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Jeff Ewing is a critic, entertainment journalist, interviewer, and screenwriter in LA with a life-long love of horror and film history. He has an M.S. in Sociology from the University of Oregon, and a B.A. in Philosophy from Eastern Washington University. He's been writing about horror and sci-fi film and TV for fifteen years, with bylines in Collider, Inverse, Slashfilm, Looper, The Playlist, Forbes, and elsewhere.
Jeff also has contributions in a number of Pop Culture and Philosophy books, and co-edited two books: Alien and Philosophy and Stranger Things and Philosophy. In this track, he founded, hosts, and produces the monster podcast Humanoids from the Deep Dive, which digs into the history, themes, and meanings behind favorite monsters and monster movies/TV series.
John Woo is a living legend as one of the most influential action movie directors of all time. While his U.S. career boasts popular titles like Face/Off, Mission: Impossible 2, and Paycheck, the director is perhaps most influential for his unique style and work in Hong Kong action cinema. In early Hong Kong classics like Hard Boiled, A Better Tomorrow, and The Killer, Woo perfected what came to be known as Gun Fu. With their slow-motion, guns-akimbo gunfights, and bizarre, inventive, beautiful action set-pieces, these movies inspired The Matrix, the John Wick franchises, the works of Quentin Tarantino, numerous video games, and more. Collider previously broke the news that beautiful 4K remasters of Hard Boiled, A Better Tomorrow, and The Killer are hitting theaters in about 800 screens across the U.S. in the first few months of this year, all as part of a fruitful collaboration between Shout, Hong Kong Cinema Classics, and GKIDS.
The first of these screenings to hit is the gloriously bonkers Hard Boiled, Woo's final film before his pivot into Hollywood. The film follows Chow Yun-fat as Inspector "Tequila" Yuen Ho-yan, an alcoholic police sergeant who refuses to play by the rules. He partners with undercover cop Tony Leung Chiu-wai, who is posing as a Triad assassin, to bust a gun smuggling ring led by Triad boss Johnny Wong (Anthony Wong)... from the basement of a hospital. With Hard Boiled's gorgeous remaster hitting theaters January 25, 26, and 28, Collider is thrilled to bring you an exclusive sneak peek from Woo's Q&A at the film's 4K BeyondFest screening, courtesy of American Cinematheque.
One of Hard Boiled's Best Scenes Got Too Close for Chow Yun-fat's Comfort
Perhaps the film's most daring and memorable sequence involves the Special Duties Unit's efforts to rescue a gaggle of adorable babies from the hospital's besieged maternity ward (let's see The Pitt try pulling THAT off). Tequila struggles to rescue one final, adorable baby, holding the tyke in one arm while fighting off armed Triad gangsters with a pistol in the other. As a Triad heavy sets bombs to blow the hospital up, triggering a mad dash for Tequila to vacate the hospital in time with the baby in tow. In the snippet above, Woo discusses the secret behind the scene's realism (and Chow Yun-fat's believable performance): Woo triggered the bombs closer than the esteemed action performer would like, to get a sense of real danger.
It's a memorably unhinged scene in a fantastic sequence in one of the best movies in action history. With the 4K release being based on the original camera negatives, with enhanced audio and retranslated subtitles, it's never been a better-looking cinematic experience here in the States, a must-see for action movie fans and cinephiles alike.
Following the Hard Boiled re-release, A Better Tomorrow hits theaters March 1, 2, and 4, while The Killer debuts April 5, 6, and 8. Anyone who likes good things can't afford to miss them.
English (US) ·