Hard Boiled (1992)

Wonderfully offbeat film!

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

When talking to friends about The Killer,I would get told about John Woo's Heroic Bloodshed epic Hard Boiled,but despite seeing Killer a number of times,I never got round to seeing this title. With a Hong Kong challenge coming up on ICM,I decided it was time to get on the boil.View on the film:Bringing the curtain down on his Heroic Bloodshed/Hong Kong era in a similar fashion to Dario Argento's 1987 Giallo Opera, (both films did not do as well as expected in their domestic markets)co-writer/(with Barry Wong and Gordon Chan) co-star/ directing auteur John Woo reunites with cinematographer Wong Wing-Hang to conclude the visual motifs that span his credits,which fly into view from the opening bird cages in the tea house shoot-out shaking with slo-mo shootings, freeze frames and mountains of debris landing on Woo and Wing-Hang's "Bullet Ballet." Holding everyone hostage in a hospital, the pristine, metallic walls sharply reflect Woo's ultra-stylisation, fired up with unleashed whip-pans and extended tracking shots that give the cracking action a breathless atmosphere.Changing the plot just a week before filming, the decision by Wong/Chan and Woo to pour Tequila on the side of the law brilliantly crystallises the themes of Heroic Bloodshed, via the rich loyalty between Tequila and Alan, (named after Alain Delon's Le Samouraï loner) the feisty attitude of Teresa Chang to get deeply involved in the fighting and a relaxed mind-set on using extreme measures to take out cops/baddies. Introducing Tequila playing Jazz, the writers cleverly place moments of close-up calm between the action to dig into the contemplation Tequila makes over how to get the most people out of the hospital alive. Facing bloodshed for the final time, Chow Yun-Fat gives a blistering performance as Tequila,who bounces along lively with Tony Chiu-Wai Leung's anxious Alan,and keeps a knife-edge alert in the explosive battles that never go off the boil.

Am a huge fan of yum-fat chow this movie is super, casting is good, fear less cops , undercover operations the Ton of gun fights, Office romance, It's a good action movie to watch Actually I watch the movie when I was kid few days before I watch again still so Interesting to watch again. Thanks to John whoo creating a wonderful story.

Hell-bent on revenge after his partner is killed by firearm smugglers, a maverick detective forms an uneasy alliance with an undercover cop to take down the smugglers in this popular Hong Kong action movie. The film has received much praise over the years for its creatively choreographed action sequences and the large degree of imagination placed into the action does not disappoint, but the film is never quite the cohesive whole that it could have been. The plot comes second to the action every step of the way. 'In the Mood for Love''s Tony Leung is solid as the internally divided undercover cop who dreams of going to Antarctica where it is "always light" to escape the darkness of never quite knowing for sure which side of the law he is on. Chow Yun-Fat is less impressive though as the loose cannon cop and the whole revenge motivation is very formulaic. The two leads also learn to get along very quickly given all the initial tension between them. John Woo's directing style is, however, more detrimental than any arguable gaps in the screenplay. The energy that Woo exhibits behind the camera is undeniable with slow motion shots, dreamy dissolves and 'wipe' scene transitions in the mix, but through relying on so many unsubtle techniques, Woo's directing style constantly calls attention to itself, which at times makes it hard to become immersed in the action. If one takes a greater interest in action sequences than narrative elements, this is not likely to be a problem, but those who prefer traditional filmic storytelling may be best advised to proceed here with caution.

This movie contains perhaps the most exhilarating and chaotic shootouts I've ever seen in film. It's just crazily over the top with characters making frequent dives to avoid or shoot bullets and gunshots causing destruction around the interiors. They make the film worth watching alone.But the movie isn't totally weak in other areas either. The characters certainly don't lack personality and the overall direction is stylish and cool. Some say it has a weak plot, but I personally found it to be quite compelling. It nicely balances the perspective from different factions and it's not entirely pointless though it deals in a lot of themes familiar from many other crime/cop films. And sometimes it felt like the movie didn't do the best job at explaining the characters' motivations. In a lot of ways(especially when it comes to the action) it's a silly film, but an incredibly entertaining one.