Review of Hard Boiled: Uncut

Introduction

Hard Boiled is the film that is probably responsible for introducing many people to Hong Kong cinema, and the resulting surge in popularity of the genre in the late 1990s.

Directed by John Woo and starring who for many is a living legend, Chow Yun Fat, the film is an ultra-violent thriller, stylishly made with breathtaking action sequences. I first saw the film when a friend lent me a tape several years ago, and quickly amassed a collection of Chow Yun Fat films, many of which are now seeing the light of day on DVD.

Video

Hong Kong movies have never been renowned for their picture quality, with many of the video releases looking pretty ropey. I owned the Tartan Video widescreen VHS version of Hard Boiled, and this DVD incarnation looks pretty much the same, with a grainy picture, differences in contrast and a fair bit of dirt on the print (with some scenes suffering particularly badly from marks on the image). Unfortunately, having seen numerous versions of this film over the years, this seems to be a problem with the master material, rather than this transfer.

Another problem with the video, again repeated on the VHS versions of this film, is the burned on subtitles occasionally being wider than the TV screen, not a huge problem, but enough to be an irritation when watching. On a positive side, the subtitles are of a higher standard than many other Hong Kong films – there’s no dubious translation!

Visually, this film is a masterpiece which can be enjoyed despite the below-par image quality. Woo’s trademark use of slow motion, spectacular gun battles and immaculate camera work makes wonderful viewing, even if I’ve seen this film on several occasions.

Audio

Sound comes in Dolby Digital 2.0 and features the Cantonese language track (English subtitles are “burned” onto the image).

The lack of a remix to 5.1 channels means that the sound is functional only, and doesn’t add much to the enjoyment of the film

The dialogue is clear throughout, although not speaking Cantonese, I’m not sure how understandable it is!

Features

The uncut/cut scene comparison is very dull, with two 30 second clips played side by side showing the single minor difference in a scene. There’s also a filmography, with textual interviews with Chow Yun Fat and Tony Leung, along with a video interview with John Woo, which is in Cantonese with subtitles and consists of an interview punctuated by various clips of his work.

Conclusion

Hard Boiled is a cult classic and deservedly so – the blend of action, style and ultra-violence has often been imitated but never equalled. The downside is that like many movies from Hong Kong, the picture, sound and subtitles are not great.

As far as this DVD goes, the only real benefit over the existing Tartan Video release is the John Woo interview because the video and sound quality are broadly similar – so it’s doubtful that anyone who already owns the VHS version should bother to buy this DVD.

However, for anyone who wants to get into Hong Kong cinema and see Chow Yun Fat doing what he does best (i.e. not prancing around in period costume), go out and pick up Hard Boiled, you won’t be disappointed, it’s one of the best of the genre.