Synopsis
Trailers
Reviews (154)
-
C
every stuntman in this movie deserves a goddamn medal of honor in recognition of their exemplary service to the cinematic artform
3,241 6 -
C
-
Ccomrade_yui 8 月 25, 2026
reloading is for chumps and dickheads, chow yun-fat doesn’t need to reload, fuck that shit, he’s got more assholes to kill
1,387 3 -
M
-
H
Talking about this movie turns you into a 12 year old. “I liked when the motorcycle explodes”
3,129 4 -
S
John Woo really wrote, directed, and edited this and did it with such slickness you wouldn’t even know a real person was behind the camera. The perfect marriage between drama and action, and good drama at that. His set pieces have so much depth and innovation, it’s actually crazy to watch. The entire hospital stretch is like an hour long action sequence that somehow doesn’t let up for a single second. That’s talent! Tony Leung was excellent of course but I really enjoyed Chow Yun-fat’s performance as Tequila. Teresa Mo was great as well. What an odyssey!
622 17 -
W
I’ll always remember watching this for the first time when I was a teenager, in my parents’ basement on a bootleg DVD-R I bought in Toronto Chinatown. The hospital climax was so intense I could feel myself starting to sweat. I had never seen anything like it. Still haven’t! In this movie, it’s rarely good enough to shoot someone just once – they have to get shot a dozen times, their body gyrating in space as the squibs go off. The violence in this movie is so extreme that it becomes abstracted from reality – or at least it usually does, because I have to admit that scenes of innocent bystanders getting mowed down in and around a hospital hit differently for me given what’s in the news these days. One thing you can’t deny. There is a female character in this movie.
738 -
J
“It happened so quickly… it was like a dream.” Like Mann, Woo is a filmmaker of intensely gorgeous melodrama and thorny moral codes on both sides of the law. Of obsessive professionals that yearn for connection and friendship and sacrifice in the face of the new cutthroat breed of unchecked selfishness. Trapped by institutions that reduce them to their jobs and their sense of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ to an infinitely layered blur of physical action; bodies, objects and movement in a perpetual state of extravagant collapse. There’s an inherent romance to it, not just for the characters whose only means of emotional expression it is to smash metal, shatter glass and send sparks/smoke flying everywhere on the largest possible canvas, but…
1,291 4 -
T
The Rogue Cop and the Undercover Cop up against some gangster motherfuckers in John Woo’s blueprint on how to make the motherfucker of all motherfuckin’ action movies. The Jazz Club. The paperboy. The fuckin’ birds at the teahouse. The first time Tequila shoots 2 guns at once. Automatic fuckin’ weapons. Staircase ownage. Tequila’s toothpick. White as a ghost. A chat with JW. High-tech computers. The last book your fuckin’ ass will ever read. Pretty-pretty-oh-so-fuckin’-pretty flowers. Never trust an icky eel. Anthony Wong’s hair. Fishin’. The impossible question: Who’s a badder badass motherfucker; Mad Dog from Hard Boiled or Mad Dog from The Raid? Motorcycle madness. A grand fuckin’ entrance. A Zippo. Paper cranes. Fun on a boat. Fuckin’ Foxy. Mad…
1,860 64 -
F
“Give guy a gun and he thinks he’s Superman. Give him two and he thinks he’s God.” Of Gods and Supermen indeed.
641 -
N
I am a certified action movie respecter and this may well be the best one of them I’ve ever seen.
1,570 71 -
E
-
B
The gun choreography was crazy but the hospital shooting was crazier
-
S
probably i’m just getting old but so much action became boring soon. probably the italian dubbing didn’t help
-
L
My God what a film, John Woo you have changed my life. To be honest I’ve been sleeping on Mr Woo and his work and that is a blindspot I intend to rectify. Hard Boiled is intense, gory and morally ambigous. It’s a film that speaks to a time that is long gone, a time when not everything was hyperbolic or absolutes. This is the peak of the action genre and we may never touch it again
2 -
M
Lo del bebe pixant per apagar el foc del pantaló JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAIAJAJAJAJA
-
E
Munitions illimitées plus bébé hyper chill Boum boum boum musique qui tue
-
I
la fatigue m’a envahit pendant le film, ce qui m’a fais ressentir des moment ennuyant, malgrès ces coups de fatigue les scènes d’action etait d’une maitrise incroyable et la bande son à super bien accompagné que ce soit les scènes de dialogue ou les scè’es d’action. j’ai été époustouffle devant le dernier acte dans l’hopital
-
Nneechanpiyush 8 月 24, 2026
Pure masculine adrenaline
-
L
This Villian gives no shit at all, builds a armory in a hospital, then blows it up and almost kills everyone. That’s fuckin awesome.
