Hard Boiled 4K 1992 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

The Hong Kong police try to confront the triads controlling illegal arms trafficking. A policeman nicknamed Tequila decides to single-handedly neutralize the criminals and avenge his murdered partner.

Review 4K Movie

Hong Kong director John Woo, the main hope of Chinese comedy and later the best provider of high-quality Asian action films, gained incredible popularity after such films as the two parts of the trilogy “Right to Live,” “The Killer,” and “Bullet in the Head.” This popularity reached Hollywood, the center of world cinema. John was offered a job in America, and before leaving for the US, he decided to shoot his last film in Asia. That film was Hard Boiled, starring the main star of his action films, Chow Yun-Fat.

The most expensive Asian film at the time, thanks to its masterful production and direction, it looks simply stunning even in late 2009, when many innovations and technical solutions were introduced in action films. And this is the main advantage of Wu's films—he hardly uses computer effects and shoots everything on location: live filming, live actors, real explosions, and real pyrotechnics. John doesn't spare the scenery in his films, so every location where a shootout takes place becomes unrecognizable by the end of the episode: stairs are broken, walls are riddled with bullets, windows are shattered, and most importantly... there are mountains of corpses.

The corpses deserve a separate mention. Only in Woo's films does the number of corpses in the final credits exceed all conceivable and inconceivable limits: in his films, people die literally by the dozen, and the opening scene in the coffee shop alone eclipses almost all of his previous films combined. An incredibly memorable scene. And there will also be a shootout in the garage with motorcyclists, and of course, the final bloody massacre in the hospital. The final 30 minutes feel more like a war movie than a traditional police action movie, because there are enough shootouts and corpses here for a couple of war movies. The famous three-minute scene of a foot chase through a corridor, filmed without any editing, deserves the loudest applause, because it was probably extremely difficult for the filmmakers. If any part of the scene didn't work out, they had to reshoot EVERYTHING from the beginning.

The plot of the film is, of course, rather banal, and it lacks the drama inherent in the director's previous films. And the story itself is no longer about criminals, but about police officers fighting criminals. Fortunately, despite the change in concept, this did not affect the charisma of the main character. Inspector Tequila turned out to be a very memorable character, with his own unique personality traits and, of course, a straw in his mouth. It's no surprise that this character later got a sequel in the computer game Stranglehold.

Hard Boiled is a cult Asian action film, the quality of which is far ahead of its time, and it is still worth rewatching today. Yes, there is no drama or plot twists, but there is simply exemplary action and many memorable episodes that you will enjoy remembering later. With an unprecedented level of production for its time, this film has become a global classic of the genre, and it is highly recommended that you don't miss it.