Available at Amazon.com
Directed by
John Woo
Cast:
Chow Yun-Fat Tequila Yuen
Tony Leung Alan
Anthony Wong Chau-sang Johnny Wong
Philip Chan Yan-kin Superintendent Pang
Teresa Mo Sun-kwan Teresa Chang
Kwan Hoi-san Hoi
Kwok Choi “Mad Dog”
Stephen Tung Wei Foxy
Bowie Lam Bo-yi Lung
John Woo Barkeeper
For those of us that would consider ourselves Action Movie Junkies, our film-going life is a series of plateaus, constantly trying to reach or experience that next adrenaline pumping masterpiece that will make us look at the genre differently than we did before. We’re continually on a never ending search for that one flick that will eclipse all others on our road to a bullet-riddled nirvana, and for many, films such as Commando, The Road Warrior, Aliens, Die Hard or The Matrix already represent this ultimate vision of the art form. For me personally though, this spot has already been filled, and seeing the film again on DVD has only strengthened its position. For this Action Movie Junky that film is, and will probably always be John Woo’s Hard Boiled.
First released in 1992, Hard Boiled represents the ultimate Hong Kong action movie experience. With a simple but effective plot, the movie glides along from one unbelievable shootout or fight scene to the next, benefiting from a director at the top of his abilities and stars bursting with charisma and screen presence. While they would go on to eventually work on major Hollywood productions, Director John Woo and his leading man, Chow Yun-Fat, still have yet to eclipse this masterpiece of mayhem in the 15 years since its release, and worse yet, have not collaborated on a picture since this film either.
Operating at the center of the chaos are two stars working at a level of unparalleled cool. Chow Yun Fat is the epitome of the “Cop on the Edge” as Inspector Tequila Yuen, a rage fueled, quick fisted, double-gun toting wall of awesome. An Action hero like no other, Yun-Fat manages to combine the charm of a Cary Grant with the masculine presence of Clint Eastwood as his Hong Kong Detective simply tries to do all he can to throw the figurative monkey-wrench into the gears of a Triad led underworld.
In the film’s opening shootout, we’re shown just how dangerous the man is with a .45 in each hand, as gangsters and gun runners are mowed down by the score as he gracefully flies through the air, the teahouse setting barely able to contain all the thunderous action. Later, as Yuen zip-lines into a warehouse full of Triads in full SWAT team gear all by himself, the look on his face gives us no doubt in our minds that he’ll be triumphant despite the odds being ridiculously out of his favor. As he pulls out a shotgun as if he were wielding a broadsword in the same sequence, it’s as if the odds in the room automatically shift, with the gangsters unable to stop this irresistible force of justice.
Then before Hard Boiled simply becomes a series of one-note Dirty Harry-esque exploits on steroids, the film shifts focus, introducing us to the tortured existence of undercover cop Alan played by brilliant, award winner Tony Leung. Shouldering the heavy load of the film’s dramatic scenes, Leung gives a soulful and memorable performance as a man being torn apart by a lifestyle he is forced into keeping up. Few scenes in the film are as powerful as watching Alan’s inner struggle during an inter-Triad gang war where he may have to turn on the boss he has come to know and love. Much like he does in Andrew Lau’s modern Hong Kong masterpiece, Infernal Affairs, Leung plays a character that hates who he’s becoming, but must stay on his path in order to survive. Redemption always seems too far out of his grasp, until he is forced to team up with Tequila in order to set things right, but once on that path, few are able to stop his wrath.
With his two leads working at such a high level, it would have been easy for John Woo to rest on his laurels and simply pump out another standard gunplay epic, but instead the director does arguably his best work. While the film’s dramatic weight may not match that of the Woo’s The Killer or his passionate War film Bullet in the Head, the film’s action is second to none. Even on only a budget of $4 million, Woo’s fireworks shame many a Hollywood blockbuster with thirty times that amount. There’s a manic feel to Woo’s camera work, as his lens becomes another character in the picture, moving through the chaos as bullets fly and explosions shock us with their intensity. The CGI-heavy heroics of Transformers or Bad Boys II are no match for the visceral thrill achieved by watching Tony Leung and the film’s physical heavy, Kwok Choi, throw their bodies through windows and walls near film’s end while Woo’s camera gives you a front row seat to the furious gunplay.
The opening shootout in the teahouse was even filmed without a finished script, but Woo’s gift for invention and improvisation makes the sequence one of the greatest shootouts of all time – if not the greatest – and gives us one of the film’s iconic moments as Tequila slides down a banister, guns-a-blazing. Iconic moments don’t exactly become a rarity in this film though, as Woo fills the screen with his cinematic fetishes. Mexican standoffs, birds, dual personalities, honor-bound gangsters, and gratuitous amounts of slow-motion coolness all saturate this production from beginning to end.
Then, just as he did with the church setting at the climax of The Killer, a place of healing becomes a personal vision of Hell for Woo as a hospital doubling as a Triad safe house is put under siege by Hong Kong’s finest with Tequila and Alan literally tearing the place apart within the building’s walls. It almost seems as if Woo may even be losing control as the show-stopping finale goes an astounding forty minutes, but the director reigns in the production and finally you see the method to his madness. This is all while astounding us with jaw-dropping action, such as a scene in which Tequila and Alan march down a hallway “first person shooter style” for nearly three minutes while the camera never cuts away. You would swear that Chow Yun-Fat’s life was in actual danger (which it very well may have been) as Tequila races to save a young baby, while blowing away scumbags as the building explodes around him. These are just a few of what seems to be a thousand examples of ridiculously awesome action scenes that just seem to top the last one that came before it.
