Hard Boiled

Master of Action John Woo delivers once again with his hard-hitting, action-packed thriller `Hard Boiled,' starring Chow Yun-Fat as a veteran cop known as `Tequila,' Hong Kong's answer to San Francisco's own `Dirty Harry.' In this one, an undercover officer infiltrates a gangland Triad dealing arms, and when a rival gang threatens to take over, Tequila joins in the melee, and once it begins the action never stops until the last of the credits have rolled off into the recesses of the darkened screen. Along the way there are tests of loyalty, mistaken identities and a staggering display of superbly choreographed violence. There's a couple of plot twists, but it's a rather straightforward story, and as usual, Woo melds it with the action with his trademark style and perfection. The action sequences are incredibly well staged and delivered, but so exceedingly violent that it passes beyond reality at times (especially during the climax) into a somewhat surreal state of being, only to be ultimately drawn back in again by the grounded core of the story. It's a fine line that Woo treads successfully time after time in an arena in which many other `action' directors have foundered. A consummate professional, Woo knows exactly what he wants and what works, and he doesn't quit until he gets it. Among the directors of the `action' genre, he is quite simply the best there has ever been. As the somewhat jaded and `hard Boiled' cop, the charismatic Chow Yun-Fat demonstrates that if Jackie Chan can team up with Chris Tucker, he most certainly could find a place at Eastwood or Gibson's side. He has the attitude and the look that make his character credible, which helps anchor Woo's art in reality, albeit a rather violent one. As with the `Dirty Harry' or `Lethal Weapon' movies, it gives the audience someone to whom they can relate and root for. And it's all buoyed with symbolism and metaphor and Woo's impeccable sense of timing and deft and sparing use of slow motion, which in his hands becomes an extremely effective tool. The supporting cast includes Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Alan),Teresa Mo (Teresa Chang), Philip Chan (Superintendent Pang), Hoi-Shan Kwan (Mr. Hui) and Philip Kwok (Mad Dog). The true brilliance of Woo's films lies in the fact that he never sacrifices story for action, but instead blends the two together to create a whole that is artistically rendered (his action sequences are something akin to visual poetry) and substantial, rather than having an action film that-- like so many others of the genre-- is hollow inside. Like his earlier film, `The Killer,' which also starred Yun-Fat, `Hard Boiled' pushes the envelope and will keep you on the edge, right along with the characters in the film, right until the very end. As with all of Woo's movies, this one is a satisfying foray into the intense, cutting edge `Action' world of one of Cinema's Master directors, and a must-see for any true film buff. I rate this one 9/10.

When someone mentions, "action movie", the first thing that gets in their minds is guns, fighting, blood, and so on. The people who they instantly think are the likes of Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Willis, even the hammy Seagal, Snipes and Van Damme! Not until recently, I found myself confused about which action movie is the greatest. For me, the ultimate action hero is Arnold Schwarzenegger, but I cannot seem to find a perfect action movie.

Until I began checking up films of John Woo, and stumbled upon this baby...

Only a handful of action movies can compare to this, but most fail to be better. This movie IS the epitome of an action movie, it has never-ending thrill-a-minute stylish action sequences that just make your jaw drop in amazement. It has a body count that can be compared to most epic movies, and it has an excellent atmosphere to further enhance the story. The action sequences are a combination of outrageous, unreal and cool at the same time.

The story is weak, but not very. It provides the basis for the action to unfold. And boy, when it does, you'll have a blast! I mean, they took the premise of a basic cops and robbers tale and highly jazzed it up somehow to deliver this truly authentic and unique piece of movie making. This is not just a movie which action fans alone should see, this movie deserves to be sought and recognized by other highly-ranked film critics.

