Review of Hard Boiled (1992) by Adam L — 25 Nov 2012

John Woo's final foray into Cantonese language cinema (to date) is also his most melodramatic piece of filmmaking powered in-part by Michael Gibbs's jazz laden score, a script perspiring with existential dialogue (phantom penned by Gordon Chan), Wong Wing-hang's stylish cinematography, and Woo's own need to admonish his audience about the consequences of violence which at the time was on a dramatic incline in Hong Kong.

"Hard Boiled" is also one of John Woo's most accomplished films fitting snuggly into the action czar's wheel house with copious amounts of ridiculously over scaled ammo orgies that Woo choreographs like a guerrilla filmmaker -- despite this being his eighth action film -- something so few of his peers will ever be likened to.

Despite achieving cult classic status in the U.S. and introducing American audiences to director John Woo and lead actor Chow Yun-fat "Hard Boiled" performed below expectations domestically causing Woo to fear he had lost his target audience which resulted in his early exodus to Hollywood.