When Die Hard first premiered, the studio claimed the movie would “blow you to the back of the theater.” With Hard Boiled, Woo manages to blow you THROUGH the back of the theater, kicks you into the street, and then runs you over like a Mack truck, all on a budget that most Independent movies couldn’t get by on. With one of the biggest body counts in cinema history (307, which stands at number 4 behind 300 and the last two Lord of the Rings films on moviebodycounts.com), the film has enough action to satisfy the most rabid of fans, but Woo demands even more of his audience, adding complex characters and themes of brotherhood that challenge us as we’re being exhilarated. One of only a handful of pictures that could legitimately claim to be the “Greatest Action Movie of All Time,” Hard Boiled stands as a testament to collaborators at the top of their craft just as the golden age of Hong Kong film making was coming to an end.
Already having owned the out of print Criterion Collection Disc and the Fox Lorber edition of this film, I can safely say that this Dragon Dynasty Ultimate Edition is the best print of Hard Boiled I’ve ever seen. It isn’t perfect, as there are still scenes where the colors are a little washed, but to be honest, the original materials for this movie were probably not that good to begin with. As it is, this is definitely the version of this disc to get if you’re looking for pure visuals. Plus, I’d like to note that the menu for this disc has more action in it then some entire movies do. The film is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.84:1.
The Audio
You get a ton of Audio options on this disc, including Original Cantonese mono, Cantonese 5.1 Surround, Cantonese DTS, English 5.1 Surround. All are quite good, with the Cantonese 5.1 Surround sounding absolutely fantastic and stands as another improvement over every other version of this disc. Now I do have to note that the subtitles on this discs are what are commonly known as “DUBtitles”, meaning that they were simply taken from the movie’s dubbed american script, as opposed to accurately translating the original Cantonese dialogue. While most people won’t notice this, this is a pretty gross error by the Weinstein company, and hopefully isn’t a trend that will continue on future discs.
Feature Length Audio Commentary by Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan – If you want a commentary track that is constantly feeding you information, then this is the one for you. Much like he’s done on every single track he’s been a part of for Dragon Dynasty, Logan wows us with his extensive knowledge of not only this movie, but seemingly every movie ever made by everyone involved with this film. From cameos by TV actors who are famous in Hong Kong to how much Chow Yun-Fat loves to cook, Logan seems to leave no stone unturned.
A Baptism Of Fire: A Featurette with Iconic Director John Woo – This is really just an interview, but its one that goes on for 38 minutes, and Woo is as humble and likable as ever. My favorite part of the interview has to do with a shot that Woo was trying to achieve in the film where Chow Yun Fat is attempting to escape the exploding hospital. Apparently Woo kept thinking the explosions just simply weren’t big enough and wanted personal control of the explosives. Fortunately, he was talked into not killing his star and everyone with him.
Mad Dog Bites Again: An Interview with Leading Villain Kwok Choi – This is also a terrific interview, and goes about 25 minutes. The Actor/Choreographer talks about how he initially met John Woo, who needed a choreographer to help him on the set of his film Once a Thief. Kwok Choi agreed to help him because both he and Woo were both mentored by legendary Hong Kong Director Chang Cheh, and it ended up being a very fruitful partnership. Choi became the Action Director on Hard Boiled, and when it came time to need a main henchman, Woo wrote the part specific for the Deadly Venoms veteran.
Partner In Crime: An Interview with Producer Terence Chang – Chang also has a storied past with Woo, as he has been his producing partner for decades. They apparently met each other back in the 70’s when Woo was only directing Comedies, which Chang states were never very funny. He talks about how Hard Boiled was only a modest hit in Hong Kong, but when he took the film abroad, audiences went nuts for it, with the crowd at the Toronto Film Festival giving it a standing ovation and treating it as a rollicking good time throughout, as if it were the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Art Imitates Life: An Interview with Co-Star Phillip Chan – An interesting interview from Chan, who plays Tequila’s superior in the movie. He was actually a cop in the undercover division of the Hong Kong Police Force in the 1970’s, so he was actually able to bring some personal experiences to his role here. Oddly enough, he talks about how he was constantly berated for not looking enough like a cop when he was one, then after he became an actor, those were the only roles he could get.
Hard Boiled Location Guide – Hosted by the lovely Kea Wong (X-Men: The Last Stand), this is a neat look at different locations that were used in the film, many of which no longer stand. My favorite little tidbit from this has Wong telling a story about the filming of the opening shootout in the teahouse, which was demolished shortly after filming took place there. Apparently during filming, the shooting was so loud that neighbors started complaining to the police to take care of it. Unfortunately for them, the cops were such big fans of John Woo’s films, they simply ignored the calls and let the filmmakers continue blowing up the neighborhood unabated.
Trailer Gallery – You get the Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer & US Promotional Trailer for this film, as well as trailers for several other Dragon Dynasty releases, including Above the Law and The Infernal Affairs Trilogy.
Sneek-Peak at Videogame Stranglehold – The Videogame sequel to Hard Boiled gets a three minute Featurette, the best part being a look at the voice work done by Chow Yun-Fat, as he recited one badass line after another.
Hard Boiled: Dragon Dynasty Two-Disc Ultimate Edition |
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The Inside Pulse
Hard Boiled knows no equal in its genre and may just be the best Action film ever committed to celluloid. To be honest, if they’d let me put a higher score than 10 on this movie then I would. This disc is worthy of such a film, though I miss some of the awesome features included on the original Criterion edition. Still the video and audio can’t be beat on this disc and the extras disc is packed with interviews.
