Hard Boiled (1992)

Director: John Woo

Writers: John Woo (Story), 

Barry Wong (Screenplay)

Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, 

Tony Leung Chiu Wai and 

Teresa Mo

My friend, If you're a fan of Hong Kong's film collections and haven't watched this movie then WHY THE HELL DO YOU CALL YOURSELF A FAN? 

*ehem* 

Hard Boiled jump-started Chow Yun-Fat and John Woo career to Hollywood. It has one of the most creative yet violent films I have ever seen. For a 90's Asian film, it's definitely not that bad. It's very different to what I used to watch during that era. Besides the Unlimited bullets, the every-time-you-reach-your-back-there's-a-pistol-clip method, and the very 90's hairstyles, you wouldn't really think of it as a 90's film. It's ahead of its time. 

The film's story revolves around a cop whose partner got killed during an gun bust operation and now has vowed to finish the job and look for the people responsible for his partner's death. You might think it's one of those same old revenge story but it's really not. It has more content in it but to avoid being a spoiler I would not tell you what it is. Correction: what THEY are. Oohhh. Interesting, I know.

And have you met Chow Yun-Fat? Yeah, he looks pretty B.A. in this film. He's like the Asian Bruce Willis, if you asked me, and Hard Boiled is his Die Hard. His acting is very natural and believable and his delivery of lines are in Chinese. The character development though are decent but not impressive. There weren't enough room for Woo to develop Chow Yun-Fat's character, Tequila. We did not see enough of who Tequila is; only that he is capable of handling a gun. The other characters, specially some of the bad guys, aren't that bad.

They might have not enough time to develop them but it's the action sequences that made this amazing action film. Holy mothballs, the slow motion sequences from this film is the reason why a lot of films have slow motion action scenes. John Woo even inspired the slo-mo scenes of The Matrix, a film famous for slo-mos. The way they use the slow motion are very natural and not forced unlike other films in Hollywood today.

I urge you film buffs to watch this movie and you would definitely have a fun time.

Here's a trailer for Hard Boiled:

I'm pretty pumped up to this movie. Since Inception, I've always wanted to see more of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in action films. And Bruce Willis? I don't even understand why I have to say how exited I am to watch him in this movie. Yippee-Ki-Yay? Hans Gruber? Yes, my dearest readers, I'm talking about Die Hard! The greatest action movie ever made -- for me at least. He's really really fit for this movie. Heck, I even think the character was written specially with him in mind.

By the looks of it, I think it's going to be one of the best movies of the year. I'm always interested in the concept of time travelling in films so this film definitely got my attention the moment I saw it. Plus, not only does it use the usual time travelling story but doing a story that have never been used before. Future self being chased by your present self. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Here the full synopsis of Looper.

In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented - but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past, where a "looper" - a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) - is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good... until the day the mob decides to "close the loop," sending back Joe's future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination. The film is written and directed by Rian Johnson and also stars Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, and Jeff Daniels. Ram Bergman and James D. Stern produce.

So, I'm pretty excited for this film and I hope to watch it as soon as I can. It'll be worth it.