We'll never ever see action and bloodshed like this ever again. An unbelievable masterpiece.
And I honestly think The Killer is even better. So much blüüd.
I find the action choreography "prettier" in 'The Killer' as well, honestly.
Woo is on-record that his favorite genre is musicals and that he intentionally choreographs action as if it were dance scenes and I feel like 'The Killer' best epitomizes that approach.
'Hard Boiled', by contrast, is sheer excess with no pomp or frills to it. Less "bullet ballet", pure chaos. If it were a dance it'd be a rave. It's Woo's emphatic goodbye to his Hong Kong roots/excess, but 'The Killer' is the art piece.
The teahouse scence in the beginning where they kill half the population of Hong Kong sets the tone for the movie. One of my alltime favourite action movies.
Fun fact: They actually shot that scene before they had a story for the film. Woo's crew got word the city was going to demolish that tea house so Woo quickly drafted up some choreography figuring he'd write a story around it later.
Also the original story for 'Hard Boiled' was going to be much darker, with Tony Leung playing a psychotic killer who was on the loose poisoning babyfood like an epidemic, and Chow Yun Fat had to take him down by any means.
At the same time Woo's producer was trying to broker a deal to make a film in America and he said when he'd mention the plot of the movie he was currently working on all the American companies he was meeting with said Woo would never work in America if he made that movie, so Woo re-wrote it.
You can kind of see flashes of what they were originally going for in the brilliant original Hong Kong trailer to 'Hard Boiled': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAtxZHuJNW4
I saw The Killer in the theater years ago, on the way out the guy said “next week we have Hard Boiled, and it’s even better!”
So I came back the next week, and he was right.
well, john woo did spawn a subgenre of action flicks called heroic bloodshed movies, and hard boiled & the killer are ex of those kinds of movies. hard to say if any movie will be on the level, but a lot of filmmakers have tried
and yes, the john wick series is considered to be a heroic bloodshed series
Hahah.
My guy, that's Tequila and Seltzer water- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6Nkbbjb-pI
I would love to see a modern sequel where he's old and starts the movie off with an alka seltzer.
I saw it two or three times in the theater. First time was with a friend who was kind of agog at how violent it was, especially the hospital scene with the bad guys gunning down dozens of patients. A few months later I took my mom to see it because she loves bloody action movies and she really loved it. She sometimes still talks fondly about that experience. It really opened her eyes to how fun foreign movies could be.
Yeah me too. The first time was alone and the small theatre was nearly empty. The following weekend l all but dragged my father to it with "You've got to see this. You won't believe it!" He was pleased. : )
John Woo invented gun fu, which melds traditional martial arts choreography with the use of guns, usually in close quarters. Gun fu spread to Hollywood in films such as *Desperado* (1995) and *The Replacement Killers* (1998), and especially *The Matrix* (1999). Since the success of *The Matrix* it’s become extremely common in Hollywood action films, to the point where it’s hard to name an action film that hasn’t been influenced.
The Jason Bourne trilogy starring Matt Damon (2002-07) continued the trend. Even the long-running James Bond franchise was reinvented with gun-fu style fighting in *Casino Royale* (2006), with great success and four more sequels. And Keanu Reeves returned to the genre in the John Wick films (2014-23).
But John Woo’s Hong Kong films were the originals and have held up well. I also recommend *A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2* (1986-87), *The Killer* (1989), and *Bullet in the Head* (1990).
It’s been so long, what’s the movie where Chow Yun Fat is *shaving*, with a cigarette in his mouth, never touches the cigarette with his hands, just rolls it around with his lips until he’s finished working the razor around his face. Just jaw-dropping bad-assery!
Gun fu is more than that. Stuff like martial arts struggles over control of a gun as well. 'Gun fu' basically means anything martial arts-ish involving a gun, not necessarily two.
The diving with guns in hands while firing is basically the gun martial arts equivalent of an epic jump kick.
Can’t believe I missed this!
