Hard Boiled (The 4K Restoration)

So, last night I rented the new 4K UHD stream of Hard Boiled. It was on other platforms but just yesterday I saw it available on Amazon. The first time I reviewed Hard Boiled was February of ’23; I explained my foolishness for thinking that The Killer (a great movie in its own right) was better, proclaimed how the second half was incredible & at the end, hoped that a proper restoration was done one day so people didn’t have to resort to YouTube or DVD for a lesser print of an all-timer action classic.

I can assuage fears or concerns that the 4K restoration process would go awry, via obvious DNR, AI disorder, or other complications. While I of course have never viewed an original 35mm print of Hard Boiled, it looks far better than I’d ever seen before; it on 4K UHD disc in the future would be sublime. Note that on Amazon, the default audio is English… BUT hitting “pause” and then hitting the down arrow on your remote to the “Audio Options” will allow you to change it to the original Cantonese language.

To copy and paste part of what I wrote in February, 2023:

“Long ago I viewed this motion picture for the first time; for reasons now not even known to me, I preferred The Killer so I waited so many years for a revisit. Turns out, I was a complete fool. As for 5 star ratings, I am personally stingy with them due to preference. This is a movie I could nitpick if I wanted to; however, I won't and as the second half is so masterfully done and was far more glorious than I had recalled, might as well give the film credit for that.

Instead of focusing on the underworld, John Woo wanted to make heroes out of police officers. The legendary Chow Yun-Fat played “Tequila;” imagine Dirty Harry if he played clarinet in a jazz band. Along with an undercover cop, they attempt to stop an upstart in “The Syndicate” along with his associates, including an appropriately named Mad Dog. The first half is pretty rad as there are great action beats to go along with the pathos and drama.

However, the second half raises all the stakes even higher than you can imagine. It's all OOT between character behaviors, the tragedy, the babies (oh yes, the final hour is entirely set in a hospital), the violence, the thousands of bullets fired, all the epic moments... it is like the thrill I still get when watching large stretches of other classics like Aliens or T2. Of course, everything revolving around one baby in particular is ludicrous but I'm sure that was the intention so might as well laugh along with the movie, right?

Perhaps it's how many movies in the 21st century (especially in the action genre) leave me wanting more or are just disappointing when it comes to those beats, but getting to see all the time and effort in putting together those astounding thrills and beats that still are effective…”

Much to my relief, besides Hard Boiled never looking better, the movie itself is still an incredible experience. What a cast; of course, Tony Leung and Chow Yun-Fat shone brightest. Last time, I lamented how Woo and Yun-Fat weren’t utilized properly by Hollywood. Perhaps that’s unfair-both had good or better films in Hollywood-although there was also dreck. Other foreign talent didn’t even have the luxury of decent American films.

In 2025, the operatic ballet of bloodshed, gunshots propelling people feet back, melodrama, and yes, thousands of bullets being shot—while I’m saddened that in the history of film there have been far too few epic action thrillers that could even come close to the majesty of all the gun-fu, the explosions, the memorable characters-I now appreciate the henchman Mad Dog more than before-and the interesting score (in this case, jazz-infused)… I’m glad that an all-timer action film finally has been properly restored for people to visit or revisit in the future.