Hard Boiled

Hard Boiled (Chinese: 辣手神探) is a 1992 Hong Kong action thriller film directed by John Woo from a screenplay by Gordon Chan and Barry Wong based on a story written by Woo. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and Anthony Wong. It follows a police inspector whose investigation of a brutal Triad leader entangles him in the complex world of undercover policing. The film was John Woo's last Hong Kong film before his transition to Hollywood. After receiving criticism for making films that glamorized gangsters, Woo wanted to make a Dirty Harry-styled film to glamorize the police. With the death of screenwriter Barry Wong, the film's screenplay underwent constant changes during filming. New characters such as Mad Dog and Mr. Woo were introduced, while the original plotline of a baby-poisoning psychopath was cut. Hard Boiled was released in Hong Kong in 1992 to generally positive audience reception. Though it was not as commercially successful as Woo's A Better Tomorrow, it still did slightly better than The Killer in the domestic box office. Reception from Western critics was much more positive, with many critics and film scholars describing its action scenes as being among the best ever filmed. In 2007, a video game sequel titled Stranglehold was released.