Hard Boiled 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.
Theatrical release poster
Anthony Wong, who portrayed triad boss Johnny Wong
Director John Woo acted in Hard Boiled as a bartender who would give Chow Yun-fat's character advice. Woo's character was developed after filming had already started.
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese and Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling and aesthetic traditions, which Hong Kong filmmakers combined with elements from Hollywood and Japanese cinema along with new action choreography and filmmaking techniques, to create a culturally distinctive form that went on to have wide transcultural appeal. In turn, Hollywood action films have been heavily influenced by Hong Kong genre conventions, from the 1970s onwards.
Scene from the wuxia film Buddha's Palm (1964). The magic qi rays are created using crude hand-drawn animation.
Bruce Lee in 1971
Jackie Chan in 2002
John Woo in 2005