What is the best movie of the classic, hardboiled detective, film noir genre. The film s audacious second half takes place almost entirely within the confines of a hospital, where johnny wongs gang offs much of the patient population. Its a brilliant illustration of what can be done in movies overseas, and what is completely forbidden to show in. Also like many of john woos hong kong pictures, it. In hardboiled 1992, chow yunfat is on the other side of the law, playing a.
Yunfat portrays a maverick, clarinetplaying cop nicknamed tequila. The hospital finale required three units to film continuously. Hard boiled 1992 is literally john woos best hong kong action film ever made of all time. More than a copsandbadguys story, hard boiled continually startles with originality and. If youre that kind of viewer, the score i would give for you for hardboiled is a 6. Way back when, before john woo was making shootemups stateside, before hong kong became property of china once again, and before chow yunfat tried to prove to the world that he knows how to speak english with the boring the replacement killers, we were granted a really cool cultclassic action flick named hard boiled. The films director ben wheatley last directed free fire and high rise. His hard target 1993 the first major hollywood film to be made by a. Its first issue was published by dark horse comics in 1990.
It was published by american company dark horse comics in 19901992. What distinguishes hard boiled from other woo films is the symbiosis between movement and morality. And while they dont technically fit the traditional mould, some runners up for me include sin city and blade runner. Hard boiled is the work of john woo, who, in his mid40s, is being celebrated by a number of critics here and abroad as the new master of the action film genre. A better tomorrow 1986, the killer 1989 and hardboiled. Hardboiled 1992 john woo synopsis, characteristics. If youre a fan of steven spielbergs hit film ready player one, i get it. How the lego movie was ready player one first, and. On the surface its hard to hate on the idea of a film packed with nostalgic callouts to old pop culture. Hard boiled hits the action beats hard when it gets to them, but invests more thought and energy into character work and genre deconstruction than it tends to get credit for. A stunning feast of hyperbolic action sequences including a climactic sequence in an entire hospital taken hostage, hardboiled is a rare treat for fans of the action genre, with sequences as thrilling and intense as any ever committed to film. A laserdisc edition of hard boiled was released by the criterion collection in december 1995.
I saw hard boiled in 1993, and was an immediate convert. The film established wong as one of the finest actors in the hong kong movie industry. However, when i actually saw the film, i was completely entranced. Everything you need to know about hard boiled movie. The american hardboiled detective film began to appear in the early 1940s, providing an alternative to the traditional murder mystery that had dominated detective films throughout the silent era and into the 1930s. In 1993, dark horse compiled and released the series in a 128page trade paperback isbn 1878574582. Elder, university press of mississippi, october 2005. John woos 1992 action film hard boiled has some of the most exciting choreographed action sequences ever put on camera. Joe doesnt believe that humpty, the new neighborhood watch captain, accidentally fell from the wall. I started collection up all the resources for stuff at the start of the year and it has been a mega project. Leider muss ich aber auch gestehen, dass man sich diese bzw.
The films audacious second half takes place almost entirely within the confines of a hospital, where johnny wongs gang offs much of the patient. The stories are generally set in the united states and the protagonists are usually solitary, with a strong moral code. The film jurassic park, a dinosaur epic with massive special effects, breaks boxoffice records by becoming the highestgrossing film ever made at the time. Hard boiled is a criticallyacclaimed action film by john woo, starring chow yunfat in his slightly younger years.
Impossible ii 2000, windtalkers 2002, and paycheck 2003. Probably everybody who reads these words has already seen hard boiled. Hong kongs john woo again shows he is one of the premier. Hard boiled received wide release in the united kingdom on 8 october 1993. In 2007, he went back to china to direct his twopart epic period film red cliff 2008 and red cliff ii 2009 and.
Violence as poetry, rendered by a masterbrilliant and passionate, john woos hard boiled tells the story of jaded detective tequila yuen played with controlled fury by action superstar chow yunfat. Firstly, this to me this and the killer, are the definitive john woo films. While many film geeks have seen hard boiled, it can be typically. Hardboiled is the work of john woo, who, in his mid40s, is being celebrated by a number of critics here and abroad as the new master of the actionfilm genre. There was once a time when very few people stateside had seen the film, and those who had were rabid fans of it. Lindsay lohan gets run down again in grand theft auto. Im currently working on versions of both the killer and hard boiled. The primary questions on this appeal are whether an avatar that is, a graphical representation of a person, in a video game or like media may constitute a. The film based loosely on richard connells 1924 short story the most dangerous game and set in new orleans stars jeanclaude van. Best hardboiled crime novels hardboiled crime novels are realistic and usually feature a tough private eye.
