Rating: 
Summary: The Best Action movie ever made.
Review: ...John Woo is the number-one action director in Hong Kong and the U.S.A. and this long and violent cop movie shows why. The story is a little like Woo's big hit THE KILLER but with Chow Yun-Fat in the Danny Lee role. Fat plays a cop called Tequila whose new mission is to halt the operation of a gun smuggling ring. Tony Leung is a hit man who's really an undercover cop who does not know if he is good or bad. The rest is nonstop shootout scenes (at a hospital, a cave, a warehouse and a restaurant). This is Woo's best and cloud be the best action movie ever made (from Hong Kong). If you wath a good action movie then get HARD BOILED.1992. Fox Lorber. 130 MINS (Cut To 126 minutes). Un-rated. Contains Strong Scenes Of Extreme Violence and Action, and Some Language.
Rating: 
Summary: ANOTHER SHOOT-EM UP CLASSIC
Review: Although "The killer" has to be my favourite John Woo film, this one comes a very close second. It also stars Chow Yun Fat playing an almost identical character, except that this time he's on the right side of the law - a cop named Tequila. Ruthless but with a sensitive side (renegade cop by day, musician by night) he's soon on the trail of a gang of gun smugglers. It's a fairly simple story, with just enough of a plot to sustain the viewer in between the epic gun fights and action sequences which are stunning enough to eclipse even those in "The killer". When Tequila's partner is killed during the first of many spectacular shoot-outs, he vows revenge. And after that there's so much action you soon lose count of the exploding cars, never mind the bodies and bullets. Again the film features an alliance between the main character and somebody who first appears as an enemy (a gangster who turns out to be an undercover cop) and you won't be disappointed by the apocalyptic showdown at the end. Another shoot-em up classic!
Rating: 
Summary: Hard Boiled or Bloody Side Up
Review: As viewers of this type of film, you are part of a huge and wonderful cult. The film is ultra-bloody, violent and active. It is what you'd expect from John Woo, a serious action film without the budget he later had for FACE/OFF and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2. Now, if you are not a big fan of these action movies, then this film will be an aggravating, mindless two hours of your life. You'll gripe that in the films world, a gun clip lasts a hundred shots before it ever needs to be changed, Every major artery can be severed and still not do someone in, and the villainous crew of seven will suddenly number in the hundreds by the end of the film. A Chinese film, many of the subtitles are inaccurate, even as far as calling a main charcter Alan for the first half an hour and then he becomes Tony for the rest of the film (Tony is the actors real name). But still, these films are brought here for the art of violence that John Woo does so well. The DVD has a pretty gruesome transfer and the mono soundtrack leaves a lot to be desired.
Rating:
Summary: review for hard boiled by fresh at highsckoo
Review: now, this movie was great. one of john woo's classic again. but i believe that 'the killer' was way better. storyline was very not so creative. chow yun fat as a cop, tony leung as a hitman (really is an undercover cop). but action was awesome. ending wasnot so bad. i say watch this film first before u wath the killer because the killer is better. but this movie is stil one of my favorite " give him a gun he's a superman, give him two he's god!"
Rating:
Summary: WOO'S WOO
Review: HARD BOILED is the last movie directed by John Woo in Hong-Kong, his native country. And the movie is a dazzling testament of this director who did more for the recognition of the cinema of Asia than Akira Kurosawa, Satiajit Ray and Kenji Mizoguchi together. Like these masters, John Woo is a writer-director, like these masters, John Woo explores the particular moral codes of his people in his films but unlike these masters, he specialized in a genre that is usually not the cup of tea of the intelligentsia : the action movie. The Cinema of John Woo is the cinema of the last frontier. John Woo's movies are modern westerns without deserts or glorious landscapes, his movies are claustrophobic : there are more guns, more bad guys, more policemen stuck in Woo's saloons than in the whole movie production of John Ford and Howard Hawks. And when all these guys begin to shoot, John Wayne or Gary Cooper wouldn't have had the slightest chance against them. Because the John Woo hero, in order to survive, needs more than a star on his chest or God's benediction. He must cross the frontier. He must cross a frontier, Law, Honor, Self-respect, Friendship, make your choice. The character of Allan, played by a great Tony Leung, is the perfect example of the impersonation of a John Woo hero ; he's working for the Hong-Kong police, he's an insider and should follow the moral codes, written or not, of his employer. But, in order to survive, he will have to kill in cold blood his aging boss. He has crossed the frontier but in the same time saved his own life. For the time being. The Criterion DVD is superb with a handful of trailers of John Woo's movies, commentaries and other bonus features. A must. A DVD zone out of stock.
