Hard Boiled

A pioneer of the action genre, with amazing camera and editing work, revolutionary shooting sequences, long shots without cuts, breathtaking stunt work. Before all the modern Hunts, Bonds, Bournes, and Wicks, there was a detective with a cigarette in his mouth and two guns on his belt who set the direction for what action films would look like decades later. (02/13/2005)

If Killer has an action drive and narrative poetics that are hard to describe and put into words, there is simply no name in the known universe for the breakneck pace of Hard Boiled. I guess that if all those who couldn't shoot their way through the story and stay alive were Jews, this would have been by far Adolf Hitler's favourite film (if he had the chance to see it, of course) :D You just don't see this kind of disrespectful deprivation of life not only of hundreds of bad guys, but also of dozens of innocent civilians – almost untouchable in Hollywood conventions – anywhere else. Though I'm probably one of the few who didn't fully enjoy the nature of the final hospital shootout, which at times descended into heavy parody, the level of experience of the cinematic action with its grandiose visuals and cleverly upgraded "background" story remains as pure and intense as in few other action films of the 1990s and all the years since. (02/03/2017)

Neat action and cool lines. Both John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat are on their best form here. Technically almost perfect action scenes, ingenious and still surprises after all these years. I’m telling you, this movie suited me down to the ground. Tequila’s apt remarks were really to my taste. A classic that I plan on watching again soon. (01/25/2014)

It's excellent, maybe the best of all the movies that John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat have collaborated on, but I can't help but feel like when you see one of their filmographies, it's like seeing almost all of them. The action scenes are absolutely breathtaking, you really feel like human bodies are being torn apart. Especially towards the end, it's a violent orgy. However, it's not a film that would make me have an orgasm. The action choreography is great, but I might have expected a little more from it. (02/13/2014)

Tequila slammers, toothpicks, babe in arms, hundreds of smashed tiles and thousands of spent rounds. A perfect piece, down to the smallest detail, from John Woo, Fat and everybody else involved. This ode to action is incredible not only for a John Woo movie. Especially the brothers’ finale in the hospital is inimitable and unmatchable. If you are used to politically correct American productions, you will be shocked by the mass shooting of civilians or the brutal action overflowing with visuals typical for John Woo. Often in his pictures the action element plays just a supporting role to a drama involving two men, and here it is the same, although that motif takes much more of a back seat here. Even the scenes with kids, which elsewhere would be superficially cheap, are handled perfectly here. The entire movie gets by without any humorous element, with the honorable exception of two “sorta" snappy lines at the very end. The only negative aspect of this movie is the rather too disruptive music. One of the zeniths of Hong Kong “gun" movies. (04/25/2005)