Editing Gun fu (section)

==Hong Kong origins==
{{See|Heroic bloodshed}}
As the name suggests, gun ''fu'' has roots in [[martial arts film]]s from [[Hong Kong action cinema]], including ''[[wuxia]]'' films and [[Kung fu film|''kung fu'' films]] from the likes of [[Bruce Lee]] and [[Jackie Chan]]. These films typically involved [[martial artists]] fighting large numbers of enemies in stylized choreographed action set-pieces, with a fighting style that lay somewhere between [[Punch (combat)|brawling]] and [[dancing]]. Hong Kong filmmaker [[John Woo]], who began his career directing martial arts films, took the martial arts style of action and added [[guns]], combining the elegance and precision of ''[[kung fu]]'' with the brutality and violence of [[gangster film]]s.<ref name=":0" />

John Woo originated the style that would later be called gun ''fu'' in the 1986 Hong Kong action film ''[[A Better Tomorrow]]''. The film launched the "[[heroic bloodshed]]" genre in Hong Kong, and gun ''fu'' action sequences became a regular feature in many of the subsequent heroic bloodshed films, which combined the elegance and precision of ''kung fu'' with the brutality and violence of gangster movies.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Lincoln |first=Kevin |date=12 October 2016 |title=From John Woo to John Wick, Here's Your Guide to Gun Fu |url=https://www.vulture.com/2016/10/john-wick-gun-fu.html |access-date=16 May 2022 |website=Vulture |language=en-us}}</ref> John Woo continued to make several classic heroic bloodshed films, all featuring gun ''fu'', and all starring leading man [[Chow Yun-fat]].

Anthony Leong wrote of the gunfights in ''A Better Tomorrow'',<ref name=leong>{{cite web | url = http://members.aol.com/aleong1631/johnwoo.html | title = The Films of John Woo and the Art of Heroic Bloodshed | first = Anthony | last = Leong | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071130095951/http://members.aol.com/aleong1631/johnwoo.html | archive-date = November 30, 2007 | year = 1998 | access-date = February 19, 2009}}</ref>{{quote|Before 1986, Hong Kong cinema was firmly rooted in two genres: the [[martial arts film]] and the [[comedy film|comedy]]. Gunplay was not terribly popular because audiences had considered it boring, compared to fancy ''[[kung fu]]'' moves or graceful swordplay of ''[[wuxia]]'' epics. What moviegoers needed was a new way to present gunplay—to show it as a skill that could be honed, integrating the acrobatics and grace of the traditional martial arts. And that's exactly what John Woo did. Using all of the visual techniques available to him ([[tracking shot]]s, [[Camera dolly|dolly-ins]], [[slow motion|slo-mo]]), Woo created beautifully surrealistic action sequences that were a 'guilty pleasure' to watch. There is also intimacy found in the gunplay—typically, his protagonists and antagonists will have a profound understanding of one another and will meet face-to-face, in a tense [[Mexican standoff]] where they each point their weapons at one another and trade words.}}
[[Stephen Hunter]], writing in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' wrote,<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041901817.html | title = Cinematic Clues To Understand The Slaughter | first = Stephen | last = Hunter | date = April 20, 2007 | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] | access-date = February 19, 2009}}</ref>{{quote|Woo saw gunfights in [[Musical film|musical]] terms: His primary conceit was the shootout as dance number, with great attention paid to choreography, the movement of both actors within the frame. He loved to send his shooters flying through the air in surprising ways, far more poetically than in any real-life scenario. He frequently diverted to slow motion and he specialized in shooting not merely to kill, but to riddle—his shooters often blast their opponents five and six times.}}
Other Hong Kong directors also began using gun ''fu'' sequences in films that were not strictly heroic bloodshed films, such as [[Wong Jing]]'s ''[[God of Gamblers]]'' (1989) and its sequel ''[[God of Gamblers Returns]]'' (1994). There were several heroic bloodshed films that did not feature gun ''fu'', but opted for more realistic combat, such as [[Ringo Lam]]'s ''[[City on Fire (1987 film)|City on Fire]]'' (1987).