Hard Boiled - Criterion Collection

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Masterful Hong Kong action director John Woo (The Killer, Face/Off) turns in this exciting and pyrotechnic tale of warring gangsters and shifting loyalties. Chow Yun-fat (The Replacement Killers) plays a take-no-prisoners cop on the trail of the triad, the Hong Kong Mafia, when his partner is killed during a gun battle. His guilt propels him into an all-out war against the gang, including an up-and-coming soldier in the mob (Tony Leung) who turns out to be an undercover cop. The two men must come to terms with their allegiance to the force and their loyalty to each other as they try to take down the gangsters. A stunning feast of hyperbolic action sequences (including a climactic sequence in an entire hospital taken hostage), Hard-Boiled is a rare treat for fans of the action genre, with sequences as thrilling and intense as any ever committed to film. --Robert Lane

Description

Violence as poetry, rendered by a master-brilliant and passionate, John Woo's Hard Boiled tells the story of jaded detective "Tequila" Yuen (played with controlled fury by Chow Yun-fat). Woo's dizzying odyssey through the world of Hong Kong Triads, undercover agents, and frenzied police raids culminates unforgettably in the breathless hospital sequence. More than a cops-and-bad-guys story, Hard Boiled continually startles with its originality and dark humor.

Customer Reviews:

A Chinese Die Hard.......2007-06-28

Hard Boiled was the last film John Woo did on location in Hong Kong before his eventual move to Hollywood. Part reaction to the escalating violence Hong Kong was experiencing at the time, the film pays homage to the Hong Kong Police.

Starring Chow Yun Fat and Tony Lueng as two policeman out to stop an arms smuggling triad. The two actors exhibit all of the characteristics of any actor in Woo film. Woo also uses his trademark filmmaking style and ulta violence to make his points. Look for freeze frames and Sam Peckinpaugh like slow motion throughout the film.

This is not for the squeamish or those not fond of gun violence. Approximately 100,000 blanks were fired making the film and the body count tops 200. Part of the point here is that violence affects us all. Bystanders are not spared by Woo. The only hope may lie in the next generation. Woo states in his commentary track that this is why he often employs infants in his films. Woo says that he was angered with the Hong Kong situation at the time of filming and his anger shows.

The version I viewed was the Winstar edition. The quality of the transfer was fine but the subtitling could have used some improvements. However, we find out in the commentary that Woo is not too concerned with dialogue he would rather have images tell the story. The sound is also adequate. We have a mono track that would really be improved by at least a stereo remaster. This is not the best edition of the film out there but unless you are willing to shell out the big bucks for the out of print Criterion this is the best you are likely to get.

This edition has production notes and filmographies, trailers for Hard Boiled and The Killer and an excellent commentary track by Woo and Terrence Chang.

Worth seeing.

A classic .......2007-03-28

This movie truly is a classic action movie. Chow Yun Fat at his best. I loved it. Be warned, Dragon Dynasty is re-releasing a 2 disc edition in July with all new bonus features.

New Re-Release on the way.......2007-02-24

I love this movie so much. I haven't watched it in a while mostly because I have a widescreen TV and the old Criterion version is non-anamorphic. The good news is that Dragon Dynasty will be re-issuing this John Woo classic in May. I cannot wait and those of you who can't find it, stop wasting your money on ebay and stop spending way too much. You'll be able to get your own very soon. Start the countdown...

THE BEST ACTION MOVIE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2007-01-27

THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST ACTION MOVIE EVER MADE! JOHN WOO IS A MASTER DIRECTOR. CHOW-YUN-FAT IS THE MAN. THIS MOVIE HAS THE BIGGEST BODY COUNT IN ANY MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN. THIS IS ACTION FILM-MAKING AT ITS UTMOST FINEST. DEFINATELY ONE FOR ANY HARD-CORE ACTION FANS COLLECTION.

Great action, messy plot..........2006-12-27

This was the last film John Woo made in Hong Kong before he left for Hollywood (which has royally screwed him over, but that's another review). Many people debate whether Hard Boiled or The Killer are Woo's best. My money is on The Killer, but I still really admire the hell out of this film. It has some of the most amazing action sequences ever committed to celluloid. Are they realistic? Absolutely not. One of the funniest things about Woo films is that the characters rarely, if ever, reload their guns. The teahouse shootout is a great example. Yun-Fat picks up the bad guys' guns, and fires at least 40 rounds or so with each gun. Automatic guns hold 10 bullets or so in a clip, so where Yun-Fat found the extra clips is unknown at this point. The plot of this film leaves quite a lot to be desired. The film was a troubled production. The original script had Tony Leung's character as a pyschotic killer who was planning on poisoning little children by tampering with baby formula. After shooting the teahouse shootout, the film shut down for a month, and a major rewrite took place. They ended up making Leung's character an undercover cop. This was due to the fact that Chow Yun-Fat thought the Hong Kong public would find a baby killer too disturbing. Woo agreed, and shut down the film (Hong Kong films are quite similar to Hollywood in that respect). A lot of this film doesn't make an ounce of sense when Leung's character kills many people, just in order to stay in character. I'm not really sure about that. Thematically, the film is a mess. But the opening shootout at the teahouse, the warehouse raid, and the utterly amazing shootout at the hospital (it lasts nearly 45 minutes, including an unbroken take of 2 minutes and 42 seconds) make this film worthwhile. This film didn't have as much depth as Woo's other Hong Kong work, but it still manages to outdo all Hollywood films in terms of character and depth.

Hard Boiled Criterion Collection and The Killer Criterion Collection (John Woo Classic Collector's Series) 2 DVD Set

Average customer rating:

Hard Boiled Criterion Collection and The Killer Criterion Collection (John Woo Classic Collector's Series) 2 DVD Set

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Product Features:

Both of these DVDs are made by the Criterion Collection and are Long Out of Print and now Rare to find.
The inscribed Nimbus letters on the bottom of the discs and White Rings indicate they are authentic and not Bootlegs.

ASIN: B000FTFUCO

Product Description

Both of these DVDs are made by the Criterion Collection and are Long Out of Print and now Rare to find. The inscribed Nimbus letters on the bottom of the discs and White Rings indicate they are authentic and not Bootlegs.

DVD:

DVD

DVD