Featured Audience Ratings

• Al S

  
  One of the greatest action movies ever made. A very stylish, pulse-pounding, unstoppable and unforgettable movie. Director, John Woo's action movie masterpiece. A bullet riddled classic in it's own right. The action sequences are spectacular, explosive, wild, outrageous and… More
  One of the greatest action movies ever made. A very stylish, pulse-pounding, unstoppable and unforgettable movie. Director, John Woo's action movie masterpiece. A bullet riddled classic in it's own right. The action sequences are spectacular, explosive, wild, outrageous and energetic. Chow Yun-fat is one of the greatest action movie hero's of all time, he plays with bullets as if they were candy and gives a sensational and terrific performance. Tony Leung gives a breakout performance, he is slick, stylish and very impressive in the role. They have great chemistry. Woo knows how to craft the story with characters that matter and make you compelled to follow them all the way through. An awesome adrenaline rush from start to finish. It's nothing but a good time from stat to finish. It's a two-hour roller-coaster ride that has your pulse-racing and heart-pounding all the way to to the end.

• xGary X

  
  A renegade cop teams up with an undercover agent to bring down a gun runner with a massive arms cache hidden in a local hospital. John Woo is pretty useless when it comes to anything but action, so it comes as little surprise that his best film by far includes very little else. And… More
  A renegade cop teams up with an undercover agent to bring down a gun runner with a massive arms cache hidden in a local hospital. John Woo is pretty useless when it comes to anything but action, so it comes as little surprise that his best film by far includes very little else. And action it has in spades! The now familiar tough guy cop clad in sunglasses and duster coat, leaping through the air in slow motion, twin pistols blazing has now passed into cliche, but Woo invented it. Woo's artistic take on action influenced everyone from James Cameron to the Wachowski brothers and Robert Rodriguez would probably be gainfully employed behind the counter of the nearest Taco Bell without this film. The action is non-stop and absurdly over the top, and if it weren't it wouldn't have worked half as well. It's true that the characters are total stereotypes, the dialogue corny and the action genre has certainly moved on since 1992, but like its contemporary martial arts films the lack of CGI and modern camera techniques gives it a rawness and physicality that's missing from today's equivalents. It's an exploitation flick cunningly disguised as a cop thriller and the combination of brilliantly choreographed violence (the extended takes of the hospital shoot out in particular) and super-cool leads makes for an unpretentious, action packed blast. The birth of the modern action movie.

• Adam K

  
  Whilst 'The Killer' may overshadow 'Hard Boiled', the film still punches its audience right in the chest, pulls them by the lapels into the story, and then doesn't let go until the very end. Powerful and punchy, whilst 'The Killer' is the best of… More
  Whilst 'The Killer' may overshadow 'Hard Boiled', the film still punches its audience right in the chest, pulls them by the lapels into the story, and then doesn't let go until the very end. Powerful and punchy, whilst 'The Killer' is the best of action films, the title for best action sequences ever, with extremely close competition from 'Seven Samurai' must go to this wonderful piece of cinema. Chow Yun Fat returns with Woo, this time as a cop, who following the death of his partner, wants revenge on the Triad gang who killed him. He teams up with Tony Leung, in his best screen role, apart from 'Bullet in the Head', an undercover cop who is more in tune with the Triads than his police allegiance. 'Hard Boiled' doesn't pretend to be a deep journey into certain themes, or a mysterious suspense story. It is an action film through and through with all the usual heroic bloodshed ideas and tone. But it still explodes like fireworks and is a great film to watch. Hollywood should sulk in shame at their level of action, compared to this import from the Hong Kong masters John Woo and Chow Yun Fat. Brilliant, stylised as always, brutal as always, honest as always, 'Hard Boiled' is a racing and bold affair.

• Graham J

  
  Only overshadowed by The Killer, John Woo is still in top form here.