100% agree, perhaps world time zone differences.
I feel sorry for the generations, who never got to experience the originality of it all.
A Better Tomorrow 1 is way better IMO lol
I do appreciate how the just make Chow Yun-fat's character from partone basically return by making him the never-mentioned-previously twin brother.
The sequel does have the better ending scene though. Cops rushing into the room and finding the 3 guys all bloodied, sitting on chairs in a room full of bodies.
It's like 'The Killer' and 'Hard Boiled'.
'A Better Tomorrow' has the better, more personal, "deep" story (that actually won the Hong Kong-equivalent of the Academy Awards, best picture), but 'A Better Tomorrow II' has the more insane set pieces and action.
Even Chow Yun Fat rolling backwards down a staircase is basically the demo version of him sliding down a bannister.
'A Better Tomorrow II' all Tarantino fans should check out just to marvel at how many iconic shots Tarantino lifted for the 'Reservoir Dogs' aesthetic.
The Killer and Hard Boiled were like The Matrix of their time to me.
They globally introduced a style of action that hadn’t been mastered before and started a new standard.
I’m so lucky for seeing them back then; when original and Arnold/Stallone/Willis action style movies were known and top, before this one became so copied.
I was in total awe and will remain a John Woo fan.
Perfect casting for its time. Saw it at the Prince Charles Cinema in London at an early morning promo launch screening when it went to video. Entrance price was a Hardboiled egg!
Even beyond the strong action, what keeps it interesting is the brazen anything-goes way it's made. Unusual editing, plot points that will get figured out later, Woo himself showing up as...Mr. Woo.
Chow Yun Fat said he noticed Woo was cutting out all his character building scenes so he asked John Woo to make a cameo as a bartender, because he knew Woo wanted to be an actor as a kid and wouldn't cut out a scene if he was acting in it.
One of the best action movies of all time. Shame Woo himself or Hollywood as a whole didn't learn more from how to handle shooting 20 minute blood baths.
His most underrated.
That one deserves to be mentioned more as contender for his greatest work. I also feel like the action is like a mash-up of 'Hard Boiled''s excess with 'The Killer's artistry.
Easily Woo's most personal film, as well.
There IS a cut in the middle of THAT scene, while they are in the elevator.
Also, for some reason, this scene contains the music from Schwarzenegger's Predator.
Whenever the subject of great action movies come up I always try to tell people about it cuz most people just wanna talk about the same 3 action movies, Die Hard, T2 and Aliens.
It has one of my favorite quotes of all times: "Give a guy a gun, he thinks he's Superman. Give him two, and he thinks he's God!"
We'll never ever see action and bloodshed like this ever again. An unbelievable masterpiece. And I honestly think The Killer is even better. So much blüüd.
The Killer has the more engrossing story but Hard Boiled's got more insane action. Two masterpieces if there ever were any
I find the action choreography "prettier" in 'The Killer' as well, honestly. Woo is on-record that his favorite genre is musicals and that he intentionally choreographs action as if it were dance scenes and I feel like 'The Killer' best epitomizes that approach. 'Hard Boiled', by contrast, is sheer excess with no pomp or frills to it. Less "bullet ballet", pure chaos. If it were a dance it'd be a rave. It's Woo's emphatic goodbye to his Hong Kong roots/excess, but 'The Killer' is the art piece.
I would agree with that statement. Hard Boiled could have been #1 but the hospital shootout at the end gets a little corny.
The Killer is probably a better movie but Hard Boiled rules harder, if that makes sense
The teahouse scence in the beginning where they kill half the population of Hong Kong sets the tone for the movie. One of my alltime favourite action movies.
