The director is John Woo, the man who took the gravity out of gunfights.

NEWYORKER: Mission Impossible 2 (M: I-2)

But the film's director, John Woo, is clearly emerging as the man of the future.

CNN: The Next Mission

In the climactic shoot-out, Zar Gul may wield two handguns, but this is no John Woo fantasy.

CNN: ONE MAN'S WAR ON SLEAZE

Hong Kong's finest, namely John Woo and Jackie Chan, headed the invasion.

CNN: OT ONLY DID HONG

His acting career took off in 1986 when he starred opposite Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-Fat in John Woo's gangster movie A Better Tomorrow.

BBC: Actor Leslie Cheung 'found dead'

M:i-2 could only be a John Woo movie.

CNN: The Next Mission

They say that the Red Cliffs, the cliffs that give their name to both the famous battle and the John Woo movie are still charred black to this day because of smoke from the burning fleet.

BBC: Liu Bei: China's warlord who teaches good management

Local filmmaking reached another pinnacle in the 1970s with martial arts stars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, and entered another influential era a decade later with New Wave and Second Wave directors like John Woo and Wong Kar-wai.

BBC: The 100 must-see Hong Kong films

The film Red Cliff by director John Woo, the most expensive ever made in China, retells the story of a battle on the Yangtze river, as Cao Cao's navy is moored on one bank while Liu Bei and his accomplices are plotting on the other.

BBC: Liu Bei: China's warlord who teaches good management