For Woo, the constant splattering of blood and debris is more a romantic gesture than any. Two men embracing a shared future in eternal purgatory as their souls fly away in the form of the ever omnipresent dove. Was surprised to see such a strong a concern for action as a vehicle for intimate melodramatics as opposed to the beautiful, yet nonetheless brutish violence of Hard Boiled. Wasn’t shocked per-se to see women reduced to nothing more than a mere mandatory gesture, with priorities heavily set on a desire for male bonding/eroticism, but it is a frustrating hallmark of Woo’s that I’m willing to look past due to how achingly beautiful the operatic gestures he’s capable of creating. Undoubtedly his best from the few films of his I’ve seen.