Heroic Bloodshed Edition
Guys in suits shooting each other. with doves.. everywhere.
The dictionary doesn't define Heroic Bloodshed, mostly because its a sub-genre and not a word, but if it did I think it would define it as: shoot, shoot, jump through glass.
Wikipedia has a definition for it, so go look it up there. I'm not your mother.
Also known as Hong Kong Blood Opera, the theme of this particular genre deals with the dramatic lives of criminals, and sometimes policemen, and the brotherhood and betrayal that drives them. and violence. Its really more about violence. Like an endless number of guys in suits being gunned down by guys in trench coats. I've also heard it referred to as Bullet Ballet, but yeah, you get the point.
Doves!
10. A Better Tomorrow.The start of the genre is credited to John Woo, and being made up mostly of John Woo's and Ringo Lam's work in Hong Kong, although there are plenty of examples that go back before Woo. I also think a case could be made for American movies like Michael Mann's Heat and Collateral, and Tony Scott's True Romance and the end shootout of Beverly Hills Cop II, but the only people who even care about this sub-genre tend to be purest, so fuck them.
First up is the movie that started it all. released in 1986, this movie started the trend that would later develop into the Heroic Bloodshed genre. It was directed by John Woo and stars Chow Yun Fat. Both of these men would go on to define the genre, working mostly together. You'll see a lot of Chow Yun Fat in this list. Woo put forth most of the conventions that would later define it. The story deals with two brothers, one a cop, and the other a honorable gangster who's kind heart leads to his own downfall. The story is actually pretty boring, and the movie has pacing issues up the butt, but this movie was the genesis of the genre, so here it is. This scene happens in the middle of the movie. Even though there's a pretty big gun fight at the end, its not really that good, and I feel that the innovation of this scene is what set Woo apart from the other Hong Kong directors that were making similar movies at the time.
9. Royal Warriors
This movie came out the same year as A Better Tomorrow, and is a good example of what other directors were doing while Woo was getting all the credit. Though it doesn't have Woo's style, it definitely has a better gun fight. The movie was influenced, I'm guessing quite a lot, by Jackie Chan's Police Story(1985), which is one of the best action movies ever (though it doesnt have any good gun fights, so not on the list) and you can see how they take the martial arts action up a notch while trying to put more gunplay in. It stars Henry Sanada, my favorite Japanese actor, a student of Sonny Chiba, the street fighter himself. Its about the three main characters who are cops that stop a plane hijacking at the start of the movie. Henry Sanada's family is killed by the friends of the hijackers, so he stays in Hong Kong to get revenge. The rest of the movie is martial arts, very much like Jackie Chan, but this scene is sweet.
8. Flamming brothers
I don't know a lot about this movie, since I never watched the whole thing, but the end fight is pretty cool. I was going to post the shootout from Full Contact and write about Ringo Lam, but the only asshole that has the video up has embedded disabled, so watch it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dn56rHCcwM
this one has Chow Yun Fat in is, so here you go, another example of shit other directors were doing. I'm taking it out as soon as i find something better.
7. Gungrave
Though this is an anime, it has some good action in it, and has some pretty obvious Heroic Bloodshed influence. The story is about Beyond the Grave, once known as Brandon Heat, who alongside his friend Harry "Broody Hally" MacDowel, became a member of a super powerful crime syndicate. Half way through the story he's betrayed by Harry and killed. He comes back through Sci-fi voodoo and the anime changes from being a Blood Opera to being super action Anime monster fighting, which is cool but completely different from the first half of the series. In this scene Grave fights Bunji (a character strait out of a Kinji Fukasaku movie), who used to be his friend and subordinate. Bunji's pretty badass, and the scene is bittersweet on account of two friends having to fight each other.
