À toute épreuve

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

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. No movie has ever had this level of stylishly directed action, NOT EVEN CLOSE. This movie has the 3 best action sequences in the history of cinema, PERIOD.

The story is about a cop named Tequila who, at the beginning of the film, loses his good friend and fellow cop, in a teahouse shoot-out. He goes against all orders in trying to bring down the Triad that caused his friends death. In doing so, he inadvertantly finds out that there is an undercover cop, Tony, in the Triad he is trying to bring down, and eventually teams up with him.

This isn't your standard buddy cop fair like Lethal Weapon with tons of cheesey lines, dorky action and sappy side stories. The dialogue is insightful the action is the best ever and the side stories are well thought out, if a bit abbreviated (due to lack of time to shoot John Woo admits).

Tequila is trying to deal with a failed relationship and the death of his partner, Tony is torn against blowing his cover and defending his honor and the Lieutenant insists on playing it by the book even though it isn't fair.

John Woo said he made this film in honor of the men and women of the Hong Kong police force and the good work they do. He wanted to make a movie about the good guys winning. What he has done is made one of the most pivitol action films ever made, influencing every action movie since.

Director John Woo has a powerful and explosive style that will leave you breathless after watching this extremely violent action flick.The camera is everywhere flying from place to place.And there are people everywhere.All of them firing a gun or two.I have never seen such energy before.The violence in "Hardboiled" is very brutal and well directed.The last half hour of this film,which take place in the hospital is full of inventive action sequences.Chow Yun-Fat is really good as a tough policeman and it's also very nice to see Anthony Wong("Bunman:Human Meat Pies","Dr Lamb","Bullet in the Head")-what a great performance!I like Hong Kong-action films by John Woo.Anyway, if you're tired of Hollywood's action trash,then this one is a must-see.Recommended!

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.

Hard Boiled is my number 1 favorite Hong Kong John Woo action film that I love to death! I absolutely love this movie to death I love it. It is one of my personal favorite movies. Hard Boiled (1992) is literally John Woo's best Hong Kong action film ever made of all time! The movie is a hard-core action, I have ever seen. It is actually the best Hong Kong action film for me. It belongs right up there with Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) the best action classic film of all time. Chow Yun-Fat, toothpick in mouth, a gun in each hand. That's all of the plot you need to know. In fact, this is THE best pure action epic ever filmed. This is my film, my personal favorite Hong Kong action film of all time.

"Give the guy a gun and he's superman, give him two and he's God."

Not even Jackie Chan can mess with this film or beat it. The only Jackie Chan film that is close to this film is Police Story. In my opinion Hard Boiled is John Woo's best HK action movie from the 90's and a true masterpiece along with Hard Target (1993) his first American movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme in the main role.

Chow Yun-Fat stars as Tequila, a cop hell-bent on bringing down the gun smugglers responsible for his partner's death. He teams up with an undercover cop Tony Leung whose secret identity as a Triad hit man hangs on thread.

Hard Boiled is my favorite John Woo's HK action movies. This action movie with twists around, The Hong Kong Cinema Hard Boiled has everything in it, no CGI, the stunts are real, the explosions are bigger and the plot of the film is amazing you can get in to the story without guessing what is going to happened and what the plot is about. The warehouse scenes and a shooting a motorcycles in an explosions from Tequila is my favorite scenes in the movie. Sometimes to me it come for this movie is similar to Miami Vice when Tony Leung was undercover cop on a boat he remind me on Sonny Crockett, but the shout outs in this film are awesome. Just Miami Vice TV series where more about drug cartels, this is arms dealer weapons about triads.

The stunts are real and very dangerous. There was a hospital siege which was actually Die Hard in a hospital. Hard Boiled is a classic action film from Hong Kong, they don't make movies like this anymore. Phillip Chan is also in this film which I forgot to mention in my review Philip Chan was also in Van Damme's Bloodsport. You have a great action sequences in the tea house, where the guns are hitting in the bird cage, he shoots a dozen guys and saves a baby, the hospital sequences are real. The first time I saw this film I had no idea that how great film it is, the greatest movie of all time in the cinema. John Woo is also as a bartender in this film. The hospital sequences for me is real, the action is real. The best Chow Yun-Fat and John Woo movie ever made.

Hard Boiled is a 1992 Hong Kong action film written by Barry Wong and directed by John Woo. It stars Chow Yun-fat as Inspector "Tequila" Yuen, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai

10/10 I love this movie to death it is my favorite Hong Kong Action film and it is my second favorite film that I love. It is also my number 2 favorite action film.