 After the breakup with his partnership with Hark Tsui (qv),  John Woo (I) (qv) was having trouble finding backing for his  films; stories have circulated that Tsui (one of the most powerful  men in Hong Kong cinema) said Woo was hard to work with, and this  led to a virtual blacklisting of Woo. At any rate, Woo financed  almost all of the cost of the movie out of his own pocket.