Hard Boiled (1992) And The Art Of The Bullet Ballet

Mr_Vindictive · November 18, 2005, 08:21:27 AM

I bought a DVD copy of John Woo's "The Killer" from Ebay a few months back, and was quite surprised at just how good it was. I came to this board, and gushed about the movie, and someone (Ulthar maybe?) recommended Hard-Boiled. I ended up buying a copy from HKFlix.com and finally watched it last night.

Do not take this following statement lightly:

THIS IS THE BEST ACTION FILM OF ALL TIME.

Yeah, I said it. I was never a big fan of Woo's work, other than Face Off, before I saw The Killer. It was such a good damned movie, and it didn't have all of the big budget flash of American action flicks...yet it was missing something. It seemed a bit too slow and soap operary for me. This is where Hard-Boiled gets it right.

The film starts off with officer Tequila (Chow Yun-Fat) in a small Chinese teahouse/bird shop. He immediatly busts a gun trade going down in the store and in the process accidentally shoots and undercover cop and watches as his partner gets mowed down by gunfire. He then makes a promise to take down the triad gang responsible, who are going through a gang war themselves.

This film was John Woo's last before coming over to America and doing films here. It is quite obvious that Woo wanted to go out with a bang, which he does perfectly with Hard-Boiled. The DVD that I own is from Taiwan and is the uncut 135 min version, with most of that being just balls to the wall action.

The absolute reason to see this film though is the last hour or so which takes place in a hospital. It's the type of thing where the action just doesn't let up at all, and you the viewer are physcially exhausted by the finale. One scene in particular is quite amazing. It has Tequila walking through the corridors of the hospital with a (sortof) partner, chatting through the entire shot, shooting every damn thing that moves. The entire shot takes about 5-6 minutes and is absoultely stunning. I can't even begin to imagine how long it took to choreograph.

This is one that I have no doubt most of you will enjoy. It might be a bit long, but I didn't want the damned thing to end. It's violent, has a lot of humor and is just an all around blast. If you haven't seen it, then track the damn thing down.

The Bullet Ballet:

Since watching The Killer and Hard-Boiled, Bullet Ballet is starting to become one of my favorite genres. Any of you guys have any recommendations for any other good BB flicks? Is "A Better Tomorrow" worth checking out? Any other flicks?

Shadowphile · November 18, 2005, 02:04:15 PM

Don't be so vague. Tell us how you really feel about the movie.

Jim H · November 19, 2005, 06:11:30 AM

A Better Tomorrow is great, but you should understand that Hard-Boiled is by far John Woo's most westernized Chinese movie. That's one reason it's so popular. It is generally more like American action films in that there's less subtext, less emotional melodrama, etc. Don't get me wrong - I love Hard-Boiled also, and I think Tony Leung's performance is fantastic. It just isn't quite up there dramatically with some of his other films.

A Better Tomorrow isn't quite as heavy as The Killer, but there's a good deal of melodrama, etc, in the film. It's still one of my favorites, and there's a good deal of great action in it (you can tell it is earlier and lower budget than some of his other works though - not quite as polished). A Better Tomorrow 2 goes insanely over the top, and is a ridiculous film. Quite entertaining as well. The climactic battle in A Better Tomorrow 2 probably has a similar bodycount to Hard-Boiled's climax, but in less than half the time. That should say something.

Once a Thief is amusing, but is much more light hearted. Still has some decent gun battles... You might also like Bullet in the Head, which is great dramatically and also has extremely well-done gun fighting.

Neon Noodle · November 19, 2005, 09:53:53 AM

Ska - preaching to the choir here bother. I saw a bootleg of this movie YEARS ago and I couldn't believe how cool it was.

You seen Bullet in the Head? That's another John Woo classic....

Mr_Vindictive · November 19, 2005, 03:35:56 PM

Jim,

Thanks for the recommendations. I've read a couple of reviews for Bullet In The Head and recently added it to my Netflix. As for A Better Tomorrow, I'll probably buy the double feature version that Anchor Bay has out with both films on the same disc. As you said, Hard Boiled has little subtext and isn't much more than what it is on the surface, but it was absolutely perfect as an awesome balls out action flick.