The director, John Woo, ups the ante on this one. After glorifying the gangsters in his "Better Tomorrow" movies and "The Killer" (which almost is as good as Hard Boiled), he decides to glorify the cops, and he does that, but with bigger elements. He doesn't show realism and humanism in this film, because he wanted to emphasize and slightly exaggerate on how big the elements can go. The criminals would kill lots of innocent people to complete their nefarious deeds, and the violence is hyper-stylized to the point where it becomes necessary to subdue the criminals using that technique. He combines unique Chinese Opera dancing techniques and dramatic shootouts to create stylistically significant and exhilarating gunfights for the eyes and ears to behold. The pace is hyper kinetic as Woo relentlessly dishes out whatever tricks he has up his sleeve, much to our delight.

Chow Yun-Fat's status as an action hero is immortalized here in his performance as super cop Tequila, who dodges bullets and shoot crooks while cooing a baby to sleep and covering his eyes from the ensuing violence. This scene also signifies the violence in Hong Kong back in the days, but highly stylized to create a superb action experience. Tony Leung is also splendid as the disillusioned undercover cop, who seeks to regain his humanity and reputation. The rest of the cast gave good performances, with kudos to Anthony Wong as the sadistic villain who will do anything to get what he wants (fully exampled during the film's climax), and Cheng Jue-Luh as one of the most badassed villains ever, Mad Dog.

The atmosphere of the movie further improves its credibility. John Woo's interests are shown through Tequila's passion of jazz and the beautiful and dark cinematography of Hong Kong, which, when combined together, gives an effect that signifies two different worlds, that is, the life of a cop and the life of a criminal. Also, the music score by Michael Gibbs is great, with a perfect melodramatic jazz score during dramatic scenes, and to pumping synthesizers, gritty and haunting scores during the majority of the action sequences. All of these add up to the amazing elements of the movie to make it even better.

Overall, I cannot think of any other action movie than this. This is THE action movie for film-goers, critics, and action junkies alike. This perfectly shot ballet of blood and bullets is an example of how great and reliable Asian movies can be, when we are finally tired of cliché elements from Hollywood. Mr. Woo, Your Midas Touch has its full effect here. This movie is one of the greatest action movies ever made. And I will stand by that decision for as long as I live.

A must see.

9/10

Delton

Chow Yun Fat, toothpick in mouth, a gun in each hand. That's all of the plot you need to know. Hard Boiled was my first John Woo movie and, in my opinion, his best. No other action movie comes close to this. In fact, this is THE best pure action epic ever filmed. Upon viewing it, I immediately fell in love with Woo's style and his star. It's full of the most stylized gunfights ever seen and Chow Yun Fat is the definition of cool. The full blown finale defies description. Someone once called it an action fan's wet dream. There's not much more I can say because actions speak louder than words. So go see the movie.

"Hey!" Chow Yun Fat says, covering a baby's eyes. "X-Rated action!" He's not wrong: Hard Boiled is a film clearly not afraid to embrace its genre's excesses. While most modern action films (Smokin' Aces for one) aspire to some sort of grand intelligence while providing shoot-outs and explosions, this film is a reminder of times when action films suffered no such pretensions.

Crowds of people are gunned down without explanation and the smallest things explode for little or no reason. The bad guys are massively exaggerated cutthroat caricatures and the good guys never miss. Scenes of Fat and Leung running down corridors are inexplicably shot in slow motion. And, for all of these reasons, it is amazing. It's fast, it's exciting, and it never lets up.

Hard Boiled is loud, exciting, and, thanks to quite terrible dubbing and a ludicrous early 90's soundtrack, often unintentionally hilarious. It is a film that places entertainment firmly ahead of plausibility and logic, and is quite frankly awesome for it.

An action film at heart. The story of gun smuggling is just a backing just big enough to support the relentless action scenes.

Motorcycles exploding in mid-air, cars blowing up, shotguns, pistols, submachine guns, bombs...it's all here.

They all make for some of the best action sequences ever filmed. A good mix of the gritty and realistic with the improbable and totally fake. Though I think that the ending is bit too much. But what can you expect from Woo aside from a molotov cocktail of intense explosive action and violence?

Action and cult movie fans are advised to watch this film, however others might be turned off by it. 7/10

Rated R: intense strong violence