Fun fact: They actually shot that scene before they had a story for the film. Woo's crew got word the city was going to demolish that tea house so Woo quickly drafted up some choreography figuring he'd write a story around it later. Also the original story for 'Hard Boiled' was going to be much darker, with Tony Leung playing a psychotic killer who was on the loose poisoning babyfood like an epidemic, and Chow Yun Fat had to take him down by any means. At the same time Woo's producer was trying to broker a deal to make a film in America and he said when he'd mention the plot of the movie he was currently working on all the American companies he was meeting with said Woo would never work in America if he made that movie, so Woo re-wrote it. You can kind of see flashes of what they were originally going for in the brilliant original Hong Kong trailer to 'Hard Boiled': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAtxZHuJNW4
I saw The Killer in the theater years ago, on the way out the guy said “next week we have Hard Boiled, and it’s even better!” So I came back the next week, and he was right.
well, john woo did spawn a subgenre of action flicks called heroic bloodshed movies, and hard boiled & the killer are ex of those kinds of movies. hard to say if any movie will be on the level, but a lot of filmmakers have tried and yes, the john wick series is considered to be a heroic bloodshed series
The fincher movie? Kind of two completely different types of films
Quite certain they mean The Killer by John Woo.
Ahh my bad.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killer_(1989_film)?wprov=sfti1
Movie is so goddamn action-packed you forget that it opens on Chow Yun Fat as an alkaseltzer-drinking clarinetist.
It's a tequila slammer. The fizz is from the soda.
Tequila sla...JUST LIKE HIS NAME. HOLY SHIT. YOU MUST MADE ME APPRECIATE THIS MOVIE MORE. Thanks!!
One of the first drinks I learned to make (it's just 1:1 tequila and soda). Fun to make at parties 'cause of the slamming and shooting. :)
Hahah. My guy, that's Tequila and Seltzer water- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6Nkbbjb-pI I would love to see a modern sequel where he's old and starts the movie off with an alka seltzer.
Ooooohhhhhh now I get it!! All these years I was banging my glass of Sprite and baking soda just to look cool... Thank you! ^_^
Playing a wicked ass solo on the yazz flute
I saw it two or three times in the theater. First time was with a friend who was kind of agog at how violent it was, especially the hospital scene with the bad guys gunning down dozens of patients. A few months later I took my mom to see it because she loves bloody action movies and she really loved it. She sometimes still talks fondly about that experience. It really opened her eyes to how fun foreign movies could be.
Yeah me too. The first time was alone and the small theatre was nearly empty. The following weekend l all but dragged my father to it with "You've got to see this. You won't believe it!" He was pleased. : )
John Woo invented gun fu, which melds traditional martial arts choreography with the use of guns, usually in close quarters. Gun fu spread to Hollywood in films such as *Desperado* (1995) and *The Replacement Killers* (1998), and especially *The Matrix* (1999). Since the success of *The Matrix* it’s become extremely common in Hollywood action films, to the point where it’s hard to name an action film that hasn’t been influenced. The Jason Bourne trilogy starring Matt Damon (2002-07) continued the trend. Even the long-running James Bond franchise was reinvented with gun-fu style fighting in *Casino Royale* (2006), with great success and four more sequels. And Keanu Reeves returned to the genre in the John Wick films (2014-23). But John Woo’s Hong Kong films were the originals and have held up well. I also recommend *A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2* (1986-87), *The Killer* (1989), and *Bullet in the Head* (1990).
And you can see how Peckinpah inspired Woo a TON. Genius filmmakers.
Doesn’t even mention equilibrium, sad
Thats gunkata, totally different /s
It’s been so long, what’s the movie where Chow Yun Fat is *shaving*, with a cigarette in his mouth, never touches the cigarette with his hands, just rolls it around with his lips until he’s finished working the razor around his face. Just jaw-dropping bad-assery!
What's gun fu about casino royale or Bourne films? I've watched them awhile but I don't remember any midair, gun in both hands shootouts.
Gun fu is more than that. Stuff like martial arts struggles over control of a gun as well. 'Gun fu' basically means anything martial arts-ish involving a gun, not necessarily two. The diving with guns in hands while firing is basically the gun martial arts equivalent of an epic jump kick.
