Independent Films, Film Profiles

Hard Boiled
by John_Woo

Hard Boiled (traditional Chinese: 辣手神探; pinyin: Làshǒu shéntàn; is a 1992 Hong Kong action film directed by John Woo. It is also known as God of Guns (traditional Chinese: 鎗神/槍神; simplified Chinese: 枪神; pinyin: Qiāngshén). It was the last film Woo directed in his native Hong Kong before relocating to Hollywood. The movie begins as an apparently straightforward film about the bond between a detective and an undercover cop as they fight a triad gang. However, it develops into an over two hour action movie with a body count of 307. Considered by many movie critics and fans alike to be one of the greatest and most influential action movies ever made[2][3][4][5][6] , it is structured around four major action setpieces: the opening teahouse shootout, the warehouse betrayal in the middle, the dock shootout, and the climactic thirty-minute hospital shootout.The Chinese name, with each character taken literally, would be 辣: Spicy, or in this case Hot 手: Hand 神: God 探: Policeman or Cop. So the complete title could be rendered as "The Hot-Handed God of Cops". However, the intended form, 神探, literally means detective, so the name could be better understood as "The Hot-Handed Detective".The title “Hard Boiled” can provide insight into the themes of the film. The Chinese title of Hard Boiled, Hot Handed Cop implies the visual style of the movie. The title hints of a character that is going to be very liberal with the use of firearms and bullets. Hard Boiled has an even more widely known title known to the public as God of Guns. There is no mistaking that this title explicitly provides the viewer with what to expect. The title God of Guns reinforces one aspect Woo’s signature auteur style of gunfights and explosive action.In a teahouse in Hong Kong, a squad of police officers, led by Officer "Tequila" Yuen and his partner Benny, attempt to arrest a group of gun smugglers during a deal. Ambushed by another gang member, the police and gangsters engage in a fierce gun battle. Although the gangsters are defeated, several police officers are badly wounded, and Benny is killed. Tequila, knowing there are no witnesses, chooses to summarily execute the gangster who ambushed them to avenge Benny, rather than arrest him. This earns Tequila the wrath of his superior officer Superintendent Pang, who reveals the man was a senior member of a local triad gang and could have put all of them away with his testimony. Pang orders Tequila off the case.Elsewhere in Hong Kong, Alan, a respected hitman working under "Uncle" Hoi, a Triad boss, meets with Johnny Wong, an opposing Triad boss, whose men were involved in the teahouse deal. Wong, looking to replace the senior man he lost there, attempts to recruit Alan. Alan is reluctant to turn against Hoi, who treats him well, but finds he has no choice when Wong conducts a raid on Hoi's arsenal and takes Alan with him. At Hoi's warehouse, Wong's men kill Hoi's workers and destroy his stock, knowing this will bring Hoi to the scene. Hoi arrives, and is taken prisoner, along with his entourage. Wong demands Alan be the one to kill him. Hoi, accepting that he is going to die, asks Alan to kill only him and spare his men. Alan, after much hesitation, finally kills Hoi, but then kills his men as well. Suddenly, smoke grenades explode and Tequila appears, determined to continue with the case against orders. Alan covers Wong's escape as Tequila fights and kills most of the gangsters, leaving Wong's second-in-command, Mad Dog, severely wounded. Having defeated the others, Tequila finds himself confronting Alan face to face in the smoke, where Tequila tries to shoot Alan, but finds he is out of bullets. Alan is free to kill Tequila, but instead he slowly lowers his gun and walks away, smiling.Tequila is angered to think he may have nearly killed an undercover cop. He confronts Pang over this, who confirms Alan is one of his men, but states it sometimes goes with the job, as one of the 'gangsters' Tequila killed at the teahouse was also undercover. Although he does not react, Tequila is horrified by this. Later, Tequila confronts Alan at his boat on the docks, to try to make sense of the situation, but they are suddenly attacked by the remnants of Hoi's gang, seeking revenge. They manage to kill their attackers just before Wong arrives, allowing Alan to keep his cover. Wong realises one of his men, Foxy, is an informant for the police, which is how Tequila knew about Wong's raid on Hoi's arsenal. He has him beaten by Mad Dog, and tells Alan to finish the job. Alan slips a cigarette lighter into Foxy's pocket, where he shoots him, saving his life. A badly wounded Foxy finds Tequila, and is able to inform him that Wong's own arsenal is in the nearby Maple Group Hospital. Tequila takes Foxy to the hospital for treatment, unaware that Wong owns it and is informed of their arrival. Asking to make up for his mistake, Alan goes to kill Foxy at the hospital. Wong, growing suspicious, also sends Mad Dog separately and two other men to cover Alan. At the hospital, Alan and Tequila kill the two others, then Alan confronts Tequila, demanding to know the whereabouts of Wong's arsenal, which has been his mission all along. While Alan and Tequila are distracted with each other, Foxy is discovered and killed by Mad Dog; his throat slit with a medical scalpel and his body dumped down a laundry chute.After discovering a hidden entryway in the hospital morgue, Alan and Tequila find Johnny Wong's arsenal. Inside, they are confronted by Mad Dog, engaging him in prolonged fight. Wong arrives and, seeing the arsenal has been compromised, locks the hospital down, taking all the patients and staff hostage. Superintendent Pang and his squad, including Officer Chang, Tequila's girlfriend, had been summoned to the hospital by Tequila and are also captured. Mad Dog voices his disapproval of involving innocents, saying the fight should only be between the Triads and police, but Wong angrily dismisses this. After fighting their way to the main lobby, Alan and Tequila liberate Pang and the other police officers. Pang evacuates the lobby and begins directing the fight from the outside, while Chang goes to the maternity ward to organise evacuating the babies. The rest of the squad disperses throughout the hospital to assist the fight. As Alan and Tequila continue the fight, Alan accidentally kills one of Pang's squad. He goes into shock, until Tequila reveals his own feelings of guilt about the undercover cop he killed at the teahouse. Coming to his senses, Alan finds and engages Mad Dog, while Tequila goes to assist Chang with the babies. After a long chase, Alan and Mad Dog find themselves confronting each other with a group of patients caught in the middle. They simultaneously lower their weapons and both order the patients to leave, but Wong appears and begins shooting the patients. An enraged Mad Dog shoots Wong in the torso and attempts to shoot him in the head, but runs out of bullets; Wong proceeds to kill Mad Dog while Alan escapes in the confusion. Tequila finds the last baby in the maternity unit and carries it to safety while fighting off the last of the gangsters. Alan arrives and they are confronted by Johnny Wong, who has programmed bombs to blow up the building. Wong flees and Alan gives chase as the hospital begins exploding. Tequila escapes the hospital with the baby, barely getting out as it is destroyed. Everyone assumes Wong and Alan are dead.Suddenly, Wong appears, holding Alan at gunpoint. Calling Tequila out, he forces Tequila to humiliate himself, ordering him to slap himself repeatedly and admit his incompetence as a man, in exchange for Alan's life. Enraged, Alan grabs the gun and, in the struggle, shoots himself through the stomach. This gives Tequila enough time to shoot Wong dead through the eye. Although the police are victorious, it is a hollow victory as it seems Alan is dead. However, Pang and Tequila are seemingly the only ones aware that Alan has survived. As Pang burns Alan's file, Alan sails away from Hong Kong to his new life.