-
K
When he Akira slided off the bike while shooting 500 people and then threw two grenades into a room at the same time with one hand and then lit his cigarette using the fire caused from the explosion, that was the coolest fucking thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Also the final action sequence is insane.
-
Z
All Chow Yun-fat Are Baby-protector
-
U
The best action movie ever made
-
A
-
S
-
M
Koliko mi je zao sto ovaj film nema bolju produkciju, neke scene su mi bas zasmetale. Sve ostalo…. filmčina.
-
A
what if they made a movie with every OSHA violation
-
M
Even Mad Dog’s unlimited bullet glitch won’t stop me from watching this movie a million times
-
A
action movie of action movies
-
J
-
C
I asked the Vidiots clerk for an action film from the 90s or 00s with a whole lotta guns and boy did she get the assignment.
2 -
L
and then the baby peed
-
N
Donnez une arme à un gars, il se prend pour Superman. Donnez-lui en deux et il se prend pour Dieu. John Woo est injouable en film d’action, ça pète encore plus que John Wick purée j’ai souillé mon caleçon pendant deux heures non stop Chow Yun-Fat qui fait de la clarinette c’est peut être l’une des plus belles choses que le cinéma Hong Kongais nous a offert avec Tony Leung qui fume dans In The Mood for Love
-
F
«Kiddo, your baby pee works wonder! Thanks.» Tror jeg aldri har sett så mye action i en film før. Disse fighting-sekvensene ble litt for mye for meg skjente jeg. Hvor mye ammo kan en gun ha? det var legit skudd 24/7, og ble litt for mye av det samme også syntes jeg. Det ser jwl kult ut, masse eksplosjoner, stunts og slow motion, men når det repeteres så mange ganger blir det som sagt litt mye.. de hopper og flyr…
5 -
D
So badass they never run out of ammo and blown up hella shit
-
M
Funny how similar this is to Infernal Affairs, which I watched last night, but as a different genre. The direction in this is incredible. Style, momentum. Maybe dips a bit in the middle, but is so strong on either side of that.
-
M
“You’re that hard-boiled cop”. HE SAID IT! Tequila was scrambling those bad guys. Poaching em left and right. Fried up his enemies with those guns. Made em into omelettes…okay well I tried. Classic lone cop THAT DOESNT PLAY BY THE RULES.
3 -
K
That is gonna be one fucked up baby when he grows up. John Woo is the greatest action director of all time and I only need three movies to prove that. Such a good fucking movie.
2 -
Iignacio 8 月 23, 2026
du du du du du du dun dun dunnnn dudududududu
-
T
Despite everything I’ve heard about this movie being about how absolutely bonkers the action is, I was utterly unprepared about how absolutely bonkers the action was
1 -
R
Um filme de 92 mostra algo que vi poucas vezes, mas que na minha cabeça sempre fez sentido: num tiroteio não se deve ficar parado
-
K
John Woo has created one of the most iconic action films of all time here. Not only does this film create the perfect relentless action sequences and set pieces but also finds the perfect blend with a gripping narrative too. It is extremely hard to find films of such a nature blend these two factors together, John Woo does exactly that. “Hard boiled” fleshes characters out and grounds realism in each character which is essentially within a film that’s action…
1 -
A
Fun watch
-
Rrekots_marb 8 月 23, 2026
good practical effects and clothes. I don’t personally need action scenes to be so long, but I recognize quality when I see it
-
F
-
T
Scheiß Film nicht zu empfehlen
-
D
Ridiculous. Amazing. Amazingly ridiculous. A perfect weekend afternoon flick.
