I realize I’m cheating a little here, but I couldn’t move on without paying homage to John Woo’s action crime hit, Hard Boiled. In this one, Chow plays a detective named Tequila who is on a mission to avenge the death of his partner amid the ongoing investigation into the Triads. Dangerously close calls and shocking twists find him partnered with a stoic undercover operative guilt ridden for the lives he’s taken as the two bring the case to a head in an explosive finale in a hospital.
I can’t remember how many times I rented this one on VHS. It was one of the most mesmerizing things I’d seen after being exposed to Woo’s Hollywood stint with Hard Target, Broken Arrow, and Face/Off at the time. From the tea house gun fight to the warehouse action scene, to the boatyard ambush and the climatic finale, I can’t think of a better Woo movie than this 1992 banger. After Antoine Fuqua’s The Replacement Killers, this was my go-to for continuance with Chow in his glory days as a gun-toting menace, and that also led me to watching The Killer and A Better Tomorrow.
I can’t honestly say if I agree that either of the latter two are Woo’s best works, and mainly because it’s been decades since I’ve seen them. To date, the only Chow/Woo movie I have is Hard Boiled on DVD from Dragon Dynasty, but you can believe I’m looking forward to grabbing a copy of it on Blu-Ray once Shout! makes that bad boy available. Not only do I love Hard Boiled, but I also love its soundtrack. Point in fact, the best thing about it is the opening jazz score in which Tequila slams a drink and plays the clarinet. It’s a relaxing little number and a clever, laid back preamble to the propulsive action and violence incumbent of a John Woo joint of its time…
Cue that clarinet, baby!
