Hark’s Time and Tide (2000) – continued the legacy of the great martial arts directors.

Do you think modern-day actioners like John Woo’s The Killer are related to movies by Chang Cheh and Shaw Brothers?