-
J
holy @shit
-
C
Le cinéma a gagné! J’étais sur mon divan à jumper, applaudir, beugler… Ce film vous fera dire OH YEAAAH!
1 -
S
-
E
-
W
Skytingeksplosjonslowmotion Skytingeksplosjonslowmotion Pause Om igjen Må være en drøm for action elskere de siste 40 minuttene. Det må jo ha vært livsfarlig å spille dette in!
2 -
S
He was, in fact, hard boiled
-
P
Uncomplicated!
-
N
-
1
saucy as fuck
-
L
Le meilleur film d’action de tous les temps, les vrais savent.
-
P
it’s so awesome how borderline homoerotic 80s/90s heroic bloodshed movies are
1 -
D
In “Hard Boiled” si susseguono, in maniera continua ed esasperata, insuperabili action set pieces, legati fra loro da una trama priva di grosse complicazioni che ha al centro l’usuale attrazione tra i carismatici protagonisti maschili dei film di John Woo, in questo caso il rogue cop alla Callaghan interpretato da Chow Yun-fat e il killer stiloso di Tony Leung (che si rivelerà essere un agente sotto copertura). E’ la summa del formalismo codificato da John Woo lungo gli anni 80 che porta a saturazione il proprio stile. Difficile andare oltre e, infatti, il film successivo lo girerà a Hollywood.
-
M
Hundreds of rounds flying every second and the only moment of peace in the entire movie is a lullaby to a baby. Peak John Woo
-
E
Save the babies!
-
J
Nobody does action sequences like that anymore. Put some respect on Hong Kong stunt actors ffs 🔥
-
S
Chow Yun-Fat incarne un flic invincible qui a la réputation de ne gaspiller aucune balle… sauf qu’il vide un chargeur complet pour abattre sa cible. C’est un bon résumé de ce Hard Boiled, débridé lorsqu’il s’agit de filmer l’action. La caméra plonge vers les flammes, les roulades stylisées s’enchaînent à n’en plus finir, ça glisse sur des brancards tout en tirant, ça s’en va batailler seul contre toute une triade dans un hangar où tout explose, jusqu’à une scène finale…
1 -
E
comment reprendre une vie normale après ça ?
-
CColby 1 Shinobi 8 月 23, 2026
Visually pleasing but my oh my was that over the top Stallone/Schwarzenegger level of unnecessary 😆
-
T
Exquisite action sequences galore, with choreography, practical effects, stunts and just overall carnage and unprecedented levels. The tea house sequence alone is a master class. However it gets exhausting, and by the end, as great as the spectacle is, it’s a bit too much of a good thing and I found myself more than ready for it to end by the time the hospital shootout wasn’t even half over.
-
J
I don’t normally like to do 5 stars on a first watch, but everything about this movie is delightful. It’s everything you want in an action movie: amazing stunts, compelling story, over the top in such a fun way. I have been sleeping on Hong Kong action movies, but Hard Boiled showed me the error of my ways.
2 -
B
Watched for 2026 Cult Movie Challenge – letterboxd.com/that1oboist/list/the-2025-cult-movie-challenge/ 35/52: John Woo Week and Ringo Lam Week
2 -
A
-
D
Thanks Baby, your pee-pee saved the day.
-
J
-
K
Great action movie that dares to ask the question of what would happen if every Scorsese character was bad at their jobs
-
W
-
J
GOAT bro movie
-
N
-
S
god is the wind beneath our wings.
-
Z
The blueprint for every action movie
-
MMarie41214 8 月 22, 2026
This has got to be the shootiest of all the shoot em up movies.
-
J
Slowly working through all the John Woo movies I desperately wanted to see as a teen, but didn’t have access to at the time. They just don’t make action movies like this any more, and it’s a damn shame.
-
J
Chinese baby
-
J
The way this movie equally has amazing action and pretty compelling drama is really great. Also the score is a banger and i seriously don’t know how an actor didnt die with all these explosions right next to their face.
-
I
oh my god. is this the greatest action film i’ve ever seen? is tony leung a certified baddie? is grass green?