6. Hitman (Cantract Killer, King of Killers)
This is the Jet Li movie where he plays a hitman, not the shitty movie based off the video games (which are great games and very Blood Opera in style). This movie has a pretty cool story as it starts out with a rich Japanese business man, who I think was like in the Japanese army in WWII, who is killed by the "King of Killers." He tells us that there is a bounty on whoever would try to kill him, which is like a million dollars or something, and soon after, his family puts together this shit where hitmen from all over come to find and hunt down the "King of Killers." In this scene Jet Li, who is one of those hitmen with a heart, confronts the rich dude's grandson, who's decided to keep the money for himself. Then the detective, played by Simon Yam (my favorite Hong Kong actor ever) shows up and turns out to be the King of Killers himself. Its an awesome movie. the audio cuts out halfway though but whatever.
5. The Killer
Keeping with the hitman with a heart theme, heres the movie that fans tend to love the most, John Woo's the Killer. considered the most icon movie of the Heroic Bloodshed genre, its actually one of my least favorite movies of Woo. Its the first time Woo uses his iconic "Doves up the butt" theme, and its also the first time that he throws out innovation and goes for body count. Its not a cool as A Better Tomorrow 2, and doesn't have the "OMG" scale of Hard-boiled. its not bad, but I never liked it that much, and its pretty hyped. This isn't even the best shootout in the movie, but because its considered the shootout to end all shootout by the assholes that don't know what they're talking about, I put up the end shootout in the church.
4. Cowboy Bebop
One of my favorite animes ever, this series has the ability to mix in everything that's cool. including Blood Opera. Though most of the episodes are stand alone, this one starts off a storyline that shows up later on. Though the end fight is really awesome, I don't want to ruin it for anyone that hasn't seen the show, and this one is just as good. it was almost impossible to find one that wasn't a goddamned anime music video. I hate that shit.
3. A Bittersweat Life
This is a awesome movie from Korea. It came out right when Korea was starting to show everyone what they were made of, blending everything great about Japanese and Hong Kong cinema, without most of the flaws. It came out in 2005, which is when I think I saw it, and I was blown away. The atmosphere and story are just really well done. I hate to ruin the ending to this great movie, because you should really see the whole thing, but it hasn't been released here in the US, despite the fact that crap like The Host was released and hyped like crazy. It may one day be released, but whatever, heres the ending. its one of my favorites ever. I have a bootleg dvd if anyone cares. but if it seems at all interesting to you, try to see the whole thing.
2. Hard-Boiled
The best John Woo movie ever, this movie is the holy grail of gun fights. Because thats what the movie is, one long gun battle. Released in 1992, this is the combination of everything Woo had been working on in Hong Kong. It was his farewell before moving off to Hollywood to make garbage. Where most of his other movies were stupid dramas with cool action thrown in, this movie is actually watchable, mostly because its like 80% of just guys shooting each other. Because there are so many fights, i thought I would put my favorite, a long take from the middle of the hour long hospital gun battle.
1. A Better Tomorrow II
Although Hard-Boiled is far and away Woo's best movie, the sequel to his first smash hit has his best gun fight. and it is the best gun fight. ever. This is the gun fight that I love more then any other. The fight sums up everything that Heroic Bloodshed is. Guys in suit with guns. Honor and betrayal. Blood everywhere. and it has extra bonuses like surprise samurai swords, and a huge explosion. In fact the inclusion of a katana has always been one of my favorite elements in these kinds of movies. We see it in Hitman too. The only thing its missing is the trademark "Doves" that Woo is known for, but in all honesty, he only put them in the end fight of the Killer, and then decided it would be his "thing" when we went to Hollywood and used them again in Face/off and Mission Impossible 2. they could have been in his other movies, but I've never seen the Paycheck or Windtalkers, so who cares. They're not in any of his good movies, so fuck doves.
I've seriously seen most of these scenes a million times, besides the Flamming Brothers one (I'm taking that one out) and there are a ton of scenes I just couldn't find on youtube. for the hell of it, here are some other good ones that arn't really heroic bloodshed.
So there you go, my gift to anyone that likes action as much as me.
