20 Foreign Language Films You Must See Before You Die

8. Hard Boiled

Golden Princess Film Production LimitedGolden Princess Film Production LimitedIf you're looking for an action film which puts the body count of Robocop to shame you couldn't do much better than Hard Boiled, arguably the pinnacle of legendary Hong Kong action director John Woo's impressive career. To describe it as a near-relentless orgy of shoot outs would almost be an understatement. Woo regular Chow Yun-Fat stars as a maverick cop alongside Tony Leung, an undercover cop ingratiating himself with the local mob boss. Beginning with an incredibly choreographed shoot out in a crowded tea house, Woo's handling of violence - in which bullets and leaps drop into graceful slow motion, featuring some of the best editing you'll ever see - marked him out as one of the hottest directors of his time. It's a shame his potential was wasted when he made the inevitable move to Hollywood, never quite matching the visceral thrills found in Hard Boiled.
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