Rating:
Summary: Die Hard in Hong Kong
Review: Explosive action and adrinlene pumping rush in John Woo's High uptain final farewell film with spectacular endless gunfights and herionic-bloodshed witch was inspired by the creators of Desporado, Last Man Standing and The Matrix. A die-hard hong Kong cop Tequila (Chow-Yun-Fat)take on arms deals that then explodes into a bloody shoot-out at a teahouse with his partner getting brutaly gunned-down by a gun totting hitman sent by the arms mafia leader Johnny Wong a mob kingpin who will kill anyone who gets in his way. Tequila later encounters a undercover cop (Tony Leung)doing deeds for johnny wong and bond together to take down wong arms operation in a local hospital. HARD BOILED is a wildly outragous,bloody and ultra-violent film wich doesn't let up the plot line in the film. The gunfights in the teahouse, the gun garage, and the hospital turn out to a one-film-trilogy which Chow Yun Fat himself is a one man die-hard. Jonn Woo delivers spectacular action and suspenses in his highly uptain film witch ending sequences in the hospitl is just like the bloody shoot-out from the action packed A Better Tommorow II witch is woo's best film ever. The dvd version of HARD BOILED has a better video transfer the the vhs does so perchus the dvd for better tansfers.
Rating:
Summary: The most insane action film I've ever seen
Review: I used to think "What's so great about this Chow Yun Fat guy? If he's so great, why haven't I seen any of his movies?" Well, soon after I said that to myself, I saw this movie. "Oh, THAT'S why this guy is so cool." With body counts rivaling big budget war movies, "Hard Boiled" could possibly be the best embodiment of the pure action film ever made. Right from the opening scene, the movie not only puts up a body count higher than most U.S. action films, but starts a frenzied pace and pretty much never lets up. Sure, the story can be confusing and isn't exactly award winning stuff, which isn't a trademark of the Fat man with him usually starring in action/dramas, but it's good enough to keep you held over during the few parts in between action scenes. Besides, the story isn't the main focus anyways. You could watch the movie on mute and still enjoy it, the action is so good. The first time you watch it, you're saying "My God, how many bullets can really be shot and how many people can die in one place?" but the second time you see it, you really appreciate the detail in the scene's. Every bullet shot, splinters from a box fly around, paper's fly in the air, cups break, windows shatter, a hole goes in the table, someone falls to the floor. Every bullet (And there's a lot) seems to make something happen, no matter how small a happening it is. It's some of the most artistic action I've seen filmed. As far as the actual DVD goes, while there's not a whole ton of extras, there is commentary by John Woo, which is good. Besides, most VHS tapes I see of this movie have terrible quality pictures, so getting the DVD version is worth it. Simply put, if you're an action fan, you will enjoy this movie, period, and every John Woo and Chow Yun Fat movie you see after it you'll expect more of this in it. Like I said earlier, this movie could be the best pure action movie ever made.
Rating:
Summary: The best action film ever!!!
Review: This film is amazing. Non-stop action for more than 2 hours, with superstar Chow Yun-Fat and the unique style of John Woo's direction. The DVD edition has good picture quality, but the sound is mono. Using my Receiver in stereo mode (surround turned off) makes the sound a little better, but a Dolby Digital or Pro-Logic conversion would make the film even better. Any way, this is the best action film I've ever seen, and I'm really happy to have it on my DVD collection. I recommend it absolutely!!!!
Rating:
Summary: "Hard Boiled" Action
Review: If you have seen "The Killer", this is probably another John Woo/Chow Yun-Fat movie you would want to check out. Tequila (Chow Yun-Fat) plays a sax playing hard boiled cop who battles it out with the HK triads. The shoot out with Tequila and HK mobsters at the tea house is extraordinarily violent, yet poetic in execution, which is what I love about Woo films. Tequila teams up with Alan (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), an undercover cop posing as a gangster, and they both almost single handedly duke it out, guns blazing and all, with the triads. The final gun battle, with many casualties, in the hospital was just mind blowingly violent that it leaves you stunned with eyes glued to the screen. In many ways this movie is more violent than "The Killer", though lacking it's emotional charge and poetic symbolism. This film is one of the highlights of John Woo's career as a director and Chow Yun-Fat as a heroic bloodshed cult hero.
Rating:
Summary: Great Action -- Good Plot
Review: The strength of this movie is that it takes a while for everything to become clear, due to the motivations of the characters. The gun battles in the meantime are essential John Woo. The opening teahouse battle is fast, yet coherent. A lot of cuts aren't necessary to make it look interesting. The plotting and moral dilemmas are well-written. The antagonistic police superintendant, who seems a dunderhead at first, then probably a crooked cop second, becomes an essential piece of the whole puzzle instead of just an obstacle. The 'Mad Dog' badguy wasn't just a two-dimensional thug, as his death illustrates. John Woo's skill as a great action director are firmly cemented here. Where 'The Killer' got tedious and silly at times, 'Hard Boiled' shows great fighting as well as writing on all levels.
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