In this era of digital trickery, where characters routinely defy the laws of gravity, its easy to overlook the films where the bone smashing stunts were not only performed for real, they were done in one take. Hard Boiled isnt the best of John Woos Hong Kong films (The Killer takes that accolade), but as an example of his mastery of balletic bloodshed, its hard to beat. There are no white doves, but otherwise Woos visual trademarks are present and correct: characters fly through the air, one-eyed henchmen emerge from clouds of smoke in slow motion and everyone discharges 2 guns simultaneously. Theres no real plot, just a succession of action sequences as cop Tequila (Chow Yun Fat) hunts down a gang of smugglers, little realizing that one of them is an undercover cop. This leads to umpteen Mexican standoffs, scores of gun battles and an outrageous finale set in a hospital where get this the bad guy keeps his cache of smuggled weapons.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'