Quotes

I'm not a master; I'm just a hard-working filmmaker. I would like everyone to see me as a friend rather than a master.

I like doves. They look so beautiful, like a woman. For me they represent peace and love and purity. And sometimes they're seen as the messengers of God, so they're important to me because I'm a Christian.

[on Tom Cruise] When he talks, he has so much energy it's almost like he's dancing. So I used that to choreograph his action scenes.

[on working in Hollywood] Even though I enjoyed the opportunity to work in Hollywood, I never got used to their system. I didn't like much of the studio people. Well, there are too much politics and so much going on, and a lot of them have nothing to do with the movie. It's all about power, it's all about egos.

[on his childhood living in a Hong Kong slum] I had to fight to survive. Whenever I got beat up, I got upset, I also ran into the theater to watch a movie. But I have a very strong character, I never surrender, I [am] never afraid, no matter how big they are, how cruel they are, they never beat me down. I didn't have money. I just sneaked in or watched the movie from the peephole. I have found my heaven in musicals. When I watch a musical, it makes me believe life is still beautiful. There are still a lot of beautiful people in the world. So I like the costumes, I love the song, I love all those smiles, I love those dance. In theater I found my heaven.

[on Akira Kurosawa] I love Kurosawa's movies, and I got so much inspiration from him. He is one of my idols and one of the great masters.

[on Mean Streets (1973)] I saw this film before I directed my first movie. Even after I directed my first movie, I didn't have much confidence. I must confess, I think I started a little too young. I should have learned more. I started with some kung-fu movies and comedies. After I watched "Mean Streets", it made me feel ashamed--"Why don't I make a movie like that? Tell a true story?"

[on Dolph Lundgren] Directors have generally overlooked Dolph's great sense of humor. He's very funny.

[on working with Jean-Claude Van Damme] That's a long story. About five or six years ago, I got many offers from Hollywood studios. The producer and script writers [for Hard Target (1993)] flew to Hong Kong to see me and they asked me to do the picture. [Van Damme was being considered to star.] Van Damme wanted a change, he wanted to prove himself as an actor. And he asked me to do the film. I thought I could do some magic. I know myself; I'm pretty sure of my abilities of how to make an actor look great on the screen, make him look like a hero. I thought I could do the same thing with Van Damme, like how I used to do with Chow Yun-Fat. So I wanted to help him. At the same time, I wanted a new experience, of working in Hollywood, so I took the chance and chose to do Hard Target (1993). The original script was pretty good. And I did try to do the things that I did with Chow Yun-Fat and tried to make Van Damme look different.

I love my actors. I respect my actors. The actors in my films are everything.

I'm really surprised and grateful that people still remember Hard Target, and so many people now love it.