"It's so exciting to have come back to my second home. I don't care if a typhoon comes," said director John Woo (
With the success of Mission Impossible 2, Woo is now tackling larger budgets and more action in his films. Starring Nicolas Cage, Christian Slater and Adam Beach, this is Woo's first war film and reportedly cost some US$120 million.
"This is the most expensive movie I've ever made and is the one I'm most proud of," Woo said.
Telling the story of Navajo code-talkers in the US' battle at Saipan Island in the Pacific, the film was shot entirely in Hawaii. "We had 700 actors, 14 camera crews and 280 demolition scenes, trying to make the battlefield look like a burning hell," said the director who's best known for his Hong Kong gangland extravaganza A Better Tomorrow as well as the Hollywood films Face/Off and Broken Arrow.
"The tone of this film is a little bit more serious. So I intended to present the historical reality with a style similar to documentary making," Woo said. As for the action, "I used to be called `romantic' about action, making it look like fantasy. But in this film, it looks more real," he said. In other words, there is less slow motion and balletic flips and kicks while Nicolas Cage shoots at the enemy.
"In the battlefield, nobody is a winner. They all lose in the end. Only the friendships and brotherhood of the time last forever," Woo said.
Brotherhood and heroism are always main themes of Woo's films. This time Woo uses Navajo soldiers to talk about these topics. "We had interviews with Navajo elders and former Navajo code-talkers for several months. They told me great stories of the war. They were often mistaken as Japanese soldiers and many of them were killed as a result," Woo said.
"They all have a great sense of humor. I always saw smiles on their faces. In Westerns, we always saw Native Americans having expressionless faces. This is also why I wanted to make this film. I wanted to change the image of them on screen," the director said.
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