Hard Boiled (1992/Dragon Dynasty/Vivendi Blu-ray)

Picture: B     Sound: B     Extras: C     Film: B+

 

Tequila (Chow Yun-Fat) is an old fashion cop, after the death of his partner is hell-bend on bringing those responsible to justice.  Unafraid he doesn't care if he has to single handedly kill every single of mobster by himself and break all the rules, he ignores his chiefs orders and goes on the warpath, but as he brings down the dirt bags one by one he discovers and another undercover cop masquerading a mob hit man.  Together they'll put an end to the entire Triad by themselves in John Woo’s action classic Hard Boiled.
 
Tequila is an over worked, hard boiled cop, tired of his superintendent excuses and all the red tape he decides to go after the mob with guns blazing, and he isn't taking any prisoners.  Meanwhile a deep cover cop is trying to bring down the mob from the inside, but when their paths cross both realize the gun runner's shipments are on the move and the time for talk is over.  From a public teahouse to a secret stash house beneath a hospital, epic gun battles ensue to bring the whole building down.
 
Legendary superstar Chow Yun-Fat brings one of cinema's greatest gun battles in action movies ever.  Each bullet shot will cause something to explode or someone to die, that there is an endless amount of bad guys and no shortages of bullets or body bags; it makes the O.K. Coral look like a Sunday at church.  Extras include audio commentary with various cinema experts, film location guide, making of its video game and trailer.

 

As for the 1080p 1.85 X 1 image and DTS HD-MA 5.1 lossless sound mix, they both are better than the DVD we reviewed at this link with another Woo release:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5757/John+Woo%E2%80%99s+Last+Hurrah

 

 

However, it is an older print and possibly HD master, yet this is as good as the film has been on home video to date, though more extras would be nice.  Otherwise, Woo fans should be happy for now.

 

 

-   Ricky Chiang