1 -
H
🤠DE LA PURE FOLIE!🤯 Ça part dans tous les SENS! Le film met une clim’ à tous les films Polar modernes!
-
A
absolutely bitchin! aura and swag through the roof. so much more jazz a lot less baby than I expected… literally just sat there going “jesus christ what was their stunt budget” for 45 minutes straight
1 -
S
-
L
“Haha não, não, eu não gosto de filme de ação ahah” Eu tentando disfarçar que Hard Boiled é felomenal.
-
N
Mucho disparo Mucha coreo Mucho fuego Mucho bebé
-
N
We don’t ever need to make an action movie again
-
EEdvardMunchSwag 8 月 22, 2026
Watched with Eloise and Ben in their flat.
-
M
Ah, Chekhov’s nursery.
-
B
-
M
-
Q
“Tony Leung conflicted by his undercover role” is one of my favorite movie genres. Love the badass and balletic action, and John Woo’s signature cheesy touches that are soppy and sentimental at best, and often veer into the cringey and ridiculous. (Everything about the babies subplot is ridiculous.) But the outrageously implausible action set pieces are so convincingly choreographed that I still remember various movie moments decades after I last watched the movie. 80s Hong Kong is a look and…
-
J
Rapping to saliva slimmy while shooting bad guys was 10/10. Definitely the craziest action movie I have ever seen.
-
K
After letting this film throughly digest before i start hating, i think i’m just not a big fan of this movie not that it was bad, it’s far from terrible. The beginning clarinet solo set the bar high, the vibes, i thought this film would be at least four stars but as much influence there is, i didn’t find the film as great as people describe it. The hospital sequences were brilliant but otherwise this film lacked structure having such…
-
R
If you dont think this movie is cool you have no soul this is awsome. A very simple yet engaging story complemented with the best action that cinema can give you; that ART in general can give you, which is elevated even more by an amazing score that enhances every single scene. That sax is permanently etched into my memory forever. I watch this movie once every 2 or so years fearing that it will get old and it never…
-
S
吴宇森再次大显身手，凭借《辣手神探》打造了一部绝对的杰作。周润发和梁朝伟是我见过的最酷的影星之一。这真是一部不折不扣的杰作。我强烈向所有喜爱佳作的观众推荐这部电影。这才是真正的电影艺术。
-
B
-
M
This entire movie is just like when you get bored in GTA and you just start causing pure chaos and mayhem.
3 -
C
Watched this and face/off within two weeks of eachother. Honestly liked hardbouled more. Face/off is elevated by Nic Cage’s preformance. Campy action fun.
-
R
“I hear you don’t waste a bullet” 🤨
-
L
No son 5 estrellas porque me jode un poco que los diálogos estén grabados por arriba pero si: el Club Atlético Chow Yun Fat lo hizo de vuelta.
-
K
Chow-Yun Fat, John Woo, and action galore!
-
M
-
T
I was incredibly shocked by how much I cared about the story and the characters. The action is peak John woo!!!!!
-
O
just one of the best in every way, what can i say! loved it so much. some of the coolest set pieces ever. Tony Leung AND Chow Yun-Fat AS WELL. TWO OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE ACTORS IN ONE MOVIE.
2 -
P
This easily top 3 action flicks of all time and probably my favourite of all time . It is gripping right from the start and doesn’t take much time to keep you hooked the story is really well told . If you want action then this is the film for you the scenes get better and better as the movie progresses the movie is full of chaos undercover cops , actions , raids and what not . Also the characters…
2 -
S
Seen via: criterion channel That shit was hard
-
Z
The bizarre free streaming service I watched this on hit me with a brutal stream of ai slot machine ads every 10 minutes and it was still worth it
1 -
O
the hong kong police departmeng has unveiled a revolutionary new technology: vibes based bullets, fuck reloading the only time your gun wont fire is when youre within homoerotic breathing distance of your undercover coworker otherwise just keep doing awesome bullshit
2 -
D
Never been the biggest John Woo fan but rewatched this with the Criterion Commentary and have to say I gained a new appreciate for his work. Both in hearing him as well as others dissect his approach in great detail.
