Hard Boiled

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Hard Boiled
Dragon Dynasty Region 1 DVD cover, released in 2007
Directed by	John Woo
Produced by	Terence Chang Linda Kuk
Written by	Barry Wong Story: John Woo
Starring	Chow Yun-Fat Tony Leung Chiu-Wai
Distributed by	Golden Princess Film Production Co. Ltd. The Weinstein Company (DVD) Dragon Dynasty (DVD) Rim (dubbed version) Criterion Collection (DVD)
Release date(s)	April 16, 1992
Running time	126 min.
Country	Hong Kong, PRC
Language	Cantonese
Budget	$4,500,000 US (est.)

Hard Boiled (traditional Chinese: 辣手神探; pinyin: Làshǒu shéntàn) is a 1992 Hong Kong action film directed by John Woo. It is also known as God of Guns (traditional Chinese: 鎗神/槍神; simplified Chinese: 枪神; pinyin: Qiāngshén). It was the last film Woo directed in his native Hong Kong before relocating to Hollywood. The film begins as an apparently straightforward film about the bond between a detective and an undercover cop as they fight a triad gang. However, it develops into an action film with a staggering 240 body count.^[1] Considered by many critics to be one of the greatest and most influential action films ever made,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} it is structured around four major action setpieces: the opening teahouse shootout, the warehouse betrayal in the middle, the dock shootout, and the climactic thirty-minute hospital shootout.

The title God of Guns reinforces one aspect Woo’s signature auteur style of gunfights and explosive action.^[7]

Plot

In a teahouse in Hong Kong, a squad of police officers, led by Officer "Tequila" Yuen and his partner Benny, attempt to arrest a group of gun smugglers during a deal. Ambushed by another gang member, a fierce gun battle breaks out. Although the gangsters are defeated, several police officers are badly wounded, and Benny is killed. Tequila, knowing there are no witnesses, chooses to summarily execute the gangster who ambushed them, to avenge Benny, rather than arrest him. This earns Tequila the wrath of his superior officer Superintendent Pang, who reveals the man was a senior member of a local triad gang and could have put all of them away with his testimony. Pang orders Tequila off the case.

Elsewhere in Hong Kong, Alan, a respected hitman working under "Uncle" Hoi, a Triad boss, murders a fellow member of Hoi's gang, who had betrayed them by working for Johnny Wong, an opposing Triad boss whose men were involved in the teahouse deal. Wong, impressed by Alan's skill, then attempts to recruit him. Alan is reluctant to turn against Hoi, who treats him well, but finds he has no choice when Wong conducts a raid on Hoi's arsenal and takes Alan with him. At Hoi's warehouse, Wong's men kill Hoi's workers and destroy his stock, knowing this will bring Hoi to the scene. Hoi arrives, and is taken prisoner, along with his entourage. Wong demands Alan be the one to kill him. Hoi, accepting that he is going to die, asks Alan to kill only him and spare his men. Alan, after much hesitation, finally kills Hoi, but then kills his men as well. Suddenly, smoke grenades explode and Tequila appears, determined to continue with the case, against orders. Alan covers Wong's escape as Tequila fights and kills most of the gangsters, but Wong's second-in-command, Mad Dog, survives. Having defeated the others, Tequila finds himself confronting Alan face to face in the smoke. Tequila tries to shoot Alan, but finds he is out of bullets. Alan is free to kill Tequila, but instead he slowly lowers his gun and walks away, smiling.

Tequila is angered to think he may have nearly killed an undercover cop. He confronts Pang over this, who confirms Alan is one of his men, but states it sometimes goes with the job, as one of the 'gangsters' Tequila killed at the teahouse was also undercover. Although he does not react, Tequila is horrified by this. Tequila tracks Alan down to his boat on the docks, to try to make sense of the situation, but they are suddenly attacked by the remnants of Hoi's gang, seeking revenge. They manage to kill their attackers just before Wong arrives, allowing Alan to keep his cover. Wong realises one of his men, Foxy, is an informant for the police, which is how Tequila knew about Wong's raid on Hoi's arsenal. He has him beaten by Mad Dog, and tells Alan to finish the job. Alan slips a cigarette lighter into Foxy's pocket, where he shoots him, saving his life. A badly wounded Foxy finds Tequila, and is able to inform him that Wong's own arsenal is in the nearby Maple Group Hospital. Tequila takes Foxy to the hospital for treatment, unaware that Wong owns it and is informed of their arrival. Asking to make up for his mistake, Alan goes to kill Foxy at the hospital. Wong, growing suspicious, also sends Mad Dog separately and two other men to cover Alan. At the hospital, Alan and Tequila kill the two others, then Alan confronts Tequila, demanding to know the whereabouts of Wong's arsenal, which has been his mission all along. While Alan and Tequila are distracted with each other, Foxy is discovered and killed by Mad Dog; his throat slit with a medical scalpel and his body dumped down a laundry chute.

