Lat sau san taam (1992)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

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 | Detective | Hong Kong

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 (video rating) (heavily cut) | Germany:18 (re-rating) (JK/SPIO) (uncut) | 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:

Phillip Kwok, who plays Mad Dog, had his part specifically written for him by John Woo. The character did not appear in the original script.

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:

Alan: Have you got a cop called Vodka?
Superintendant Pang: He's called Tequila. He's a tough cop.
Alan: I don't care who he is, tell him to back off. He'll ruin everything. Do you want to go to another funeral!

Movie Connections:

References The Godfather (1972)

Soundtrack:

Mona Lisa

Brilliant

"Hey!" Chow Yun Fat says, covering a baby's eyes. "X-Rated action!" He's not wrong: Hard Boiled is a film clearly not afraid to embrace its genre's excesses. While most modern action films (Smokin' Aces for one) aspire to some sort of grand intelligence while providing shoot-outs and explosions, this film is a reminder of times when action films suffered no such pretensions.

Crowds of people are gunned down without explanation and the smallest things explode for little or no reason. The bad guys are massively exaggerated cutthroat caricatures and the good guys never miss. Scenes of Fat and Leung running down corridors are inexplicably shot in slow motion. And, for all of these reasons, it is amazing. It's fast, it's exciting, and it never lets up.

Hard Boiled is loud, exciting, and, thanks to quite terrible dubbing and a ludicrous early 90's soundtrack, often unintentionally hilarious. It is a film that places entertainment firmly ahead of plausibility and logic, and is quite frankly awesome for it.