Hard Boiled (1992)

May 19, 2023 12:34 PM

A cop who loses his partner in a shoot-out with gun smugglers goes on a mission to catch them. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring he joins forces with an undercover cop who's working as a gangster hitman. They use all means of excessive force to find them.

Body count: 307

posted by slimepuppy (8 comments total)

John Woo's best and possibly the greatest action movie of all time. Chow Yun Fat has never held more guns in both hands than as Tequila, the jazz couldn't be more omnipresent, all the slow-mo extends the runtime by at least 30 minutes, Tony Leung brings far more pathos to the table than he really needs to, the single long take in the hospital is both an incredible technical feat of filmmaking and action set-piece, John Woo's acting transcends the language barrier, and Infernal Affairs (and therefore The Departed) owe Woo a drink.
posted by slimepuppy at 12:52 PM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

I don't know, I've always been a bit more fond of The Killer, but I can live with "One of John Woo's best and definitely one of the greatest action movies of all time."
posted by Naberius at 4:19 PM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

Watching this on some weird video release in the 90s was quite the revelation.

I’ve always liked that, when Woo was asked what he would do if he got to direct a Bond film, he said a few things and then “…and, because I’m John Woo, Bond would have two pistols.”
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:25 PM on May 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

This caused an argument among my friends with one claiming that Hong Kong guns sound different to Hollywood guns because of different compounds in the blank cartridges John Woo had to use.

We were definitely all too young to be watching this.
posted by Molesome at 12:37 AM on May 20, 2023 [3 favorites]

Want to feel old? The baby from "Hard Boiled" is all grown up now and has their own violent crime ring
posted by phooky at 4:18 AM on May 20, 2023 [7 favorites]

And of course, here’s the famous hospital shootout long-take, as seen in glorious VHS quality the same way I did over 20 years ago.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 5:25 PM on May 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

because I’m John Woo, Bond would have two pistols

Walther PPK in one hand, Golden Gun in the other.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:38 PM on May 22, 2023 [1 favorite]

because I’m John Woo, Bond would have two pistols

I think that's a thing in Goldeneye (the video game).

The baby from "Hard Boiled" is all grown up now and has their own violent crime ring

In real life or HK film?
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:41 PM on May 24, 2023