After discovering a hidden entryway in the hospital morgue, Alan and Tequila find Johnny Wong's arsenal. Inside, they are confronted by Mad Dog, engaging him in prolonged fight. Wong arrives and, seeing the arsenal has been compromised, locks the hospital down, taking all the patients and staff hostage. Superintendent Pang and his squad, including Officer Chang, Tequila's girlfriend, had been summoned to the hospital by Tequila and are also captured. Mad Dog voices his disapproval of involving innocents, saying the fight should only be between the Triads and police, but Wong angrily dismisses this. After fighting their way to the main lobby, Alan and Tequila liberate Pang and the other police officers. Pang evacuates the lobby and begins directing the fight from the outside, while Chang goes to the maternity ward to organise evacuating the babies. The rest of the squad disperses throughout the hospital to assist the fight. As Alan and Tequila continue the fight, Alan accidentally kills one of Pang's squad. He goes into shock, until Tequila reveals his own feelings of guilt about the undercover cop he killed at the teahouse. Coming to his senses, Alan finds and engages Mad Dog, while Tequila goes to assist Chang with the babies. After a long chase, Alan and Mad Dog find themselves in a standoff with a group of patients caught in the middle. They simultaneously lower their weapons and both order the patients to leave, but Wong appears and begins shooting the patients. An enraged Mad Dog shoots Wong in the torso and attempts to shoot him in the head, but runs out of bullets; Wong proceeds to kill Mad Dog while Alan escapes in the confusion. Tequila finds the last baby in the maternity unit and carries it to safety while fighting off the last of the gangsters. Alan arrives and they are confronted by Johnny Wong, who has programmed bombs to blow up the building. Wong flees and Alan gives chase as the hospital begins exploding. Tequila escapes the hospital with the baby, barely getting out as it is destroyed. Everyone assumes Wong and Alan are dead.

Suddenly, Wong appears, holding Alan at gunpoint. Calling Tequila out, he forces Tequila to humiliate himself, ordering him to slap himself repeatedly and admit his incompetence as a man, in exchange for Alan's life. Enraged, Alan grabs the gun and, in the struggle, shoots himself through the stomach. This gives Tequila enough time to shoot Wong dead through the eye. Although the police are victorious, it is a hollow victory as it seems Alan is dead. However, Pang and Tequila are seemingly the only ones aware that Alan has survived. As Pang burns Alan's file, Alan sails away from Hong Kong to his new life.

Cast

• Chow Yun-Fat - Inspector "Tequila" Yuen
• Tony Leung - Alan
• Teresa Mo - Teresa Chang
• Philip Chan - Supt. Pang
• Philip Kwok - Mad Dog
• Anthony Wong Chau-Sang (credited as Anthony Wong)- Johnny Wong
• Bowie Lam - Benny/Ah Lung
• Bobby Au-Yeung - Lionheart
• Ng Shui Ting - Tequila's assistant
• Kwan Hoi-Shan - Mr. Hoi
• Tung Wei - Foxy
• John Woo also participated in the movie as the man behind the bar who gives advice to Inspector "Tequila" Yuen

Reception

Hard Boiled opened on the same weekend as Jet Li and Tsui Hark's Once Upon a Time in China II and suffered for it, but still managed to be successful. Hard Boiled grossed $19,711,048 HKD during its Hong Kong run.

