Hard Boiled tells the tale of a cop set out for revenge.  Chow Yun-Fat stars as Inspector Tequila Yuen, a "hard-boiled" cop whose partner is gunned down and killed in a teahouse shootout.  Hell-bent on vengeance, Tequila focuses on taking out the gun smuggling outfit responsible for his partner's demise.  At the same time that Tequila is on a manhunt to bring down Johnny Wong (Anthony Wong) and his Triad gun smuggling organisation, Alan (Tony Leung), an undercover cop works from the inside as a Triad member.  The problem is that Tequila doesn't know about the undercover cop.  When the two eventually butt heads, conflicts abound and they must work together to stay alive and ultimately take down the Triad.

It's so easy to gush over the Hong Kong action films where John Woo directs and Chow Yun-Fat stars.  John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat reinvented the action film.  A Better Tomorrow is awesome.  A Better Tomorrow II is awesome.  The Killer is awesome.  So it goes without saying that... Hard Boiled is awesome!  What's exceptionally great about Hard Boiled is the teaming up of Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung.  The two men mean business.  They don't fuck around and they stop at nothing to finish the job.  When the two team up, the bodies pile up!  Not to mention Anthony Wong stars as the crime boss.  It's a Hong Kong action star trifecta.

Sure, Hard Boiled has the stereotypically cheesy detective movie sax music, but it also has some of the most action-packed and ruthless action sequences ever committed to film.  It's hard to say that with Hard Boiled, John Woo topped The Killer, but it's true.  This film is a superb shoot 'em up. The action sequences are tightly choreographed and relentless.  This mixed with slow motion violence reinstates the notarization of the "bullet ballet."  In one instance a hospital is even completely and utterly destroyed by bullets and bombs.

If you haven't already catalogued Hard Boiled in your action movie repertoire then this Two-Disc Ultimate Edition gives you the excuse.

Alliance Films, The Weinstein Company and Dragon Dynasty present Hard Boiled in a Two-Disc Ultimate Edition.  The video is 2.35:1 anamorphic with Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS audio options, as well as English Dolby Digital 5.1 and mono.  Both English and Spanish subtitles are available.  There are a bunch of Special Features for fans to go through.  Disc one contains an audio commentary by Bey Logan, a 'Hong Kong Cinema expert'.  The bulk of the supplemental features are found on Disc two.  We begin with 'A Baptism of Fire: A Featurette with Iconic Director John Woo', an extensive interview with John Woo regarding the film and runs 38-minutes in length.  Under the 'Interview Gallery' menu there is 'Partner in Crime: An Interview with Producer Terence Chang' running 25-minutes.  'Art Imitates Life: An Interview with Co-star Philip Chan' is a 16-minute interview with the actor who played Superintendant Pang.  'Mad Dog Bites Again: An Interview with Leading Villain Kwok Choi' runs 25-minutes and this time the interview is conducted in Cantonese with English subtitles.  Moving on is a 9-minute featurette, 'Hard Boiled Location Guide' which takes a look at some of the filming locations of Hard Boiled.  Rounding out the extras is a Hong Kong theatrical trailer and US promo trailer for Hard Boiled as well as the cool 'Stranglehold Video Game Mini-Making-of' which showcases the game based on John Woo action films.

The Killer and Hard Boiled are available in a Value Pack DVD Set from Alliance Films.

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 DVD SPECS:
 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 16:9 widescreen
 Region: NTSC R1
 Audio: Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS, English Dolby Digital 5.1, Mono

 SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
 - Audio Commentary by Bey Logan
 - A Baptism of Fire: A Featurette with Iconic Director John Woo
 - Partner in Crime: An Interview with Producer Terence Chang
 - Art Imitates Life: An Interview with Co-star Philip Chan
 - Mad Dog Bites Again: An Interview with Leading Villain Kwok Choi
 - Hard Boiled Location Guide
 - Hong Kong theatrical trailer
 - US promo trailer
 - Stranglehold Video Game Mini-Making-of