DVD
REVIEW: Hard Boiled
07/27/07
You can always tell when
you’re watching a John Woo film. The man has style and it
oozes out like cool vibrations from most of his films.
Hard-Boiled, the last film directed by Woo in his native
Hong Kong, has been re-issued as a two disc ultimate DVD
edition for a whole new generation to enjoy. Although for an
ultimate edition, one would think it would have an endless
number of extras, but it does not. Nevertheless, the movie
alone is enough to go out and get this DVD.
In Hard-Boiled, Tequila Yuen (Chow Yun-Fat) is a cop trying
to break up a gun smuggling ring. The film opens with
Tequila and his partner at a teahouse investigating a gun
smuggling deal in progress. In an effort to apprehend the
arms dealers, a shootout ensues and Tequila’s partner is
killed. Tequila’s vows revenge and sets out, without his
superintendent Pang (Philip Chan) consent, to take on the
gun smuggling ring on his own terms. He teams up with Alan
(Tony Leung) an undercover cop who doesn’t know if he’s a
cop or a gangster. Alan, in order, to gain access to a
bigger and bolder arms dealer is asked to kill his current
mob boss, Uncle Hoi. In a classic John Woo style warehouse
scene, Alan kills Uncle Hoi and his cohorts further
distancing him from the cop he is suppose to be. It all
cumulates in a 30 minute action sequence spectacular at
Maple Hospital that will leave you gasping for air.
Chow Yun-Fat is incredible as Tequila portraying the men
whose only comfort is his clarinet which he plays at a place
called The Jazz Club run by Woo himself. Woo also captures a
wonderful performance from Tony Leung who plays that man who
doesn’t quite know where his alliance lies. The movie
features some of the most stylized fight sequence ever seen
on film. The slow motion scenes which can usually appear
tacky resonate with cool. My only problem with the movie:
the ending The fighting seems to go on and on; yeah it was
cool, but for a moment you almost forget what movie you’re
watching.
VIDEO:
LetterBox Widescreen Format
AUDIO:
English/Cantonese 5.1 Cantonese DTS, English Mono
Subtitles English, Spanish, English SDH
BONUS FEATURES:
DISC 1:
Feature Length Audio Commentary By Hong Kong Cinema
Expert Bey Logan
DISC 2:
A Baptism Of Fire: A Featurette With Iconic
Director, John Woo
Partner In Crime: An Interview With Producer,
Terence Chang
Art Imitates Life: An Interview With Co-Star,
Philip Chan
Hard Boiled Location Guide
Mad Dog Bites Again: An Interview With Leading
Villain, Kwok Choi
Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer & US Promotional Trailer
Mini-Making of the video game Stranglehold
RATING BREAK DOWN:
| FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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| BONUS
FEATURES |
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Review
By Brad Peterson
brad@smartcine.com
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