Theyve been making a deal, but a couple of supercops have shown up to bust them, and theyre just trying to escape. The killer, released in 1989, is what many fans and critics consider to be woos masterpiece, but i actually think his other imported cult classic, hardboiled, is the directors best film before crossing over to the states. A few minutes into hard boiled, john woos 1992 masterpiece, two gunrunners attempt to flee from one of those hong kong teahouses where people carry birdcages. Frank miller and geof darrow won the 1991 eisner award for best writerartist for this series. Such applications of film methodologies and theories to video games has met both.
Hardboiled or hardboiled fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction especially detective fiction and noir fiction. Connelly in 1993 where they talked about woos first american film hard target. Everyone remembers the big setpiecesthe teahouse, the warehouse, the hospitalbut even within those spectacular shootemups, woo is a capable of scoring a few. Man muss aber sagen, dass bereits 1993 sein stern als. The criterion collectionhome vision as a cop, he has brains, brawn, and an instinct to kill. The production of hard boiled went well over budget and over the time allocated for the shooting. From there, he made his first american film hard target 1993 and continued with broken arrow 1996, faceoff 1997, mission. They even play a duet on the chinese zither called the guqin, harmonizing perfectly. The story revolves around inspector yuen trying to bust the gang that killed his friend in the restaurant at the start of the movie led by anthony wong as johnny wong. A look at the hard boiled behindthescenes crew and production team. The film stars chow yunfat as inspector tequila yuen, tony leung chiuwai. Every ingredient of the quintessential woo thriller is present, including his everpresent antihero chow yunfat. In fact ive seen so many copy or even steal scenes from hard boiled its embarrassing. Phillip chungfung kwok in hard boiled 1992 yunfat chow in hard boiled 1992 hard.
Its outside of that golden era of hollywood noir, but chinatown tops my list. The genres typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence of organized crime that flourished during prohibition 19201933 and its aftermath, while dealing with a legal system that has become as corrupt as. A second region 1 dvd of the film was released by fox lorber. Trailer for john woos film starring chow yun fat, tony leung, teresa mo, philip chan, philip kwok, anthony wong chausang, hoishan. Hard boiled being the one im working on more closely at the moment. The film that put director john woo on the map, hard boiled is practically a ballet of bullets, and the results are completely awesome. Im sorry, but as long as hard target and face off are around, theyll always be the tops. This was a group of hong kong action films that replaced the traditional. John woos films focus on male bonding, as well as blood the. Interviews conversations with filmmakers series, robert k. Damme for his first american thriller, hard target.
These films represented an artistic effort to break the rules of the game laid down by countless movies about sherlock. Ein jahr bevor john woo 1993 sehr zum leidwesen vieler fans nach hollywood wechselte, drehte er mit hard boiled seinen letzten hongkongfilm. Trailer for john woos film starring chow yun fat, tony leung, teresa mo, philip chan, philip kwok, anthony wong chausang, hoishan kwan, wei tung, bowie lam, meng lo, bobbie auyeung. Hardboiled is the last film directed by hong kong action auteur john woo before his arrival in the u. Which makes me wonder if this would be a real sequel to hard boiled, or a standalone film which could function as a sequel to hard boiled in an alternative universe where the first film took. Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off. Hard boiled is a threeissue comic book miniseries written by frank miller and drawn by geof darrow. Lashou shentan is a 1992 hong kong action film directed by john woo. Too bad, because after viewing the directors cut of the film, it is apparent that target is a worthy film in woos filmography, fitting in. If youre the average imdb reader, you probably enjoy a good action movie every now and then, but you approach action films with a certain caution and skepticism i cant blame you, even though i am an action junkie myself. Er war woos letzte hongkongproduktion, bevor er nach hollywood ging, ehe. Rumble in the bronx 1995 one of jackie chans earliest hollywood roles after making it huge in china, rumble in the bronx is nonstop fights and laughs from start to finish. Every now and then the genre offers up a film so amazing that i begin to question why i dont like more action packed, ass kicking movies.
Hard boiled chinese is a 1992 hong kong action thriller film written by barry wong. Fans of action films will remember him as the villain in john woos heroic bloodshed epic hard boiled and he has appeared in more mainstream film fare such as the medallion with jackie chan. Has a sequel in the form of a game called stranglehold, also produced by woo. I first became aware of john woos work with the release of hard target in 1993. No bullets fly in john woos film red cliff, but the heat of battle can still be felt. Hard boiled is my number 1 favorite hong kong john woo action film that i love to death. Hard boiled is considered john woos best film, something i disagree with. What really happened to humpty from the files of a hardboiled detective is a childrens mystery book suitable for a thirdgrade classroom, told from the perspective of humpty dumptys brother joe. Third the ending was completely over the top as a gang takes over a hospital and guns down people as they try to escape. The film based loosely on richard connells 1924 short story the most dangerous game and set in. Family romance film sleepless in seattle revives the genre of the courtship of eddies father, with an extensive soundtrack of oldies music. What really happened to humpty from the files of a hard. A region free dvd of hard boiled was released by the criterion collection on 10 july 1998.
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