We take it for granted today, but John Woo has one of the most recognizable visual signatures of any living filmmaker. Back in the mid-1980s, what started in Hong Kong reverberated around the world, as Woo — who was then stuck at the lowest point of his career — elevated action to art, finding poetry in the medium’s most destructive genre.

For many years, and for no good reason, it was all but impossible for international audiences to see the three John Woo movies that saved his career, launched Chow Yun-fat to stardom and revolutionized action cinema forever. They are, in chronological order, “A Better Tomorrow” (1986), “ The Killer ” (1989) and “ Hard Boiled ” (1992), and all three are playing in stunning 4K restorations this week at the Lumière Festival in Lyon, France, where Woo

See Full Page