Movie Review: Hard Boiled/辣手神探

Let’s dispense with the obvious: Hard Boiled/辣手神探 is the story of a pair of cops, played by Chow Yun Fat and Tony Leung, who take on a gunrunner played by Anthony Wong.

It’s also a 2-hour firefight occasionally interrupted by a smattering of dialogue.

I first saw this movie in early 1993, at a midnight showing in one of those classic off-campus cinemas, you know, between the Army Navy store and the Indian restaurant, situated near the redheaded stepchild of the Ivy League.

I won’t say the name of the school, but it’s a color.

What I remember most about watching it was that for the first time I ever remembered, I was completely focused on a film and forgot I was sitting in a cinema.

I have the attention span of a meth-addicted chipmunk, so it was a revelation.

It’s easy to see how a movie like this could hold my attention.

Hard Boiled/辣手神探 was essentially John Woo’s job application for Hollywood.

He wanted to show just how capable he was at designing, executing, and filming action sequences.

What I really love about the action in  Hard Boiled/辣手神探 is the way the camera moves with the action.

It’s very complementary; it helps make the action more exciting and draws the viewer in closer.

While it may seem standard today, 20 years ago it was pretty exciting.

Chow Yun Fat plays Tequila, a cop who will stop at nothing to solve this case.

He definitely solves his problem, and he definitely makes a bigger one.

Anyone can have a shootout in a warehouse, but it takes a special kind of maniac to shoot up a hospital, a teahouse, and a yacht club.

Why do you think Sleeping Dogs has a hospital level?

It takes a special kind of director (and movie industry) to create a movie like this for less than 4 million US dollars.

For me, one of the great things about a lot of the older HK movies was the way that they could overcome their budgetary restrictions and essentially make a much better movie than they should have.

4 million dollars in Hollywood won’t pay the catering bill.

The other thing I really appreciate about the movie is that it has more to offer than just gunfights.

There are a number of themes and allegories in the film that appear repeatedly.

Loyalty, emigration, and Sinophobia中國恐懼症 (look it up) are worked into the narrative in noticeable but not obvious ways.

These themes were very prominent in HK people’s minds in 1993, and I think they’re starting to make a comeback these days.

If you’ve seen the movie already, I strongly encourage you to watch it without any subtitles at least once.

I attended a screening at the film festival a few years ago, and the print had no subtitles. I saw something I had never seen before. Try it.

While you’re at it, check out this Review Bonus: