Time: 128 Minutes
Age Rating: M
Cast:
Chow Yun-fat as Inspector “Tequila” Yuen Ho-yan
Tony Leung Chiu-wai as Alan
Teresa Mo as Teresa Chang
Philip Chan as Supt. Pang
Philip Kwok as Mad Dog
Anthony Wong as Johnny Wong
Director: John Woo

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.

I had watched a few of John Woo’s American movies with Mission Impossible II, Face/Off, Broken Arrow and Paycheck, but I never got around to watching his Hong Kong action movies that he was known for. I started with one of his most well known films, Hard Boiled, as my first, and that was perfect choice.

The story is straightforward and simple enough, but is nonetheless effective and gripping for what it is, very melodramatic and enjoyable. There’s never a dull moment as everything moves at such a frenetic pace, building up momentum throughout, especially with each action scene. While it’s a standard action plot, it does have some depth, and touches on ideas like identity and duality. There are also some great character moments throughout, and there’s a good amount of heart and genuine emotion with its characters.

There are some fantastic performances. Tony Leung and Chow Yun-fat are great as the lead characters, working well as the undercover agent and ace detective respectively, and sharing convincing chemistry together. The villains are good too, with Anthony Wong as the head of the triad, and Phillip Kwok making for a standout and scene stealing henchman.  

John Woo’s direction is uncompromising action filmmaking at its finest. The cinematography and editing are all top notch, and particularly works for the action scenes. This movie is jam packed with constant exciting and memorable action sequences, with each one escalating in scale, tension and scope even further. They are perfectly choreographed with stellar stunts, and the gunfight action sequences are particularly brilliant. The slow motion is used effectively (especially as characters jump while firing guns into the air), the violence is gloriously over the top and there are plenty of explosions.

Hard Boiled is a fantastic, entertaining, wonderfully over the top and well paced action movie with exhilarating set pieces, a solid story and a great cast. If you’re a fan of action movies, Hard Boiled is an essential watch, and one of the very best of the genre.