"Give a guy a gun, he thinks he's Superman. Give him two and he thinks he's God."
In the early years of career, before moving to America and resigning to making Hollywood blockbusters, Chinese director John Woo played a crucial part in forming the Hong Kong action cinema genre. After dabbling in slapstick-comedies and directing several unsuccessful kung-fu films, sometimes collaborating with a young Jackie Chan, Woo exiled himself to Taiwan, wanting to rethink his career.
There, he was able to secure funding to film a pet project of his: 1986's “A Better Tomorrow”. The film was an instant hit and Woo consequentially returned to Hong Kong to continue working. “A Better Tomorrow” not only revived Woo's career, but also introduced him to rising star Chow Yun-Fat. Together, they would go on to make some of the best action films in cinema history.
In the early years of career, before moving to America and resigning to making Hollywood blockbusters, Chinese director John Woo played a crucial part in forming the Hong Kong action cinema genre. After dabbling in slapstick-comedies and directing several unsuccessful kung-fu films, sometimes collaborating with a young Jackie Chan, Woo exiled himself to Taiwan, wanting to rethink his career.
There, he was able to secure funding to film a pet project of his: 1986's “A Better Tomorrow”. The film was an instant hit and Woo consequentially returned to Hong Kong to continue working. “A Better Tomorrow” not only revived Woo's career, but also introduced him to rising star Chow Yun-Fat. Together, they would go on to make some of the best action films in cinema history.
1992's “Hard Boiled” represents the last effort of their collaboration, as Woo would subsequently move to America to make “Hard Target” with Jean-Claude Van Damme. The film, apart from being a fan-favourite and cult classic, is also arguably Woo's best film to date.
“Hard Boiled” utilises the progress made and expertise gained by Woo in his previous Chow Yun-Fat films and pushes the limits of what could be done in-camera at the time. Technically, the film stands as one of the best choreographed and shot action films in cinema history. One shot, especially, needs to be mentioned here:
The famous long take was done only once. The production had just run out of money and the cast and crew agreed to work overtime without pay, only for this one shot. The shot sees Yun-Fat's Inspector Tequila and Tony Leung's undercover cop Alan snake along the corridors of a hospital crawling with mobsters during the film's climactic battle. Escaping the flying bullets, Tequila and Alan take cover inside an elevator, where Alan begins to wonder whether he just accidentally shot a cop.
“Hard Boiled” utilises the progress made and expertise gained by Woo in his previous Chow Yun-Fat films and pushes the limits of what could be done in-camera at the time. Technically, the film stands as one of the best choreographed and shot action films in cinema history. One shot, especially, needs to be mentioned here:
The famous long take was done only once. The production had just run out of money and the cast and crew agreed to work overtime without pay, only for this one shot. The shot sees Yun-Fat's Inspector Tequila and Tony Leung's undercover cop Alan snake along the corridors of a hospital crawling with mobsters during the film's climactic battle. Escaping the flying bullets, Tequila and Alan take cover inside an elevator, where Alan begins to wonder whether he just accidentally shot a cop.
Tony Leung, another Woo regular, plays a disgraced police officer, who, in order to get a clean slate, agrees to infiltrate a mob and uncover a gun smuggling operation. Whilst in the mob, he is forced to act more and more like a criminal and soon begins to wonder about who he has become. Meanwhile, on the other side of the law, Tequila loses his partner in a violent shoot-out at a tea house. From there on, he is driven by a need for revenge.
Woo juxtaposes his two main characters to highlight their moral ambiguity, something which would a few years later be seen again in Michael Mann's “Heat”. The way in which Woo treats both his main characters the same, even though they work for different sides, makes the action scenes in the first half of the film even more hard-hitting, as we care for both sides to win and we know both sides will do anything to kill the other.
In the third act, when Tony and Tequila join forces, the result is that both characters can carry the action and the audience's sympathy. “Hard Boiled” is a unique action film, which stands out from all the other mediocre action fare, because it knows how to play with the viewer's allegiance and install a sense of danger into it's over-the-top action scenes. It is the perfect example of what Hong Kong action cinema can do.
By Movie Parliament Minister for History,
Leonhard Balk
Woo juxtaposes his two main characters to highlight their moral ambiguity, something which would a few years later be seen again in Michael Mann's “Heat”. The way in which Woo treats both his main characters the same, even though they work for different sides, makes the action scenes in the first half of the film even more hard-hitting, as we care for both sides to win and we know both sides will do anything to kill the other.
In the third act, when Tony and Tequila join forces, the result is that both characters can carry the action and the audience's sympathy. “Hard Boiled” is a unique action film, which stands out from all the other mediocre action fare, because it knows how to play with the viewer's allegiance and install a sense of danger into it's over-the-top action scenes. It is the perfect example of what Hong Kong action cinema can do.
By Movie Parliament Minister for History,
Leonhard Balk
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