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(aka "Lashou shentan" or "Hard Boiled" or "God of Guns" or "Hot-Handed God of Cops" or "Ruthless Super-Cop")
directed
by John Woo
Hong Kong 1992
Violence as poetry, rendered by a master—brilliant and passionate, John Woo’s Hard Boiled tells the story of jaded detective “Tequila” Yuen (played with controlled fury by Chow Yun-fat). Woo’s dizzying odyssey through the world of Hong Kong Triads, undercover agents, and frenzied police raids culminates unforgettably in the breathless hospital sequence. More than a cops-and-bad-guys story, Hard Boiled continually startles with its originality and dark humor.
Posters
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Theatrical Release: September 12th, 1992 - Toronto Film Festival
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Comparison:
Tartan - Region 2- PAL vs. Long Shong Int. (Taiwan) - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Fox/Lorber- Region 1 vs. Mei Ah Region 0 NTSC vs. Dragon Dynasty - Weinstein (2-disc Ultimate Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. TF1 Vidéo (France)- Region 2- PAL vs. Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC
Big thanks Henrik Sylow, Vincent Bouche and Enrico for the screen captures
(Tartan - Region 2- PAL LEFT vs. Long Shong International - Region 0 - NTSC 2nd Fox Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC 3rd -. Mei Ah Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)
| DVD Box Covers |
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| Distribution |
Tartan Video / Asia Extreme Region 2- PAL |
Long Shong International Region 0 - NTSC |
Fox/Lorber - Winstar Region 1 - NTSC |
Mei
Ah Region 0 - NTSC |
| Runtime | 2:02:20 (4% PAL speedup) | 2:16:12 | 2:07:24 | 2:07:24 |
| Video |
1.86:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
1.60:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.19 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s |
1.70:1
Original Aspect Ratio |
1.77:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
| Bitrates: |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Bitrate: Tartan + Long Shong |
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| Bitrate:
Fox + Mei Ah |
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| Audio | Cantonese (Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono, 5.1 and DTS), English (Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono and 5.1) | DUB: Mandarin (Dolby Digital 2.0) | Cantonese (Dolby Digital 1.0), English (Dolby Digital 1.0) |
Cantonese (Dolby Digital 5.1) + Mono + DTS, Mandarin (Dolby Digital 5.1) |
| Subtitles | English, None | English, Chinese (simplified) - simultaneously burned in | English, None | English, Chinese (traditional + simplified) Japanese, None. |
| Features |
Release Information: Studio: Tartan Video / Asia Extreme
Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: DVD Release Date: September 27th, 2004 Transparent Keep case Chapters 17
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Release Information: Studio: Long Shong International Aspect Ratio: DVD Release Date: April 2004 Keep Case Chapters 4 |
Release Information: Studio: Fox Lorber Aspect Ratio: DVD Release Date: October 3, 2000 Keep Case
Chapters 30
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Release Information: Studio: Mei Ah Aspect Ratio:
DVD Release Date: March 19th, 2002 Cardboard Case Chapters 12 |
(Dragon Dynasty - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT vs. TF1 Vidéo - Region 2- PAL MIDDLE vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)
| Comments: |
ADDITION: Dragon Dynasty - Region 1 - NTSC - July 07': the image of
the new Dragon Dynasty can't come close to the English-unfriendly TF1
but it looks fairly unmanipulated with some scattered digital noise.
Image quality it is probably most similar to the PAL Tartan Extreme
edition. Audio sounded excellent to
my ear - it offers the original mono plus 5.1, DTS upgrades and even a 5.1
English DUB. Subs are available in English and English for the hearing
impaired. NOTE: the Dragon Dynasty subtitles are really DUB-titles and we therefore dismiss this recommendation. Supplements are extensive - first a (new?) commentary by Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan. Then on disc 2 we have a 38 minute featurette called Baptism of Fire which includes a discussion with director John Woo. There are 3 interviews; Partner in Crime: with Terence Chong (24:56), Art Imitates Life: with Philip Chan (15:56) and Mad Dog Bites Again: with Kwok Choi (25:03). There is a short Hard Boiled location guide (8:49) and some trailers (Hong Kong and US Promotional) plus a sellout advert for John Woo's shoot-em-up video game. For the supplements it's a good price at less than $20 - but the DUBtitles are a serious error.
