When I made 'Hard Boiled,' I had no idea that it would be released to an international audience. I just wanted to make a film to team up my two favorite actors, Tony Leung and Chow Yun-Fat.

I have never intended in any of my films to sell violence or to glorify it. Even in the most intense action sequences in my films, there is a message about how evil violence is.

'Hard Boiled' is my last film in Hong Kong, before I moved to the U.S. It is the one film which is most accepted by the audience in the West.

I also wanted people to know that football actually started in China almost 3000 years ago.

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.

It's pretty easy to make a film in China. A few years ago I just walked into the office and let them know I wanted to make a movie called 'Red Cliff' and they were so excited. They said, 'Let's do it!' It's that simple.

For my own films, I would like to see 'Bullet in the Head' remastered. The original cut was actually almost three hours.