Post Edited (11-19-05 16:37)

Jim H · November 19, 2005, 06:19:05 PM

Totally agree. One thing to add about A Better Tomorrow... The Anchor Bay double feature version (I own it and also an older DVD import version.. Which I'm probably going to sell as it is vastly inferior in quality) has both the English dub and the original Cantonese.. What's interesting is the English version the music is remixed a bit. From my understanding, this was done without Woo's consent. Interestingly though, I actually like the changes.

In particular, once you've watched the film in the original Cantonese, try comparing the Flowerpots sequence in both languages (there's no actual spoken dialogue in the scene anyway - mostly just gunshots and screams and what have you.. But I don't like the Cantonese song in the Chinese version, preferring the dull thumping electronic music in the English).

Scott · November 19, 2005, 08:30:03 PM

HARD BOILED always stood out on the video shelve , but I never picked it up. It's now on my list.

Neon Noodle · November 20, 2005, 09:07:28 PM

Wikipedia has some interesting info on Woo:

When Woo's parents were faced with persecution, his Lutheran family fled to Hong Kong when he was five years old. During this time, the Woo family led a hard life in the slums since his father had tuberculosis and could not work. In 1953, the family was made homeless when their house was burned to the ground in a brush fire. It was only thanks to donations from charities that his family were able to move into another house. Unfortunately, by this time, a wave of crime and violence was beginning to infest Hong Kong's housing projects. One of Woo's most vivid childhood memories was of seeing a man being killed on his front steps.

In order to escape his dismal surroundings, Woo would retreat to the local movie theater. It was through musicals like The Wizard of Oz â€"a film that still stands as his all-time favoriteâ€"that the young Woo came to realize that the world was not just filled with violence and suffering; it could be beautiful and happy as well.

Mr_Vindictive · November 21, 2005, 09:07:18 AM

Neon,

I had read some of that before, but I never realized that The Sound Of Music was his favorite film. Although it would seem strange for that to be his favorite film, it does shine through in his films. Each film is highly choreographed and has a dramatic storyline.

Interetsting.

Jim H · November 21, 2005, 04:29:16 PM

In addition, he's often said he'd love to film a musical. It's worth noting many of his earlier films are slapstick as well (Plain Jane to the Rescue). He'd been directing for more than 10 years when he directed Heroes Shed No Tears, his first ultra violent/gory film (believe me, it's FAR more brutal than any of his other works - lots of gore, not just bullet hits, and torture, etc).

Mr_Vindictive · November 21, 2005, 05:00:12 PM

Jim,

Once again, thanks for the recommendation. I've just put in an order for A Better Tomorrow 1/2 from DeepDiscountDVD.com for 11.00 and just added Heroes Shed No Tears to my Netflix.

I'm even considering getting an XBOX360 sometime soon due to the fact that they are making a game for it called "Stranglehold" which is a psuedo-sequel to Hard-Boiled, and you get to play as Tequila. I wonder if they include a toothpick with the game? ;)

The Burgomaster · November 22, 2005, 11:59:20 AM

Skaboi:

Don't be ashamed to say that HARD BOILED is the best action movie of all time. For raw, high-energy, well-choreographed, shoot-em-up mayhem, you may very well be right. I have several of John Woo's Hong Kong action films on DVD and I would definitely say that HARD BOILED and THE KILLER are the two best. I also have A BETTER TOMORROW, A BETTER TOMORROW II, ONCE A THIEF and also his TV version of ONCE A THIEF. They are all good, but HARD BOILED and THE KILLER are at the top of the list. You just made me want to go home and watch them again.

Mr_Vindictive · November 22, 2005, 01:00:06 PM

Burgo,

Once I make it through the Better Tomorrow films, I'll probably get a copy of Once A Thief.

I am curious though, what's the difference between the original and the TV version?

The Burgomaster · November 22, 2005, 02:04:24 PM

Skaboi:

The original theatrical version is with Chow Yun Fat. Then they made an English-language TV movie (I think it might have been filmed in Canada) with a different cast. The TV movie is similar to the theatrical movie, but there are enough differences to make it worthwhile to see both. The TV movie actually has a lot of shooting, but it isn't bloody. I think they were trying to make it a pilot for a TV series, but it never got off the ground. I believe that Simitar was the company that released the TV movie on DVD. It was one of the first DVDs I ever bought, way back when I had my first DVD player.

Jim H · November 24, 2005, 05:53:28 PM

The TV series did get off the ground, but it failed REALLY fast (I don't know how many eps aired, but not many). The TV movie is pretty bad. Entertaining, but bad.