Hard Boiled
Synopsis
John Woo’s Hard Boiled tells the story of jaded detective “Tequila” Yuen (played with controlled fury by Chow Yun-fat). Woo’s dizzying odyssey through the world of Hong Kong Triads, undercover agents, and frenzied police raids culminates unforgettably in the breathless hospital sequence.
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Popular reviews
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Occasional comments between myself and Richard Trondsen over the last couple of weeks or so about the standing of Hard Boiled when it comes to the greatest action films of all time prompted this rewatch - and I think I might have an answer for him.
Hard Boiled was the film that started me off as a nut for Hong Kong action films and far Eastern cinema as a whole back when I was at college and taking a couple of 'gap years' ("sitting around on my arse watching cricket" sounds less romantic) in the mid 90s. I was left wondering where this kind of film had been all my life - it was, and still is, absolutely mental.
It's…
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Wow. This film whizzed past me so damned fast I'm having trouble recollecting exactly what went down.
So, it's a cop drama. There's some kind of conflict. There was a saxophone playing and I'm pretty sure at some point somebody got shot.This film certainly lives up to the hype. A true Action Classic, right up there with Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Beverly Hills Cop and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.
Chow Yun-Fat is fantastic and at no point comes across like a complete tool. The rest of the cast range from hardcore evil bad-ass to surly cop bad-ass. The action is un-fucking-believable. Honestly, this film may not be so revered in its native land but this is most definitely the… -
Film #35 of No Rewatch November
The entire second half of this is balls to the wall amazing action.
Chow Yun-fat is charming as hell and his interaction with the baby towards the end of the film makes this one of the most awesome movies ever. Also, Chow gives Willis a run for his money regarding skyhigh jumps from windows with the help of unorthodox methods.
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Never has so much effort been exerted, nor blood been spilled to ensure that some babies weren't scared.
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Part of My Favorite Movies Ever, Ever, Ever.
Part of 2013: The Year of Inspiration.Holy shitting shit.
If ever there was a worthy successor to Die Hard, THIS IS IT.
I'm speechless. I don't know what to say. It has a 45 MINUTE CLIMAX. And the whole thing is only two hours long. But is it plotless? NAY.
The story is actually pretty decent, with some good twists and turns and memorable characters. It's nothing you haven't seen before, but it's done in a such an entertaining way that... you know what? Fuck this review.
Any faults the film has are overshadowed by its sheer awesomeness, scope, and penis length. It has some of the best action scenes ever filmed and there has rarely been a film since that has matched its near-perfection.
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Part of: ACTION PACKED APRIL!!!
Taking a break from Kung-Fu films for a bit, I decided to watch a film that has been on my highly anticipated list for a long time now. HARD BOILED is balls to the walls action. Period. Chow-Yuen Fat plays a rough edge cop who is trying to take down a vicious crime lord, but at the same time that crime lord enlists the help of a triad cop who had been working for another crime lord. After he's taken out, the triad cop joins the other crime lord, hell bent on taking him out piece by piece. And with the help of Fat's character, things are about to get messy.
I think I may…
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It's beyond my comprehension how this movie can be so critically acclaimed, the action scenes are very good, but pretty much what you would expect from John Woo, and there's only so much slow motion shooting I can take, there's some long shots that are pretty great and really seem quite an achievement to choreograph. And that all the positive words I can muster... now for the bad, the characters are very flat with the exception of the undercover cop which manages to have as much depth as a soap opera character. The story is so simple that it's clearly just there to serve as intermission to the action scenes... and everything related to the babies is just terrible... the peeing baby putting out the fire... just don't.
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The guy with the eyepatch makes Alan Rickman seem like the Easter Bunny.
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Peeing baby saves the day
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its strange that this is STILL one of the best pure-action films ever made, and its over twenty years old.
one of the main reasons i think that this is still a standout film is that all of the effects are practical [i think] rather than CGI which makes everything going on on-screen so much more life-like with the stunt men really working for their paychecks
its never mention that much, but, for me, the warehouse scene is my fave; featuring a shotgun which behaves like a small grenade launcher!‘The Raid’ is prohaps the only film i’ve seen in recent years to almost get to the highs of ‘Hard Boiled’
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Bad guys shoot at swat team members as they are repelling down the side of a flaming hospital carrying newborn babies. This shit is bananas.
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Us British love a good cup of tea and this has the best tea scene in history...
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Never has so much effort been exerted, nor blood been spilled to ensure that some babies weren't scared.
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John Woo and his best action sequences
There is really no need to discuss plot. Plot isn't a device that Woo uses particularly well and that is actually a positive attribute of a film like this. The story is serviceable enough but it isn't overly complicated to get in the way of the action. And let's not mince words, the action is the real star of this show. Chow Yun Fat oozes cool and he is given some incredible action set pieces to look cool on.
I prefer A Better Tomorrow over this film but don't think that is anything more than subjective opinion - this is an amazing action film that most any fan of gun fights and explosions…
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"Roses are so obvious. Anyone would suspect them."