Hard Boiled is considered one of the best heroic bloodshed films of all time.^{[8][9][10][11][12]} It increased John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat's popularity outside Hong Kong, and gained a unique cult status among genre fans worldwide.^{[citation needed]}

In the June 22, 2007 issue of Entertainment Weekly, Hard Boiled was the "9th greatest action film of all time" and was also ranked #7 on the magazine's "The Cult 25: The Essential Left-Field Movie Hits Since '83" list.^[13]

Fox Lorber/Win Star Region 1 DVD, now out of print.

Empire magazine ranked Tequila 33rd in their "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters" poll.^[14] Entertainment Weekly ranked the film #18 on their list of "The Top 50 Cult Films".^[15]

Home video releases

The Weinstein Company-owned Dragon Dynasty label, which distributes Asian action films as collector's items, released a "2-Disc Ultimate Version" of the film on 26 July 2007, along with another John Woo film, Last Hurrah for Chivalry. The film is presented in anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen with optional Cantonese Dolby Digital and DTS (Digital Theater System) 5.1, as well as an English 5.1 dub. The extras are a commentary by Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan on the first disc, as well as interviews with director John Woo and producer Terence Chang and a sneak peek at the upcoming game sequel Stranglehold on the second disc.

Hard Boiled is also available in a DVD-9 Region 0 PAL disc by United Kingdom distributor Tartan Asia Extreme featuring anamorphic presentation, 5.1 surround sound in Dolby (Cantonese and English) and DTS (Cantonese), and newly-created English subtitles.

The current Hong Kong DVD of the movie is a DVD-9 dual-layer Region 0 NTSC version from Mei Ah Entertainment featuring anamorphic presentation, 5.1 surround sound in Dolby (Cantonese and Mandarin) and DTS (Cantonese). Subtitles include traditional and simplified Chinese, Japanese, and English. It is unedited and 128 minutes long.

There is a Taiwanese DVD that includes a cut of the film that is 5 minutes longer, and features radically different editing in the final hospital section of the film, with a few more shots of the violence making up the extra footage.

Stranglehold

John Woo collaborated with Midway Games on Stranglehold, a 2007 console game sequel starring Tequila. The highest difficulty of the game is, appropriately, "Hard Boiled".

The PlayStation 3 version of the Collector's Edition of Stranglehold contains the only high-definition version of Hard Boiled as an option off the main menu. It is only watchable on the PlayStation 3, and not other Blu-ray players, and as it is played back from inside the game as opposed to the standard PS3 movie player, lacks many common playback options such as fast forwarding, rewinding, or the ability to change subtitle or language tracks during movie playback (though subtitles and language tracks are selectable from the main menu).

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (March 2009)

• Hard Boiled includes a famous action sequence in a burning hospital that is a single handheld camera long take lasting 2 minutes and 42 seconds in which Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung alternately fight off enemies in frantically choreographed action and engage in emotional dialogue, through many corridors and rooms spanning two levels of the hospital, including an intervening elevator ride. On the Criterion DVD, an entire chapter (appropriately titled "Two minutes, forty-two seconds") is devoted to this shot.
• The movie was referenced in Infernal Affairs (2002), not only with Tony Leung's character again playing a cop working undercover for the triads, but an obvious homage to the scene where Leung's character receives surveillance gear from his superintendent along with a birthday gift. The difference being that in Hard Boiled Tony Leung receives a lighter and in Infernal Affairs he receives a watch. Also the superintendent from Infernal Affairs was played by Anthony Wong Chau Sang, the main villain of Hard Boiled.
• Though it was only referred to after its UK video release, the film The Last Blood directed by Wong Jing starring Andy Lau is sometimes released or referred to under the title Hard Boiled 2: Last Blood (despite being released earlier than Hard Boiled).
• The title of the film (辣手神探) is part of the Mandarin title for the Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry (Chinese: 辣手神探夺命枪; pinyin: Làshǒu shéntàn duómìng qiāng; literally "Hot-Handed God of Cops Killer Gun").

See also

• Cinema of Hong Kong

References

External links

• Hard Boiled at the Internet Movie Database
• Hard Boiled at Allmovie
• Criterion Collection essay by Barbara Scharres
• Movie Body Counts Site where the film is broken into sections
• Allegory and symbolism in John Woo's cinematic arts : themes and aesthetics

Notes

^  After A Better Tomorrow (1986) ("A god is someone who controls his destiny.") and God of Gamblers (1989)

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