With a title that brings to mind the film noirs of yesteryear, or, an egg for that matter, 1992’s Hard-Boiled is an action packed extravaganza from writer/director John Woo (his last bombastic Hong Kong feature before heading over to Hollywood).
With a score that often surprisingly leans to the jazzy side (composed by Michael Gibbs), providing a noirish vibe to be sure (the at-times harsh lighting does not hurt either), Woo actually originally set out to create some sort of unique cross between Dirty Harry and Bullitt (a self professed lover of Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen), and, if you amped the action up to eleven in both of these films, you’d have something along the lines of Hard-Boiled.
Set in Hong Kong, a city riddled with a dangerous criminal underworld, Inspector ‘Tequila’ Yeun (Yun-Fat Chow) is a cop with quite the bite. An all-out rebel (someone who lives on the edge and constantly ignores the orders of his superior), he is Clint Eastwood’s Harry Callahan combined with Yun-Fat’s own memorable style.
Opening with an impressive tea room sequence, intriguingly, Woo shot the introduction without having a story or script – the grand building, to be torn down in one week’s time, meant that they quickly improvised, developing a traumatic, shoot-em-up scene that fits nicely into the narrative that was only to be formalized afterwards.
The tale that they developed finds inspector Tequila investigating a criminal syndicate run by Johnny Wong (Anthony Chau-Sang Wong) – a mastermind who has been able to woo talented hit-man Alan (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung) from aging Triad boss, Uncle Hoi (Hoi-San Kwan), after being impressed by a hit he pulled in a library (a stylish shot where the blood pools around a book sitting on a table – leaving a jarringly empty space when it is removed by the killer).
Unbeknownst to nearly everyone, Alan is deep undercover, a tragic lone wolf who makes origami cranes to remind him of every person he has had to kill whilst living this disturbing double life. . . this echoes Tequila’s love for music – for each time a fellow officer falls in the line of duty, the man composes a piece of music to pay tribute to his comrade.
Eventually, the pair discover each other and join forces, two very different men against a menacing force to be reckoned with – Wong has an army of loyal henchmen, including Mad Dog (Phillip Chung-Fung Kwok) – a masterful murderer, who, despite his name, has a code of honour when it comes to those he kills. Leading towards a violently extravagant, elephantine gun battle in a hospital, the stakes are more than critical. . . will the two men be able to tackle this Bond-like number of baddies? Can the sick and innocent, unable to defend themselves, find safety surrounded by such violence? Could this action-packed film’s title actually be a sly reference to the fragility of life (or the soul) – so easily crushed despite our seemingly solid exterior?
A prime example of John Woo’s action style, he uses every tool imaginable to build a stylistic flick. Look for dramatizing slow motion, fantastical blood splatters, flashbacks (that bring back sad memories or demonstrate Tequila’s crime solving methods), realistic handheld camera work, and an uber-masterful two minute and forty-three second single take that brings our under-fire twosome through a hallway of baddies (their movements like an intricate dance), eventually reaching an elevator (shot on a single floor of a warehouse, the crew had to reset the carnage and change the furniture in a mere twenty seconds while the elevator doors closed and went nowhere. . . upon the doors reopening, it seems as though the pair are battling more villains on a new floor – ah, movie magic). With the actors giving their all, Leung got glass in his eye (the budget was not big enough to purchase safety glass) – forcing him to take a few days off; while Yun-Fat was forced to redo an explosion-packed sequence in which John Woo this time controlled the trigger. . . wanting it to look ultra-realistic, he set them off quite close to the actor (the man swearing and exclaiming, “John’s trying to kill me! John’s trying to kill me!”. . . after finishing, his hair and coat singed, he slammed his gun, screaming at Woo, “Are you happy now, you motherfucker”, then, like the true actor he is, asked, “Did it look okay?”).
With an ending that is somewhat reminiscent of Die Hard (the finale was actually changed due to the crew’s desperate pleadings – you will be able to guess once you see it), Hard-Boiled is a pure action film with a mind-boggling body count of 307 (and over 100,000 rounds of ammunition were used throughout production). Also, look for a small cameo by John Woo as Tequila’s mentor. So, don’t get egg on your face, make sure to take a shot and track down this cult classic. . . it is an action extravaganza that is easy to stomach.