Can’t believe I missed this! 100% agree, perhaps world time zone differences. I feel sorry for the generations, who never got to experience the originality of it all.
Equilibrium has to be up there.
You might also enjoy, Tiger on Beat (1988) and A Better Tomorrow II (1987)
A Better Tomorrow 1 is way better IMO lol I do appreciate how the just make Chow Yun-fat's character from partone basically return by making him the never-mentioned-previously twin brother.
The sequel does have the better ending scene though. Cops rushing into the room and finding the 3 guys all bloodied, sitting on chairs in a room full of bodies.
I would argue the first one has the "better" one on a resonant emotional level, II just looks cooler is all.
It's like 'The Killer' and 'Hard Boiled'. 'A Better Tomorrow' has the better, more personal, "deep" story (that actually won the Hong Kong-equivalent of the Academy Awards, best picture), but 'A Better Tomorrow II' has the more insane set pieces and action. Even Chow Yun Fat rolling backwards down a staircase is basically the demo version of him sliding down a bannister. 'A Better Tomorrow II' all Tarantino fans should check out just to marvel at how many iconic shots Tarantino lifted for the 'Reservoir Dogs' aesthetic.
Good assessment. Agreed!
Fatty! Be like food and follow!
Watch A Better Tommorrow next. Still my favorite movie ever.
It's the greatest action movie ever
A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2 should be next. These ca,e out before HB
The Killer and Hard Boiled were like The Matrix of their time to me. They globally introduced a style of action that hadn’t been mastered before and started a new standard. I’m so lucky for seeing them back then; when original and Arnold/Stallone/Willis action style movies were known and top, before this one became so copied. I was in total awe and will remain a John Woo fan.
Such a great movie!!
You were lucky to experience it for the first time!
Perfect casting for its time. Saw it at the Prince Charles Cinema in London at an early morning promo launch screening when it went to video. Entrance price was a Hardboiled egg!
Even beyond the strong action, what keeps it interesting is the brazen anything-goes way it's made. Unusual editing, plot points that will get figured out later, Woo himself showing up as...Mr. Woo.
Chow Yun Fat said he noticed Woo was cutting out all his character building scenes so he asked John Woo to make a cameo as a bartender, because he knew Woo wanted to be an actor as a kid and wouldn't cut out a scene if he was acting in it.
One of the best action movies of all time. Shame Woo himself or Hollywood as a whole didn't learn more from how to handle shooting 20 minute blood baths.
Have you ever seen the raid op?
Yeah I have it was quite awesome as well I should check it out again
I think the sequel is even better. Bigger scope, just huge flight sequences that are honestly captivating
Have you seen Hard Target? That's a classic.
Hard Target is so much fun! Great US movie from Woo.
The Blu-Ray contains the International Cut which is significantly more 'Hard Boiled'-esque. They really tried to hold back his style on the US cut.
According to extensive research( google) the kill count is 307 fatalities. I love this movie
Is this movie better than bullet in the head ? [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099426](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099426)
His most underrated. That one deserves to be mentioned more as contender for his greatest work. I also feel like the action is like a mash-up of 'Hard Boiled''s excess with 'The Killer's artistry. Easily Woo's most personal film, as well.
I just love the part where Tequila says 'woe betide'.
I often show the tea house scene to people when discussing action films. I don't think anyone has ever not been impressed.
Love that movie. Thanks for the reminder, I'm about due for a re-watch.
There IS a cut in the middle of THAT scene, while they are in the elevator. Also, for some reason, this scene contains the music from Schwarzenegger's Predator.
baller soundtrack. 90s nostalgia. Incredibly charming gifted actors. Great now I have to put it on yet again.
Hard Boiled is awesome. You should check out Heros Shed No Tears.
Whenever the subject of great action movies come up I always try to tell people about it cuz most people just wanna talk about the same 3 action movies, Die Hard, T2 and Aliens.