Lat sau san taam (1992)

Director:

John Woo

Writers:

John Woo (story)
Barry Wong (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 April 1992 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

As a cop, he has brains, brawn, and an instinct to kill.

Plot:

A tough-as-nails cop teams up with an undercover agent to shut down a sinister mobster and his crew.

Plot Keywords:

Gun | Undercover | Partner | Hong Kong | Detective

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Yun-Fat Chow	...	Insp. 'Tequila' Yuen
Tony Leung Chiu Wai	...	Tony (as Tony Leung)
Teresa Mo	...	Teresa Chang
Philip Chan	...	Supt. Pang
Philip Kwok	...	Mad Dog (as Cheng Jue-Luh)
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	Johnny Wong (as Anthony Wong)
Hoi-Shan Kwan	...	Mr. Hoi (as Kwan Hoi Sang)
Wei Tung	...	Foxy (as Tung Wai)
Bowie Lam	...	Ah Lung
Meng Lo	...	Lonny (as Johnson Law)
Bobbie Au-Yeung	...	Lionheart (as Bobby Au Yeung)
Shui Ting Ng	...	Ah Chung (as Ng Shui-Tung)
Kong Lau	...	Hospital Director
Wai-Sun Lam	...	Hitman 1
Benny Lam	...	Hitman 2

Also Known As:

Hard Boiled (UK) (USA)
Hard-Boiled (Hong Kong: English title) (International: English title)
God of Guns
Hot-Handed God of Cops (Hong Kong: English title) (literal title)
La shou shen tan (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Ruthless Super-Cop

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive violence and some language.

Runtime:

126 min | Germany:92 min (cut version) | Taiwan:131 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1994) | Finland:K-18 (2001) | Iceland:16 | Germany:18 (re-rating) (JK/SPIO) (uncut) | Germany:18 (video rating) (heavily cut) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Sweden:15 (uncut) | Malaysia:(Banned) | USA:R | Philippines:R-18 | Chile:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Canada:XXX (Nova Scotia) | France:-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:18 | Germany:16 (heavily cut)

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Golden Princess Film Production Limited

Trivia:

According to the Dragon Dynasty DVD Commentary, Michelle Yeoh was originally slated to play opposite Chow-Yun Fat as one of the heroes, with Tony Leung as the villain (when the plot hinged on a madman poisoning babies). However, scheduling conflicts prevented Yeoh from taking the part and the scene was re-written as Tequila's girlfriend with Teresa Mo in the part.

Goofs:

Continuity: After shooting the mysterious "machine gunner" at point blank range to end the Teahouse shoot out, the shot Tequila fired leaves a gory glob of blood on his face. However, when Tequila rushes to the side of his fallen partner, Benny in the Teahouse, the blood on Tequila's face appears to be only a small dried smudge on his face even though it's supposed to be just moments after Tequila shot the thug. While Tequila could've wiped his face, there's less kitchen flour on his face and clothes than a moment ago as well.

Quotes:

Johnny Wong: Everything goes in and out of style, except war.

Movie Connections:

References The Killing (1956)

Soundtrack:

Mona Lisa

AWESOME

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. No movie has ever had this level of stylishly directed action, NOT EVEN CLOSE. This movie has the 3 best action sequences in the history of cinema, PERIOD.

The story is about a cop named Tequila who, at the beginning of the film, loses his good friend and fellow cop, in a teahouse shoot-out. He goes against all orders in trying to bring down the Triad that caused his friends death. In doing so, he inadvertantly finds out that there is an undercover cop, Tony, in the Triad he is trying to bring down, and eventually teams up with him.

This isn't your standard buddy cop fair like Lethal Weapon with tons of cheesey lines, dorky action and sappy side stories. The dialogue is insightful the action is the best ever and the side stories are well thought out, if a bit abbreviated (due to lack of time to shoot John Woo admits).

Tequila is trying to deal with a failed relationship and the death of his partner, Tony is torn against blowing his cover and defending his honor and the Lieutenant insists on playing it by the book even though it isn't fair.

John Woo said he made this film in honor of the men and women of the Hong Kong police force and the good work they do. He wanted to make a movie about the good guys winning. What he has done is made one of the most pivitol action films ever made, influencing every action movie since.