Bang! Bang! This is why John Woo will get the 67th Venice Film Festival Gold Lion

John Woo, master of the action cinema universe, will be honored with the lifetime achievement award at next year’s Venice Film Festival, organizers announced yesterday.

Woo’s Hollywood credits may include gung-ho blockbusters “Face/Off” and “Mission: Impossible II,” but what Hong Kongers know and love him for are industry standard-setting crime films: 1986’s “A Better Tomorrow” made Chow Yun-fat’s career; 1992's “Hard Boiled” has been lauded by critics as some of the best action film sequences ever made.

“In recent decades, with his revolutionary conception of staging and editing, Woo has renewed action movies to the core," the Venice Biennale said, “[Woo is] an innovator of the contemporary language of cinema.”

The action maestro stuffs his films full of long, dramatic suspenseful sequences and tightly choreographed 'bullet-ballet' shoot-outs, but it isn't all spectacle. Woo's cinematic world is never black and white -- the line between good guy and bad guy is always hard to draw in his cops-and-robbers plotlines.

Woo has since cast his shadow far and wide in Hollywood: Quentin Tarantino's breakout sleeper hit ”Resevoir Dogs” is heavily influenced by Woo’s “The Killer,” while “The Matrix” directors said they were fans of Woo and tried to bring elements of his movies into the film.

Here are some of our favorite John Woo moments:

A Better Tomorrow (1992)

Starring Chow Yun-fat and Leslie Cheung, this John Woo classic chronicles a riveting clash of loyalties within the mafia and the police. Watching Chow's face contort with emotion, it's hard not to side with this baddie. This trailer has all the best shoot-outs covered.

Hard Boiled (1992)

This hospital shootout is touted by some critics as the best action sequence ever made. Shortly after, Chow Yun-fat's character escapes from the burning hospital cradling a baby with his arm. Love that 1980's gun-shot sound effect.

The Killer (1989)

Chow Yun-fat is a hitman who wants to retire, but is held back by unfinished business. The pro takes out a politician during a dragon boat race in this suspenseful sequence. He also carries those Ray-Ban Wayfarers and grey 'stache real well.