John Woo has been making films in Hong Kong for more than 10 years. After making his way through sex comedies and slapstick, he settled on action films as his genre of choice. But more than that, he came to dominate the genre and all of Hong Kong film. "A Better Tomorrow," his 1986 gangster film, remains the biggest money maker in Hong Kong cinema history.

His 1989 "The Killer" is so far his only film to receive attention in the US. Its limited tour of the art-house and college circuit in the past two years created huge interest in the works of Mr. Woo and other Hong Kong directors. A melodramatic story of a good-hearted assassin, "The Killer" features mayhem committed on a magnitude and with a magnitude of style rarely seen in this country.

The release of his first American film, "Hard Target," with Jean-Claude Van Damme prompted the following interview between Woo and members of the Boston area media on Thursday, August 12.

PRESS: What are the differences in making a film here as opposed to Hong Kong?

JOHN WOO: The system is very different. The project and scale was much bigger. The people are more professional including the actors and all of the crew. Everyone is very professional and very dedicated. That's better than the Hong Kong crew. The Hong Kong crews, most of them weren't that professional. Because here everybody is educated and studying in film school. In Hong Kong what they know comes from experience.

Another thing is I'm just not used to the system. Too many meetings. Unnecessary meetings. Too much politics which I didn't understand and which wasted a lot of time.

Another thing is I feel much happier than in Hong Kong. The government helps the film business here. They support the film business. But in Hong Kong they give no support. So it is harder to shoot a scene on the street. It's so difficult in Hong Kong.

And I've got more friends here than in Hong Kong. It surprises rises me. I didn't know that there are so many people who have seen my films and liked them. I'm so grateful.

I got great support from the critics. They've been very generous in their praise. As have all the writers.

PRESS: Did you have the same kind of problems with the censor board in Hong Kong as you have had with "Hard Target"?

WOO: Yeah, we have the same situation in Hong Kong. The censor board knows me very well. They know me and they respect me and usually they'll accept my explanation. They realize my kind of action or violence in my movies they know I did it in artistic way. Usually they'll give me some specific suggestion or point to cut.

PRESS: How is it handled ... the U.S.?

WOO: Here they didn't give me the specific point so I just did the cut by guessing. I trimmed down quite a lot of violence. Especially the blood squibs exploding.

WOO on editorial control:

In Hong Kong I am free as a bird. My usual style is like a painter. Every day I'm looking for a new spirit, a new element to put in the scene.