Hard Boiled (1992)

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

Director:

John Woo

Writers:

John Woo (story), Barry Wong (screenplay)

Stars:

Yun-Fat Chow, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Teresa Mo

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yun-Fat Chow	...	Insp. 'Tequila' Yuen
Tony Chiu-Wai Leung	...	Alan (as Tony Leung)
Teresa Mo	...	Teresa Chang
Philip Chan	...	Supt. Pang
Phillip Chung-Fung Kwok	...	Mad Dog (as Kwok Chun-Feng)
Anthony Chau-Sang Wong	...	Johnny Wong (as Anthony Wong)
Hoi-San Kwan	...	Mr. Hoi (Guest star) (as Kwan Hoi Sang)
Wei Tung	...	Foxy (Guest star) (as Tung Wai)
Bowie Lam	...	Ah Lung / Benny
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

Storyline

Mobsters are smuggling guns into Hong Kong. The police orchestrate a raid at a teahouse where an ace detective loses his partner. Meanwhile, the two main gun smugglers are having a war over territory, and a young new gun is enlisted to wipe out informants and overcome barriers to growth. The detective, acting from inside sources, gets closer to the ring leaders and eventually must work with the inside man directly.

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Plot Keywords:

gun fu | informant | gunfight | long take | partnership | 

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Taglines:

More exciting than a dozen Die hards

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive violence and some language

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese English

Release Date:

16 April 1992 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Hard Boiled

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Budget:

$4,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golden Princess Film Production Limited, Milestone Pictures, Pioneer LDC

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min 92 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Woo wanted a jazz soundtrack in The Killer (1989), but was overruled by Hark Tsui. He got to do that here.

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Goofs

Often when someone gets shot, a flash can be seen at the exit wound. Bullets do not make flashes at the exit wound, so this is a miniature explosive charge used to make the wound appear as an effect.

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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!

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Alternate Versions

This film was released in 2 different Laserdisc editions in Hong Kong. One was the film on 2 discs running over 121 min, the other one was a single disc version running approx. 117 minutes. Both versions are cut for violence.

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Connections

Referenced in Army of One (1993)

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Soundtracks

Mona Lisa
Written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston
Sung by Teresa Mo and Philip Chan

User Reviews

"Give the guy a gun and he's superman, give him two and he's God."

Chow Yun Fat, toothpick in mouth, a gun in each hand. That's all of the plot you need to know. Hard Boiled was my first John Woo movie and, in my opinion, his best. No other action movie comes close to this. In fact, this is THE best pure action epic ever filmed. Upon viewing it, I immediately fell in love with Woo's style and his star. It's full of the most stylized gunfights ever seen and Chow Yun Fat is the definition of cool. The full blown finale defies description. Someone once called it an action fan's wet dream. There's not much more I can say because actions speak louder than words. So go see the movie.