Hard Boiled - Criterion Collection Edition

Among the rare out of print Criterion Collection titles, "Hard Boiled" was John Woo's last feature before leaving China to seek his fortune in the United States. It was also his last collaboration with long-time partner Chow Yun-Fat, who himself would later seek his fortune in the States as well. "Hard Boiled" offers up an exciting tale about two policeman going to two different extremes to bring down one of the Triads. Inspector "Tequila" Yuen (Yun-Fat) goes in guns blazing. Alan (Tony Leung) has gone so deep undercover that he is fearful of being discovered at any second. When the two find themselves crossing paths, they must find a way to trust one another in order to crack open a gun smuggling ring before it costs innocent lives. The movie itself is awesome. A very well told story woven between a series of spectacular action sequences, the likes of which Woo was the master of at the time. From the thrilling teahouse shoot-out right down to the heart-stopping third act in a hospital, it features everything action-fans want and then some. Nothing is pulled back and everyone gives it their all to put together one of the finest films of its kind. The Criterion Collection edition is unique for a few things. One is that it contains audio commentary Woo recorded a year after the film's release. He is joined throughout at producer Terence Chang, film critic Dave Kehr, and fan Roger Avary of "Pulp Fiction" fame. The insight gives fans a better understanding of the love that went into the film and how it has been appreciated since. The DVD also contains a student film Woo made called "Accidently." In comparison to the Dragon Dynasty edition, this DVD seems somewhat inferior visually. The picture quality is essentially a transfer from laserdisc straight to DVD with no digital clean-up and it is not anamorphic to widescreen television, although it mains the original picture ratio while Dragon Dynasty is slightly stretched. The sound is mono while Dragon Dynasty is supposedly 5.1, though I really couldn't hear the difference. The subtitles are somewhat different as Criterion's is an independent subtitle while Dragon Dynasty is word for word the dubbing dialogue. Great film enthusiasts will probably be looking for this DVD moreso than others, particularly those looking all things Criterion Collection as well as those who want some hard to get John Woo material. You really can't go wrong with either, really. If you're willing to put up the money or sweat it out with competition looking to snag it to, then go for it. It's a great pick up and well worth adding to any DVD library.Read full review