[quote=“Ordell Rodriguez”]
I love Face/Off, so sue me. I’d give my left nut to see him return to his masterpiece days (THE KILLER!) but I don’t see that happening. I really dug Red Cliff, but I think that golden age is closed.
[/quote]
As far as I am concerned, the golden age was just a time when HK (and other countries with burgeoning film industries) was rapidly changing, producing tonnes of films, but still working with a very outdated health and safety standard.
Hollywood was too slick and organised by that time to make films of that intensity and genuine danger. That’s why Mad Max/Roadwarrior was so successful, because Australia had woeful safety standards too 
It was a blessing. All the actors in HK were athletes and artists and the result was amazing. But you’re right, HK is not going back to those days. They can’t put their actors in those risks anymore and most of them are movie stars now, not martial artists.