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Submitted by cinemascope on Fri, 2006-05-19 13:42. :: Classic
Movie title:
Hard-Boiled
Starring:
Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung, Anthony Wong
Directed by:
John Woo
Written by:
Barry Wong
Genre:
Action/Thriller
Year:
1992
Country:
Hong Kong
Language:
Cantonese
Runtime:
126 minutes
Imdb:
Rating:
Synopsis
A maverick cop and an undercover agent team up to bring down a gun-running mobster.
A maverick cop and an undercover agent team up to bring down a gun-running mobster.
Review
The movie that set a benchmark for action movies over the next ten years features more gunplay and slow-motion than possibly any film prior to it. Watching it fourteen years later it can at times be difficult to remember how ground-breaking this movie was at the time, but whenever you see a Hollywood movie where the hero is shooting from a gun in each hand, or a villain is shot down in slow-motion through smoke and with a multitude of squibs exploding from his chest, the director of that sequence owes John Woo a drink. 'All-action' is a phrase invented for this kind of movie - the plot is almost irrelevant, the dialogue isn't prize-winning, but the action is jaw-dropping stuff, and seemingly never-ending: the hospital scene at the end shows Woo choreographing action at the peak of his powers as Chow Yun-Fat strides through the building, spraying bullets from a machine gun with one hand while he holds a baby under his arm with the other. As is often the case with ground-breaking movies, it's impact is diminished with time, but it's still a rollicking ride.
The movie that set a benchmark for action movies over the next ten years features more gunplay and slow-motion than possibly any film prior to it. Watching it fourteen years later it can at times be difficult to remember how ground-breaking this movie was at the time, but whenever you see a Hollywood movie where the hero is shooting from a gun in each hand, or a villain is shot down in slow-motion through smoke and with a multitude of squibs exploding from his chest, the director of that sequence owes John Woo a drink. 'All-action' is a phrase invented for this kind of movie - the plot is almost irrelevant, the dialogue isn't prize-winning, but the action is jaw-dropping stuff, and seemingly never-ending: the hospital scene at the end shows Woo choreographing action at the peak of his powers as Chow Yun-Fat strides through the building, spraying bullets from a machine gun with one hand while he holds a baby under his arm with the other. As is often the case with ground-breaking movies, it's impact is diminished with time, but it's still a rollicking ride.