4 -
R
Je pensais que ça allait être UNE BALLE DANS LA TÊTE mon John Woo préféré puis… finalement… Pouah mais la grosse claque bordel !
-
M
-
B
no aiming, just vibes
-
A
Just got the new arrow limited edition 4k and I’m very impressed, this film looks and sounds great, the first john woo movie I saw as a kid holds up so well, the stunt work and ballet like choreography stand out, one of the very best action movies of all time, my only issue is the score, I don’t think it fits at all but it doesn’t hamper my enjoyment of this film.
-
F
“Off the fucking chain” – Danny Butterman, Hot Fuzz(2007) Absolutely wild film, incredibly over the top but it really does work. Groovy score to. The action is just ridiculousy well choreographed in this the opening, the hospital scene and the gang war are all brilliant. Absolutely magnificent work
-
S
Snazzy, explosive, and the type of shit that leaves your face aching from smiling so much. By far the coolest film to have ever done it.
-
U
Most things go in and out of style – that is with the exception of war of course.
-
B
307 bodies, 126 minutes. Basically a death every 25 seconds. That’s wyld.
-
B
PEAK, just PEAK
-
R
Rarely do action films go this hard. Tequila swinging out the window of an exploding building while holding a baby kind of secured that sentiment for me.
-
K
You know what, considering the final act of this film, I’ve got a strange feeling that John Woo for some reason really hates hospitals. Aside from the fact that it’s basically a really protracted demolition of a hospital, the moment is sold when the leads, right before entering a section of the hospital untouched by bullets, cock their weapons. The moment is almost done gleefully, like the director is trying to say “yeah, that’s right, we about to fuck this room up”
-
T
I really like this movie, but even on this rewatch, I feel the first thirty minutes are really difficult to get into. Once they get to the hospital this movie becomes action perfection, but that doesn’t make me forget the first half hour barely being coherent. Still great, but my least favorite of John Woo’s big four.
-
K
Woo doesn’t care how many things explode and how many innocent people die the goal here is to make it cool af the whole thing is extra and I was 1000% entertained macho 90s action era really did create some wonders
-
N
-
A
C’est tellement peak 😭😭😭 Pour le mot de la fin : Apothéose
-
R
cool
-
G
Went in completely blind. Initial notes of Michael Mann, Commando, Lethal Weapon, and (in good taste) maximalist Micheal Bay. Showing Hard Boiled to a person born 200 years ago would cause them irreparable brain damage and I mean that as a compliment.
-
P
It’s absolute peak cinema
-
B
-
R
“He’s called Tequila, that’s how you know he’s spicy” 💥
-
S
I had seen City on Fire recently and while I liked the over arching amongus plot going on with the Undercover cop, this movie goes in completely different direction and becomes this over the top action movie. There’s probably a joke about there being more plot holes than bullet holes but I think it really elevates the whole action choreography and its very clear that pretty much every video game from Max Payne and Gears of war even down to…
-
J
“Evacuate the babies, NOW!”
-
M
-
D
*Walter White bombs a nursing home* Johnny Wong – “Hold my beer”
-
Kkiteintheclouds 8 月 20, 2026
John Woo continues to be a tour de force man, he asked to blow up a whole hospital and the Hong Kong government was just like yeah sure thing John. He’s a legend. Chow Yun Fat puts up another cool as can be performance and I like how his character interacts with Tony Leung’s character and how their relationship develops. They fire at least a hundred thousand bullets in this movie. Its got a great soundtrack too, surprisingly good. Certified “Hell Yea” cinema.
-
H
I love how Chow Yun-fat solves a problem with a 12-gauge shotgun or double pistols, and that problem fucking explodes on impact from the shotgun or the pistols in this badass motherfucking John Woo movie! 💥💥💥
-
M
That shot gun he had was class
-
H
This fills the void in my soul
-
N
Screening of 4K Blu Ray edition by Arrow Films = fantastic.