• Cynthia S

  
  Ok. It's official. I am just not a John Woo fan.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"Give a guy a gun, he thinks he's Superman. Give him two and he thinks he's God."</i> A tough-as-nails cop teams up with an undercover agent to shut down a sinister mobster and his crew. <center><font size=+2 face="Century… More
  <i>"Give a guy a gun, he thinks he's Superman. Give him two and he thinks he's God."</i> A tough-as-nails cop teams up with an undercover agent to shut down a sinister mobster and his crew. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> A maverick Hong Kong detective is on the trail of some gun-running Triads, and gets mixed up with a dangerously unstable undercover cop who has infiltrated the mobsters. This is a love-it-or-loathe-it type of picture. Whilst the plot may be a little thin and the visuals occasionally veer wildly into pretension, this is undoubtedly the most stylish bullet-festival ever committed to celluloid. It has three stunning set-pieces; a shootout in a dim-sum restaurant, a shootout in a warehouse and an, er, shootout in a hospital. The hospital sequence, which lasts nearly an hour, is simply an amazing piece of action choreography, which tops anything done before or since. In one single two-and-a-half-minute tracking shot alone, Yun-Fat and Leung race down endless corridors, take a ride in an elevator, waste twenty-eight different bad guys along the way and act out a dramatic scene whilst doing it, stunning. Woo (who has an unbilled bit as a bartender) has an incredible eye for action, aided by top-notch stuntwork from Kwok, who also plays the aptly-named chief henchman, Mad Dog. Wang Wing-Heng's zippy, fluid camera-work and the groovy keyboard score by Michael Gibbs round off the perfect Cantonese gangster movie. Somehow, amid all the chaos, Yun-Fat and particularly Leung manage to lend some dramatic pathos to their roles. It's asking a lot of an actor, surrounded by villainous henchman in a burning hospital, to hold a shotgun in one hand and a baby in the other and sing it a rap lullaby, but Yun-Fat pulls it off!

• Chris W

  
  At the time of its release, this was John Woo's final Hong Kong film before making the move to Hollywood. He has since returned to the East within in the past couple of years, but that still doesn't diminish the fact that this was one doozy of a farewell, and just an… More
  At the time of its release, this was John Woo's final Hong Kong film before making the move to Hollywood. He has since returned to the East within in the past couple of years, but that still doesn't diminish the fact that this was one doozy of a farewell, and just an incredible action film period. The level of action rivals that of Woo's masterpiece The Killer, but this film might be a bit more ballsy and intense...and that's really saying something. What's keeping it from a full 5 though is that the story is not as strong and a little hard to follow at times, (it's kind of inconsequential anyways) and it doesn't have quite the emotional weight that makes the action and mayhem have greater resonance. The casting is decent and the performances are also not bad, but seem slightly lacking...maybe the thin plot has something to do with that? I mean, we do care about the characters, but maybe not as much as we should. There's some amazing action setpieces, and, even though this is hard for me to say, I think my favorite might be the long take sequence during one of the many shootouts in the hospital. Many films and basically every first person shooter video game released since 1992 owe a great deal to this film, and, though it is slightly flawed, it is still one of the greatest orchestrated bullet fests in the history of cinema.

• Cassandra M

  
  Hey!" Chow Yun Fat says, covering a baby's eyes. "X-Rated action!" He's not wrong: Hard Boiled is a film clearly not afraid to embrace its genre's excesses. While most modern action films (Smokin' Aces for one) aspire to some sort of grand… More
  Hey!" Chow Yun Fat says, covering a baby's eyes. "X-Rated action!" He's not wrong: Hard Boiled is a film clearly not afraid to embrace its genre's excesses. While most modern action films (Smokin' Aces for one) aspire to some sort of grand intelligence while providing shoot-outs and explosions, this film is a reminder of times when action films suffered no such pretensions. Crowds of people are gunned down without explanation and the smallest things explode for little or no reason. The bad guys are massively exaggerated cutthroat caricatures and the good guys never miss. Scenes of Fat and Leung running down corridors are inexplicably shot in slow motion. And, for all of these reasons, it is amazing. It's fast, it's exciting, and it never lets up. Hard Boiled is loud, exciting, and thanks to quite terrible dubbing and a ludicrous early 90's soundtrack, often unintentionally hilarious. It is a film that places entertainment firmly ahead of plausibility and logic, and is quite frankly awesome for it.

• danny d

  
  some of the best action sequences ever filmed and a healthy balance of drama and action make this a highly effective movie despite being extremely stereotypical. if you want to check out mentally and enjoy yourself there is almost no better film out there. chow yun fat and tony… More
  some of the best action sequences ever filmed and a healthy balance of drama and action make this a highly effective movie despite being extremely stereotypical. if you want to check out mentally and enjoy yourself there is almost no better film out there. chow yun fat and tony leung work well together and the film transcends its absurd moments with artistic flare.

• KJ P

  
  Every bit of this movie was entertaining. From start to finish, my heart was racing! I love this film. Sure there were a few scenes that would gross out a few people, and make them shut the movie off, but that's just other people. My opinion is what counts for me, and I thought… More
  Every bit of this movie was entertaining. From start to finish, my heart was racing! I love this film. Sure there were a few scenes that would gross out a few people, and make them shut the movie off, but that's just other people. My opinion is what counts for me, and I thought this movie was executioned well!

• Lewis C

  
  It's simple. If you like action movies AT ALL, then you should watch Hard-Boiled. It's two hours of stylish mayhem, wrapped around a serviceable story. The gunplay and stunts really are remarkable. Shotgun blasts explode like rockets. No one gets shot only once, usually… More
  It's simple. If you like action movies AT ALL, then you should watch Hard-Boiled. It's two hours of stylish mayhem, wrapped around a serviceable story. The gunplay and stunts really are remarkable. Shotgun blasts explode like rockets. No one gets shot only once, usually it's 8 or more times. Slo-motion is used in such a cool way, that it makes the very idea of it fresh again. Don't let the subtitles keep you from this action classic.

