Rating: 
Summary: Very Good Movie - Disappointing Sound
Review: I pretty much enjoyed this movie... I love action movies and the bodycount in this one is the highest i've ever seen ! BUT what have they done to the sound ? It's just DD 1.0 (ONE POINT ZERO ! )... You see all those people firing with their guns and all the sound just comes from one channel...pretty disappointing ! But nevertheless it's worth a buy...go get it !
Rating:
Summary: .
Review: Truly the epitome of gunfight-oriented action films, the stuntwork and choreography of this film are visually stunning. However, on the whole, this is not nearly as inspired and nuanced as Woo's best film, The Killer, and Chow-Yun Fat's character seems underdeveloped and watered down here. Given that Woo's only real strengths are his action sequences anyway, this film is plenty acceptible, in an incredibly over-the-top way, but I prefered the cheesy pulp melodrama and clever situations that made the Killer a silly but balanced and engaging work of art.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard Boiled Equals High Bodycount
Review: Take the combined bodycount total of all of the Friday the 13th series, Rambo II & the entire Halloween series add them together and Hard Boiled still has more kills. Has anyone ever took the time to count? Must easily be 250+ kills in this film. Seriously though, superb gun fights (as you would expect from John Woo), excellent acting on Chow-Yun's part and a villian who will kill just about anyone but refuses to utter a single word of profanity make for a great film.
Rating:
Summary: John Woo's "Hard Boiled" is easily one of his best.
Review: Audacious and red-blooded, hyperviolent and exciting, "Hard Boiled" is the tale of "Tequila" Yuen, a cop determined to take down murderous arm dealers led by Johnny Wong(Anthony Wong). But what "Tequila"(The excellent Chow-Yun Fat) doesn't know is that undercover cop Alan Tony(Tony Leung) is siding with the arm dealers to trap them as well. Hong Kong is about to become a war zone, and it's up to Tequila and Tony to save the city. Almost everything in this thriller is great. The cast is decent, but it's Fat who once again overwhelms everyone else, both physically and emotionally. Nevertheless, Leung is convincing as the cop stuck between good and bad, and stunt coordinator Phillip Kwok steals the show as a ruthless henchman. The action scenes are explosive; the best gunfights are set in a teahouse, a warehouse, and most unbelievable of all, a hospital! Director Woo has never been better with camera angles and pace. He gives true meaning to the word "thrill-seeker!" The movie's only true weakness lies in the script; you might want to watch the film again to understand some confusing plot points. Nevertheless, "Hard Boiled" is 5-star material. Once you see it, it may not be the same again. If you want to purchase the movie, buy the Criterion DVD or the Fox Lorber VHS version; other tapes contain edited sequences that may disappoint.
Rating: 
Summary: Some of the best shoot outs ever
Review: How about an ambush of rival gangs with an incredible cavalry attack on motorcycles armed with uzi's? Then the opening sequence with Chow Yun Fat (The only actor alive who looks like he actually knows how to use a gun) sliding down a railing with both 45's blazing. Or the final hospital shoot out that never ends. Die Hard pales in comparison. However, I gave it only three stars because the plot is so typically Hollywood. I like Chinese cinema because the endings and plot twists are interesting, different from Western flicks and aren't quite as predictable. It is obvious that Woo had already gone Hollywood here. I agree with an earlier reviewer...I prefer subtitled version. For Chow Yun Fat fans check out HONG KONG 1941. An excellent story of love and sacrifice when the Japanese invade Hong Kong. Chow turns in a specacular performance and the story, while intense at times offers another view of WWII without Americans.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning!
Review: Not John Woo's best film - I'd give that honor to "The Killer" myself, for a fitting combination of style and plot. The biggest problem with this one is the plot is a little on the thin side. However, the action choreography of this film is just simply amazing. John Woo has a knack for filming an action sequence, and it shows up the best in this film. Frankly, aside from perhaps a couple Jackie Chan films like "Police Story", I don't think any other film coming from Hong Kong has influenced American action films so much. If you look at films like "The Matrix" and then view this film, you'll definitely see where the inspiration came from.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome film.
Review: By far the best scene is the one where Chow Yun-Fat is about to short-circuit the doors in the hopital basement. He wedges a bullet into the electrical wiring, backs away and aims his gun at the bullet, with the intent to short out the wiring. Steady, steady .... but his hand's shaking from holding his gun up to aim. He drops his gun, shakes himself, raises the gun quickly and BOOM. Priceless.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: While I love it just for the fact all these action scenes are absolutely amazing, I find it to be still Woo's laziest effort. Usually he has a story and usually he has character, but not here. There was nothing to keep interest when nothing was blowing up. It was only when the mayhem occured that the film actually moves along. I am not a big fan of the movie, but I recommend it just for the last 30-45 minutes of the film, which is nothing but a big shoot-out. I'm surprised Woo was able to carry it out that long, and not get (too) repetitive. If you love the film, get the Criterion disc. The extras are well worth it!!!
Rating:
Summary: A highly-entertaining action blitz
Review: If all this movie had was its "teahouse" scene, it would still rate as one of the most exciting action films ever. The fact that there are a few other amazing sequences makes this a "must" for any fan of action movies. I don't even consider myself a real fan of such movies and I loved this one.
Rating:
Summary: The best action in any US-released John Woo movie
Review: While I haven't seen Bullet In The Head or Once a Thief, I have seen A Better Tommorow, A Better Tommorow 2, The Killer, Broken Arrow, Hard Target and Face/Off. The best action sequences of any US release are in this one. They are also by far the longest (this is, I believe, a little over two hours with around 1 hour and 15 minutes of action). Oddly, the first one is arguably the best. The ending scenes are incredible, especially one 15 minute single cut! I have no idea how many times they must of had to reshoot that! If you look here, you'll notice alot of scenes which his later movies seem to rip. Maybe he's running out of ideas? The ending scene of A Better Tommorow 2 arguably is better, not to mention a lot more varied, but in this one the bad guys aren't totally worthless so it makes it a bit more interesting. Only thing wrong with the opening is that Tequila's berettas apparently have unlimited ammo.. This is a recurring problem in a few of Woo's movies, though Face/Off doesn't seem to have it. Of course, he only uses handguns in the opening scene and a brief boat scene. One of the best things about this movie is due to it's variety of gore spectacles, they CAN'T cut it, the continuity would make it unwatchable.
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