Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
Director
John Woo
Cast
Chow Yun-Fat,
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai,
Anthony Wong,
Teresa Mo,
Philip Chan Yan-Kin,
Philip Kwok Chun-Fung
Genre
Action,
Crime,
Thriller
A cop who loses his partner in a shootout with gun smugglers embarks on a violent mission to catch them and avenge his friend. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring, he joins forces with another undercover cop who is working as a gangster’s hitman.
This movie was my introduction to Hong Kong action cinema and it was a great one. I was surprised how much character drama was crammed into a film with so many over-the-top crazy shootouts. I felt the connection between Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung's characters. The final hospital shootout is absolutely incredible, and the warehouse shootout is great as well. Tequila is not a good cop, but I guess that doesn't really matter.
The Guardian by Ahmed Peerbux
The seamless gun choreography is hypnotic in its fluidity, more akin to dance sequences than deadly shoot-outs – never was the phrase "bullet ballet" more accurately applied.
Collider by Jeremy Urquhart
Hard Boiled escalates perfectly, with the action starting out spectacular, and then getting increasingly grand in scale and ambition as things march along. The whole final act is particularly great, and largely responsible for making the movie an all-timer among action/crime flicks.
San Francisco Chronicle by Peter Stack
It is far too sophisticated and operatic to be dismissed as simply a cheap-thrills, blast-'em blowout. [19 Aug 1994, p.C14]
Slant Magazine by Ed Gonzalez
There’s a moral “quality” to the bloodshed that you won’t find in your average Hollywood action film.
The A.V. Club by Scott Tobias
Plenty of entertaining action movies have been made since John Woo's 1992 Hard Boiled, but really, what's the point?
Miami Herald by René Rodríguez
As a director, Woo never hesitates, and the result is exhilarating. [22 Oct 1993, p.G6]
Chicago Tribune by Richard Christiansen
Woo's passion and confidence in guiding his films are shown clearly in the delicate emotional shades the director is able to paint with his actors. [13 Nov 1992, p.F]
New York Daily News by Dave Kehr
It's not his most satisfying, full-bodied work, though it does provide many of the Woo pleasures. [18 Jun 1993]
Entertainment Weekly by David Browne
All this would be overkill if it weren’t for the fact that Woo’s use of freeze frame and slow motion serves to make Hard Boiled even more of an art-house action movie than any of its predecessors.
Empire by Mark Salisbury
Before John Woo went all Hollywood on our ass with the likes of Face/Off and Mission: Impossible II, he made several films in his native Hong Kong, this being arguably the pick of the bunch. Although not as slick as his later films, it's more inventive and stylised and with great early performances from Fat and Leung.
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