-
A
“Give a guy a gun, and he’s Superman. Give him two, and he’s God!” In Hard Boiled, cop “Tequila” Yuen loses his partner in a violent tea-house shootout and seeks to bring the gangs responsible to justice. He encounters Tony, a skilled assassin whose true allegiance is uncertain. The plot features multiple double-crosses, strong twists, and a compelling dynamic between Leung and Fat. Although the film has not achieved mainstream recognition, it enjoys a dedicated following among action fans due…
-
F
Básicamente tres secuencias de acción portentosas, y debe ser la película de Woo que mejor funciona a nivel de psicología de personajes de las que he visto. Parece un guion más pulido de lo habitual, sin perder la escencia kitsch que caracteriza al director ni quitar un ápice de su libertad para jugar con las imágenes y cargar las tintas emocionales cuando le conviene. El plano secuencia en el hospital es para quedar con la boca abierta, pero parece que…
-
N
As an action lover, it pains me greatly to say that I found this film to be fairly dull and unimpressive. Perhaps I just haven’t tapped into the region of my brain that appreciates when a film leans ALL the way into the tropes of a genre, but I just couldn’t enjoy this one. Hard Boiled opens with an extended shootout sequence where things are exploding and sparking all throughout the background. It’s an absurd sequence that works as a…
1 -
XxXstinky_boyXx 8 月 18, 2026
Such a liberating watch. It’s so so fun to watch all of this unfold. Every scene is beautifully choreographed, not just the action. And it would be so easy to let the plot just be crap for something like this, but it’s genuinely all so fun. It would’ve been such a privilege to have been on these sets, like wtf how did they do some of this shit. And even the preproduction must have been special, who’s idea was the babies ?!
1 1 -
A
It is precisely in this film that John Woo took the action genre to a new level. The final thirty minutes of the movie are one of the most impressive and adrenaline-fueled action sequences known to humanity, in which the body count reaches into the tens, if not the hundreds.
-
F
I forgot how insane John Woo is going into this and brought my partner to see it with absolutely zero context. We had a great time, this shit’s awesome.
-
B
i thought the shootouts were already insane enough but the whole hospital one-take sequence makes so many action flicks shit the bed
1 -
H
“‘He was whipping up amazing thoughts, like actual happiness.’ ‘Actual happiness?’ ‘Actual happiness and joy.'” Scintillating, the kind of cinema you smile at the whole way through. The creation of this film, the time it came out in, the industry it was made in and the people who made it are all gone, only present in that fleeting moment when it was being made. And in a sense – being Woo’s final film in Hong Kong especially – you feel…
2 -
L
Chinese man on fire
-
W
Arrow 4k Blu-ray Gawddamn they really don’t do explsions and bullet sparks like they used to, do they? Bloody awesome. Also, Tony Leung Chui-Wai actually has such an expressive face in this one, despite the paper thin plot/script, he is acting his ass off.
5 -
K
honestly pretty cool. does the action scenes well.
-
V
plain dumb fun
-
R
Dizzying crescendo reaches such feverish peak of action acrobatics I’d long forgotten whatever minor quibbles kept me from fully getting on board up to then. WHO CARES.
1 -
S
- Synopsis
- A cop who loses his partner in a shoot-out with gun smugglers goes on a mission to catch them. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring he joins forces with an undercover cop who's working as a gangster hitman. They use all means of excessive force to find them.
- Director
- John Woo
- Writer
- Gordon Chan, Barry Wong Ping-Yiu
- Studio
- Golden Princess Film Productions, Milestone Pictures
- Country
- Hong Kong
- Language
- Cantonese, Chinese, English
- Year
- 1992
- Runtime
- 126 mins
- USA18 Jun 1993
- USA25 Jan 2026
- Hong Kong16 Apr 1992
- Australia07 May 1992
- South Korea04 Jul 1992
- UK08 Oct 1993
- Spain09 Jun 1995
- Greece30 May 2003
- Netherlands30 Apr 2026
- USA24 Jun 2025
- Germany15 Apr 1993
- Czechia01 Nov 1994
- USA10 Jul 1998
- USA03 Oct 2000
- USA24 Jul 2007
- Netherlands09 Aug 2007
- USA04 Nov 2025
Write a Review