My March contribution to Ryan McNeil's 2016 blindspot blogathon where I watch a film each month that I have never seen before.

Entertaining Hong Kong action film, considered among director John Woo’s best. Famous for the choreography with its slow-motion gun battles, sometimes labelled "bullet ballet" or "Gun Fu"(which combines the words gun and kung fu). Essentially highly stylized gunfights. Woo was a pioneer of this style and his film A Better Tomorrow (1986) was the first example of Gun Fu.

The Dumbo and Mickey Mouse scene is pretty funny, which plays into the woman’s blindness and inability to see what’s really going on
I’ve read the film is influenced by Douglas Sirk’s Magnificent Obsession.

The violence is more restrained compared to Hard Boiled (1992) and Face Off (1997)

There's an interesting blurring of right and wrong. Villains having a conscience and cops breaking the rules. The characters are almost Shakespearean. There's plenty of religious imagery which looks cool. Woo stated the imagery was used to show that "God is welcoming, no matter if it's a good or a bad man, everyone is welcome (in the church)". Woo also draws on animal symbolism throughout the running time.

My only problem with the film is how the bad guys conveniently miss despite many shots fired.

Favorite quote: “I want him dead, and I mean yesterday”