Hard Boiled 4K Review (Arrow)
The influential actioner from John Woo and Chow Yung-Fat Gets an upgrade
Even if you haven’t seen Hard Boiled, you’ve almost certainly seen the promotional image of Chow Yun-Fat, decked out in full tactical gear, shotgun in one hand, a very confused-looking baby in the other. It’s instantly iconic, equal parts absurd and deadly serious, and perfectly captures the film’s tone. This is action cinema pushed to its most operatic extreme, but with just enough self-awareness to prevent it from collapsing under its own intensity – never taking itself too seriously.
In their ongoing quest to rerelease the entirety of the Tartan Asia Extreme label, Arrow has given John Woo’s final Hong Kong film the deluxe treatment it deserves. It remains the high point of his directing career, an explosive distillation of his signature style, combining an almost Hawksian kind of brotherhood with technically exhilarating action set-pieces, and a real sense of forward momentum.
Yun-Fat plays the perfectly named Tequila, a volatile, rebellious cop on the trail of arms dealer Johnny Wong (Anthony Wong). At the same time, the film follows the ascent of Triad hitman Long (Tony Leung) as Johnny tries to tempt him away from his comfortable gangster lifestyle. As the two men cross paths in a series of escalating encounters, Tequila finds help in the most unlikely of places, as his investigations lead him to Johnny’s main arsenal, hidden underneath the local hospital. It all culminates in an audacious, extended assault that remains one of the most technically astonishing action sequences ever put to film.
At the time of release, Tony Leung was still best known as a television star, trading off his matinee idol good looks – he’d already worked with Wong Kar Wai and Hou Hsiao Hsien but was yet to cement his reputation as one of Hong Kong cinema’s great screen actors. Here, he’s given the film’s most interesting, nuanced role – one that developed and evolved during production into something a lot more memorable than a stock hitman, and bears more than a passing resemblance to his later role in Infernal Affairs. His dynamic with Chow is one of Woo’s most compelling relationships – a wary, tenuous alliance built on a grudging respect rather than anything overly sentimental. This dynamic has aged much better than the male relationships depicted in The Killer and A Better Tomorrow, largely due to the emotional shading the two actors bring to their roles.
Yun-Fat, meanwhile, is in full movie-star mode. Tequila is very much a throwback to the likes of Dirty Harry and Bullitt, and clearly relishes leaning into the maverick cop archetype. At this stage in the careers of both Chow and Woo, they were both aware this would likely be their last time working together, and as such, they are both firing on all cylinders throughout – Chow even insisted on Woo taking an acting role as the local barman, so the two friends could share a scene. Chow infuses Tequila with warmth and humour that perfectly balance the two sides of his character: the cheeky, irreverent cop and the hard-boiled detective. He switches from flippant to furious in a heartbeat, and most importantly, he understands the film’s tonal elasticity, leaning into the comedy without ever undercutting the stakes.
Among the villains, Anthony Wong brings a flamboyant, almost theatrical energy to Johnny Wong, but is much more effective in his quieter moments, when he’s allowed to be subtly charming and less overtly villainous. In any case, he was much better deployed on the other side of the law in Infernal Affairs. Most memorable is Philip Kwok’s Mad Dog, perhaps the best henchman of any Woo film, and making a good case for the most efficient film henchman of all time. He’s competent, intimidating, with a real physical presence, and at the same time, he has a real moral backbone that sets him apart from his boss. Kwok was the stunt co-ordinator of the film, and only found himself with a role very late in production, which is mad, considering he’s one of the most memorable parts of the film. He gives the character a physical credibility that makes his presence genuinely intimidating – he’s also effortlessly cool, lighting a cigarette with the flame from a burning car, in what seems like a nod to A Better Tomorrow.
Hard Boiled shows John Woo firing on all cylinders. Every action set-piece is faultless and overflowing with creativity. Rather than build to the epic showdown, Woo fills his film with equally ambitious shootouts, each one distinct. The Teahouse shootout that opens the film is a masterclass in carefully choreographed chaos, demonstrating Woo’s film logic (Tequila half sliding down the bannister looks cool but makes very little sense in reality); the audacious warehouse sequence is a real testament to what can be achieved with a dedicated stunt team; and the climactic hospital siege is simply staggering. Shot with an intensity that borders on the surreal, it’s relentless, ending with a famous uninterrupted take as Tequila and Long clear a number of floors of the various triads. And that’s not even mentioning the babies. All together, it demonstrates a level of logistical ambition that still feels unmatched.
Since I’ve gone the whole review without mentioning “bullet ballets,” I should probably do so now. Woo’s films are often labelled with this term, and you can see how it applies to something like The Killer, with the graceful, tightly choreographed assassination sequences, but Hard Boiled feels much more frenetic and gritty. The shootouts use slow-motion, but it’s much more immersive – you marvel at the scale of the stunts and the pyrotechnics, but generally speaking, you’re not able to stand back and admire the choreography; you’re pulled into the mayhem, overwhelmed by the sheer scale and velocity of it all.
Hard Boiled is just about a perfect action film. There’s not a line wasted, not a superfluous scene. It might be John Woo‘s best film, but at the same time, it represents a kind of endpoint, his last truly great film. After this, Woo would head to Hollywood, and while those films have their admirers, he never quite attained this precise balance of action, emotion, and sheer cinematic ambition. This excellent restoration enhances detail and clarity without sacrificing the gritty, early-90s texture that gives the film its personality. It’s difficult to imagine a more definitive edition of a truly iconic film, one where everyone involved is operating at the peak of their abilities.
Special Features
Arrow has really gone all out with this release, which is absolutely crammed with special features and commentaries, including:
Two newly recorded audio commentaries, featuring John Woo, journalist Drew Taylor and film historian Frank Djeng; two previously recorded commentaries with John Woo, Terence Chang, Dave Kehr and director Roger Avary; plus a second disc full of featurettes, including newly filmed interviews with John Woo, Anthonu Wong, Terence Chang, screenwriters Gordon Chan and Chan Hing-Ka and composer Michael Gibbs. As well as this, there are academic retrospectives of the film from writers and experts Grady Hendrix, Leon Hunt, and Lin Feng, and a Q&A with Woo.
Finally, there are several older features, such as an archival documentary featuring interviews with the cast and crew, and the usual selection of deleted scenes and trailers.
★★★★★
On UHD Blu-ray from March 30th / Chow Yun Fat, Tony Leung, Anthony Wong, Phillip Kwok / Dir: John Woo / Arrow Entertainment, Paramount Pictures / 18
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