• Anthony L

  
  This is the only Woo film I like but that?s mainly due to Chow Yun-Fat?s performance!

• Derek D

  
  Every bit as mind-blowing as what it was hyped up to be. John Woo is the Michael Bay of the east, except Woo is actually a great director who knows how to blow shit up and kill people with style and substance. This movie starts and just keeps going, then stops just long enough to reel… More
  Every bit as mind-blowing as what it was hyped up to be. John Woo is the Michael Bay of the east, except Woo is actually a great director who knows how to blow shit up and kill people with style and substance. This movie starts and just keeps going, then stops just long enough to reel you back in and then it starts all over again. If you only see one more action movie in your life, watch this one. Chow Yun Fat is amazing as well.

• Tsubaki S

  
  The end of an era in HK cinema. Many have tried to replicate what Woo accomplished with the action scenes, and to date, nobody has even come close to produce the same effect.

• Tim S

  
  I'm completely blown away. One of the best, if not the best, pure action movies I've seen in a very long time.

• Khris N

  
  One of the best bloody shoot em ups ever made. John Woo's final HK film before moving to Hollywood is rated in nearly every top 10 list of action movies. Its easy to see why most of Woo's Hollywood projects seem very tame after watching his HK flicks... and his golden boy,… More
  One of the best bloody shoot em ups ever made. John Woo's final HK film before moving to Hollywood is rated in nearly every top 10 list of action movies. Its easy to see why most of Woo's Hollywood projects seem very tame after watching his HK flicks... and his golden boy, Chow Yun Fat is the best at what he does. With Style and vengeance.<br/><br/><br/>But behind this all out warzone of a flick is a good story and issues of the fine line between good cop and bad cop, paired by Fat and Tony Leung. After Detective Tequila witnesses his partner being killed, he starts an all out war with the smuggling ring and gangsters responsible for the death.. until he realises that one of them is an undercover agent, tasked with finding out the location of a secret arms cache. <br/><br/>This movie is divided into these parts: The tea house shoot-out, the warehouse war, the dock shoot-out and the final Hospital Armageddon. All throughout is Woo's trademark action scenes, all original and all copied by others. XD <br/><br/>It great to see the gun ballet at its best, and the violence is very convincing... as well as the hospital paitents dilemma and the babies taken hostage!!<br/><br/>Its been a long while since I got my own copy of this... and any true action lover wont certaintly give this a miss if they know whats good for them!!

• Michael S

  
  *On my "best of the 1990s" list.

• Lady D

  
  Very disappointed with this film because I feel I missed something. From all the reviews I've read I was sure I'd really like it, but to me it just seemed like a record attempt for the world's longest gun fight in cinema history

• JY S

  
  I've seen a few good John Woo films and I've seen some so-so John Woo films. This is a ... good John Woo film. You can really see where the <i>Stranglehold</i> video game came from. This film is action, action, action, action, and of course,… More
  I've seen a few good John Woo films and I've seen some so-so John Woo films. This is a ... good John Woo film. You can really see where the <i>Stranglehold</i> video game came from. This film is action, action, action, action, and of course, action.</p><p>The beginning of this film starts out with a bang and pretty much gives you a little taste of what is to come for the next 120 minutes. I honestly lost track of the bullet count after the first few minutes of this film, where it has to be in the hundreds. With all this talk of action, you are probably thinking that there is no story. Well, this isn't Woo's greatest story, but it isn't his worst either. In fact, this is one of his better ones. The usual cop-gangster concept plays nicely into this world of Woo. The film moves at a fast pace as well and with all the shootings going around you can honestly tell why. With the fast-pace the two main characters, Chow Yun Fat and Tony Leung, surprisingly get enough build up, to make the ending even more enjoyable. Speaking of the ending, let me just say baaaaaaaaaaaaang!</p><p>The acting is good. Chow Yun Fat puts on a <i>City on Fire</i> type of performance, which shows he is more than an action star. Anthony Wong does a decent job as the villain, but I've seen him in better roles. It is also funny to see John Woo himself play a character called Mr. Woo.</p><p>If you are looking for an adrenaline filled night, look no further than <i>Hard Boiled</i>. How can you go wrong with a film that sprays more bullets than the worlds population, has a body count greater than the sh***yness of <i>Blood of the Samurai</i>, and an ending action sequence longer then James Cameron's <i>Titanic</i>?

• Tim S

  
  Great action movie with a shootout that is hard to top.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings