Just so you know where I stand... I think John Woo is the worst director working today.  He's at the bottom of the list with Spielberg, Lucas, Verhoeven, and Schumacher.  The absolute nonsense that John Woo has built his entire career on adds up to nothing.  He's trying to fulfill some sick boyhood "action hero" fantasies through his films, and gets it away with it year after year.  Do his films teach us anything or show us anything about ourselves?  No!  They're idiotic violent pieces of trash.  And don't let some "Criterion commentary track" tell you otherwise.  His films are about the worst parts of humanity, times 100.  I'm truly disgusted by him.