Hard Boiled (1992)

A tough-as-nails cop (Chow Yun-Fat) teams up with an undercover agent (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) to shut down a sinister gun-runner (Anthony Wong) and the rest of his gang in Hong Kong.

That's the standard IMDB description for the plot of this film but as directed by master action autuer John Woo (The Killer, A Better Tomorrow, Face/Off, Mission Impossible II), it's SO much more!  Infact this is now remembered as one of the more influential action films of the 1990's featuring Woo's unique blend of balletic action, melodramatic flourishes, and doves. (Well in this case, origami doves) Beloved action star Chow Yun Fat (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Killer) leads the charge as "Tequila," a Hong Kong super-cop who has it all: he's good with babies, he plays a mean clarinet, and he can dispatch with any number of bad guys with a nickel-plated Norinco pistol in each hand. ;) Decades before John Wick would reinvent the action genre with "gun fu," this international sensation did it first....and better? 

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Transcript

HARD BOILED - 1992

Directed by John Woo

Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Teresa Mo Shun-Kwan, Philip Chan Yan-Kin, Phillip Kwok Chui, Kwan Hoi-San, Stephen Tung Wai, Bowie Lam Bo-Yee, and John Woo

Genre: Action Thriller (Audio clip)

What a thrill it was to finally see this on the big screen. :) I can remember watching this on videotape back in the early '90's at an age when I likely had zero interest in watching anything else with subtitles....this was something different of course, a ballet of bullets driven by a relatively straightforward plot basically told in three acts. The dialogue felt almost superfluous and rewatching it now more than thirty years later? It STILL kinda feels superfluous but you COULD pretty much say the same thing for just about any John Wick movie outside of the first one. ;) 

And that's ok when you have perfect casting with great faces to fill in all of the emotional gaps. As played by half-British Anthony Wong (who would co-star with Tony Leung ten years later in the iconic Infernal Affairs), the evil gun-runner Johnny Wong is just an arch-villain whom you LOVE to hate. In his yellow pastel suit and with a perpetual sneer, he's over-the-top but he's SELLING unrepentant evil just about as well as anyone short of Jason Isaac's future-SS-officer-in-redcoat Colonel Tavington from The Patriot! 

As his fierce one-eyed henchman (though with a conscience) known as Mad Dog, stuntman/circus performer/actor Philip Kwok steals just about every one of his scenes with a physicality pretty much unrivaled by any one else on-screen - you buy it 100% when he's leaping head-first through windows and is it any wonder that I had seen this guy in other stuff? 😀 (He apparently had small roles in both Brotherhood of the Wolf and Tomorrow Never Dies) 

Teresa Mo has the seemingly thankless role as the "love interest" to our hero but as our Hong Kong police Lieutenant with an affinity for rescuing babies, she's making the most of her time, having fun, and getting in on the action in the most credible manner. ;) And as the upright by-the-book compassionate police Superintendent Pang, Philip Chan (who was apparently in Bloodsport? 🤔) brings a necessary gravitas to the story and wouldn't you know it....Chan himself WAS a Hong Kong police inspector before becoming an actor! 

Yes Chow Yun Fat the action hero and boy is he in TOP form here. His Hong Kong cop nicknamed "Tequila" has it all: he plays a mean clarinet, he's good with babies, he can decipher coded music lyrics, he can rappel into mass gunfire unscathed, he's clever with gunpowder, and he can do ALL of this with a toothpick in his mouth with a nickel-plated Norinco pistol in each hand. ;) Even with some admittedly on-the-nose dialogue at points, he delivers one of the most likeable and charismatic action star performances you're ever gonna see this side of Bruce Willis in Die Hard. Like the aforementioned Philip Kwok, he's pulling off gun-fu moves here which would even make John Wick take notice....sliding through mortuary drawers, sliding down narrow stair rails.....THIS is Cinema!

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film):

The music for this film came from some one who as it turns out was a pretty novel choice to compose the score for a big action film….and that was Zimbabwean jazz musician Michael Gibbs.  As Woo himself is a major fan of jazz music, he wanted there to be some prominent jazz featured in the film and who better than Gibbs?  Better yet we hear some of his lovely clarinet playing during the opening credits sequence as we watch our lead character Tequila play for a jazz club in Hong Kong.  It’s a nice disarming way to kick off the film. (Audio clip)  

Regardless, most of the music heard from Gibbs throughout the film remains almost standard, propulsive action fare….synth-based and not unlike the kind of stuff we would hear during any number of American action films during the ‘80’s.  And it works. (Audio clip) 

However for me the musical highlight remains a mid-tempo sax-based theme which we hear over both of our introduction to the Alan character cruising in his red convertible mustang early in the film AND over the closing credits.  It sounds SO ‘80s and SO perfect, this track is called, “Red Car Boogie.” (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

The legendary award-winning Tony Leung (In The Mood For Love) was likely a bit overqualified for the role of Alan, the undercover cop who gets in over his head but that's just as well because his character has the most pathos whenever things slow down. In-between extended action sequences (which he handles quite well....ESPECIALLY riding that hospital gurney during the climax), he's clearly going through it. And just watching him releasing origami doves on the water (the closest THIS particular John Woo joint has to having doves factor into the plot 🤪) every time he has to kill some one is more than enough to demonstrate just how conflicted his character is. He also happens to make a great pairing with Chow Yun Fat....so even if he’s overqualified, IS it a waste of talent? (Audio clip) 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

All of this gun fu comes to a head during the extended action climax at a hospital containing a hidden arnory.....a truly ambitious sequence which pretty much overtakes the film's final hour and has a surprisingly high body count. 🙄 Seriously there is a LOT of blood spilled throughout this film but Woo along with the adept cast always delivers it with actual stakes. (Audio clip)  

And for me and I know many others is roughly four minutes of chaotic action shot fluidly through an extended hallway…..the camera is actually follow both Alan and Tequial as they traverse around every corner ready to fire on their opponent with precision.  (Audio clip) 

It becomes almost video game-like though in a good way in that we can clearly follow what’s going on and…..because the stakes are still raised enough for you to not only care about these characters but also see their flaws – this comes through during one hair-raising moment when an elevator pops open at one point and Alan just shoots….and it’s a cop. And the aftermath of this is played VERY effectively as while Alan commiserates that he just accidentally murdered a fellow police officer, Tequila is angrily in denial even at one point telling Alan he was just hallucinating.  Very affecting moment amidst a lot of crazy action. (Audio clip)  

MVP (person most responsible for the success of this film):

Woo coordinates all of this with crisp editing and fluid camerawork thanks to DP Wing-Hang Wong. In essence Woo and Yun-Fat are THE two main stars and this would be the last of five excellent collaborations they would do together before Woo would head out west to direct the likes of Van Damme, Travolta, Cage, and Cruise....WHY didn't they ever work together again?? 😐  I'm sure there's a story but no matter because their partnership proved to be plenty fruitful with a lasting impact on action cinema for decades to come.  MAJOR props to Chow Yun Fat for pulling off such an iconic lead action performance but at the end the day, this remains Woo’s action magnum opus – John Woo is the MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 5 stars out of 5 

I know that most avid fans of these two consider The Killer to be their best film together - and from a story standpoint, it likely is - but THIS will always be my personal favorite. :) As far as I'm concerned, it remains among the Top Five Action Films ever. If you haven't already, see it on the biggest screen available....

Streaming on The Criterion Channel, kanopy, Pluto TV, Shout Factory, & YouTube

And that ends another WHITE ROSES EVERY TIME review!