Yuen Woo-ping

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This is a Chinese name; the family name is Yuen

Yuen Woo Ping (Chinese: 袁和平; pinyin: Yuán Hépíng; born 1945 in Guangzhou, China) is a Chinese martial arts choreographer and film director, renowned as one of the most successful and influential figures in the world of Hong Kong action cinema.

Contents 1 Background 2 Works 3 Filmography 4 External links

[edit] Background

The name Woo Ping means "peace" in Cantonese. His father was Yuen Siu Tien and one of his brothers is Yuen Cheung Yan. He was trained in Peking opera as a youth, and began working in films in the 1960s, initially as a stunt double for Shaw Studios, then, beginning with Mad Killer (1971) as an action choreographer.

[edit] Works

In 1978 he achieved his first directing credit on the seminal Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, starring Jackie Chan, then quickly followed with the similar Drunken Master. The films were smash-hits, launching Jackie Chan as a major film-star, turning Golden Harvest into a major studio, and starting a trend towards comedy in martial arts films that continues to the present day.

He went on to work with such figures as Sammo Hung in Magnificent Butcher (1979), Yuen Biao in Dreadnaught (1981), Donnie Yen in several films including Iron Monkey (1993), and Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh in several films including Tai Chi Master (1993).

His work (particularly his action choreography on Fist of Legend (1994)) attracted the attention of the Wachowski brothers, who hired him as kung-fu choreographer on The Matrix (1999). The success of this collaboration, plus his action choregography on the following year's hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, made him a highly sought after figure in Hollywood. He went on to work on the Matrix sequels and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill (2003).

In 2005, Yuen again collaborated with his long time friend and martial arts superstar Jet Li to make a biopic on martial arts master Huo Yuan Jia. The film, called Fearless, was a commercial success in Asia and was released Sept. 22, 2006 in North America as "Jet Li's Fearless." In the summer of 2006, Yuen Woo-Ping also announced his return to directing with his new project, The Great Wall.

[edit] Filmography

As director:

• Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978) (Cantonese title: Se ying diu sau)
• Drunken Master (1978) (Cantonese title: Jui kuen)
• Dance of the Drunk Mantis (1979) (Mandarin title: Nan bei zui quan)
• Magnificent Butcher (1979) (Mandarin title: Lin shi rong)
• The Buddhist Fist (1980) (Mandarin title: Fo Zhang luo han quan)
• Dreadnought (1981) (Mandarin title: Yong zhe wu ju)
• Exciting Dragon (1981) (Long fa wei)
• Miracle Fighters (1982) (Qi men dun jia)
• Oriental Voodoo (1982)
• Legend of a Fighter (1982) (Huo Yuan-Jia)
• Shaolin Drunkard (1983) (Tian shi zhuang xie)
• Drunken Tai-Chi (1984) (Xiao tai ji)
• Mismatched Couples (1985) (Qing feng di shou)
• Dragon Vs. Vampire (aka The Close Encounters of Vampire) (1986) (Jiang shi pa pa)
• Tiger Cage (1988) (Te jing tu long)
• Huang jia shi jie zhi IV: Zhi ji zheng ren (1989)

... aka In the Line of Duty

... aka In the Line of Duty IV

... aka Yes, Madam 4

• Xi hei qian (1990)

... aka Tiger Cage (UK)

... aka Tiger Cage 2

• Leng mian ju ji shou (1991)

... aka Tiger Cage 3

• Wong Fei-hung chi tit gai dau neung gung (1993)

... aka Last Hero in China

• Su qi er (1993)

... aka Fist of the Red Dragon (USA: video title)

... aka Heroes Among Heroes

• Siunin Wong Fei-hung tsi titmalau (1993)

... aka Iron Monkey

• Tai ji zhang san feng (1993)

... aka The Tai-Chi Master

• Yong Chun (1994)

... aka Wing Chun

• Huo yun chuan qi (1994)

... aka Fire Dragon

• Hu meng wei long (1995)

... aka The Red Wolf

• Jie tou sha shou (1996) (as Jua Lu-Jiang)

... aka Iron Monkey 2

• Tai ji quan (1996)

... aka Tai Chi Boxer (Hong Kong: English title) (UK: literal English title)

... aka Tai Chi 2

Selected filmography as action choreographer/fight advisor:

• The Bloody Fists (1972)
• Fist of Legend (1994)
• The Matrix (1999)
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
• The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
• The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
• Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)
• Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
• Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
• Danny the Dog (film) a.k.a. Unleashed (2005)
• Fearless (2006)

[edit] External links

• Yuen Woo Ping at the Internet Movie Database
• Associated Press article about Yuen including quotes from Ronny Yu and Jet Li