**** NOTE: Regarding the UK release (TARTAN), there’s a suggestion that the opening (Chinese) window-boxed credits are an effort to maximize the available image. I’m not convinced, however. There’s a hidden TITLE-4 on the disc (perhaps it’s an Easter-egg) that contains the English version of the opening and closing credits and these are anamorphic. I would venture that Tartan used an anamorphic master containing these English credits and simply lopped them off, replacing them with a conversion of non-anamorphic titles from their own older master. Might be worth noting. (Thanks Victor) ADDITION (Tartan - October 2004) - The Tartan DVD is noted as "True anamorphic presentation" and has the most frame information. The entire intro, with Chow playing clarinet is underscanned, revealing the entire frame of 1.86:1. The Tartan is slightly less vibrant in colours than the TF! and is more "blue-ish", but overall a stunning image. The Tartan edition also comes with newly created English subtitles, which fade. They are not based on the English dub, but on the Cantonese dialogue. Finally the menus are a delight. All with animated sequences accompanied by the jazz score. Henrik Sylow ********** Addition: The Long Shong DVD is filled with problems - ghosting, severely cropped, hazy. It does sport an intermission where a color bar flashes for an instance and then a black screen, but not a reason to get this DVD in my opinion. It is filled with artifacts and the burned in dual subtitles are the final nail in the coffin. Add to that no Extra features. Take a pass. ********** There are many fans of this film and, because of that, three of these editions at one time or another were OOP (Out of Print). Mei Ah have re-mastered their first effort and added 5.1 sound. All editions seem to have some issues. The TF1 Video edition has by far the best image, but most unfortunately no English subtitles (only French and an option for a French DUB). The new Mei Ah has no Extras worth speaking of, comes in a nice cardboard box, has flaws in the subtitles, is the only edition, aside from the TF1, that is anamorphic and the picture is slightly cropped and very saturated. Okay, the Criterion has the best Extras, is severely over-matted (cropped) and has the original Mono sound. The Fox - Lorber release is the best of the three English subtitled releases with the 'fullest' image (still miles away from the TF1 Video), a directors commentary and the original mono sound. I've read that the Mono sound is better than the 5.1/DTS offering on the Mei Ah - so our recommendation is quite scattered. TF1 for image, Mei Ah/TF1 for audio, Criterion for Extras. As a package with English subs, I would consider the Fox/Lorber. NOTE: The Meh AI DVD is the only DVD that has an actual English translation of the Cantonese dialog. The FOX and Criterion DVDs are dubtitles, which means they are based off the English dub. From the asiandvdguide board:
"Hard-Boiled Taiwanese DVD runs
a few minutes longer than the HK cut and has lots of extra/extended
scenes and a few sequences that have been edited together differently.
The most glaring differences between the two cuts are during the
hospital evacuation sequence and the ensuing shootouts: they are
edited together completely differently with shots added to and deleted
from the Taiwanese disc. The DVD is Mandarin dubbed (English spoken
parts intact) and it contains a different music score, at times
playing music where there is none on the HK cut. "
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DVD Menus
Dragon Dynasty Disc 1
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Dragon Dynasty Disc 2
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(Tartan / Asian Extreme - Region 2- PAL TOP RIGHT
vs. Long Shong International - Region 0 - NTSC
TOP LEFT - -.
Fox Lorber - Region 1 - NTSC MIDDLE LEFT -. Mei Ah Region 0 - NTSC -
MIDDLE RIGHT TF1 Vidéo - Region 2- PAL BOTTOM LEFT
vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM RIGHT)
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Screen Captures
Dragon Dynasty are really using DUB-titles - pass.
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(Tartan / Asia Extreme - Region 2- PAL TOP vs. Long Shong Int. - Region 0 - NTSC 2nd vs. Fox Lorber - Region 1 - NTSC 3rd -. Mei Ah Region 0 - NTSC 4th -- vs. Dragon Dynasty - Region 1 - NTSC 5th vs. TF1 Vidéo - Region 2 - PAL - 6th vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
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Tartan / Asian Extreme |
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Long Shong Int. |
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Fox Lorber |
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Mei Ah |
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Dragon Dynasty |
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TF1 Vidéo |
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Criterion |
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Report Card:
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Image: |
TF1 Video |
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Sound: |
Dragon Dynasty |
| Extras: | Dragon Dynasty |
| Menu: | Dragon Dynasty |
| DVD Box Covers |
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| Distribution |
Tartan Video / Asia Extreme Region 2- PAL |
Long Shong International Region 0 - NTSC |
Fox/Lorber - Winstar Region 1 - NTSC |
Mei
Ah Region 0 - NTSC |
| DVD Box Covers |
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| Distribution |
Dragon Dynasty Region 1 - NTSC |
TF1 Vidéo Region 2- PAL |
Criterion Collection Spine # 9 Region 1 - NTSC |
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