People are reviewing this movie as if it was the John Woo masterpiece "Hardboiled". It is NOT. The cover art is misleading and so is the back. This movie is as some have pointed out a boring no action light hearted 80s HK cop film. There is almost no action and I don't think there are 2 guns in the movie let alone in his hands at one time. The movie HardBoiled that most people are referring to with the hospital gun battle, etc. is awesome. This movie is far from it and video stores should be ashamed as displaying this movie for anything other then it is. My friend rented it thinking it would be hardboiled, it of course wasn't, even though the clerk at the store assured him it was and said he had rented it before. IGNORE the high rating on this site ppl are reviewing the wrong movie. This one sucks bad, avoid at all costs.
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Zoopansick1 February 2005
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'Hard Boiled Killers' is not to be mistaken for the later-made Woo film 'Hard Boiled'. A film 'Hard Boiled Killers' is direly hoping to be mistaken for. I reiterate, *DO NOT* mistake this film for Woo's work, regardless of the multiple references made to him on the slip cover. The director of this film is not Woo and the film does not in any way resemble a Woo film aside from the police theme and the clever re-title. 'Hard Boiled Killers' is an off beat comedy surrounding the life of a rookie cop (Chow Yun Fat) and his early years on the crooked British run Hong Kong Police force. It involves a lot of schtick, potty humor, sex jokes, an indescribably rank vomit filled pale, and many other bits you'd associate with a Chinese comedy targeted towards an adult audiences. At times it heralds a humorous response. After all who expects the knife wielding female assassin to scrap the epitaph: 'F__K YOU' (in english of all things) on a wall of cardboard in a failed attempt to dismember the hero. At other times one will instead scratch their head, both out of confusion at what's occurring and at what's being said in the small amateurish subtitles, which seemed to be ripped straight from the HK theater release. This meaning nothing less than a 30 inch screen and brand new print will be required to make sense of many of the small fuzzy english subtitles that plague the film. The whole thing reeks of the cartoon style one might see in an 80's Chan film sans the clever stunts and kung fu. The title, as earlier implied, is an atrocious print. This is however not something peculiar to hardened HK cinemaphiles and can be easily overlooked by the hardcore enthusiast. The content is good for cheap some laughter and some finger pointing. Chow goes into a brothel and mistakenly slaps around an undercover cop posing as a hooker hoping to get a confession. Chow zealously deals out parking tickets to prominent crime figures. Chow reaches into a puke filled bucket to retrieve his gun after a brutal one sided fight with half a dozen Triad. Chow does a lot of things, and some of them are funny. However, reasons you will most likely detest this work include the following: -Seemingly nobody dies. Anytime it looks as if they might, they merely climb back to their feet and do a "look at the pretty birdies" take. -Guns are so under exploited in the film one shouldn't even expect to see a shoot out. As I recall Fat does not discharge a weapon till the final scene in a schtick duel with three assassins. -Men with their genitals connected to a car battery while seated firmly on a block of ice might arise a chuckle, but they also set the tone for a lot of jokes that are just a head shake and a groan. -Your personal 20 inch RCA TV/VCR combo will require you to sit three inches away from the screen squinting to make out what's being said. That is if you bother to read it at all. -You'll miss the kung fu and stylish stunt work that makes Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and The Five Lucky Stars early work so entertaining if not a bit on the camp side (part of the beauty, no?). In commence, this film is a unique example of the absurd earlier projects Chow Yun Fat toiled before truly igniting as a success both at home and worldwide. If you enjoy 80's HK camp this might be up your alley provided you've seen most of the other stuff at the local video store. If you like Chow Yun Fat, well.. it's got Chow Yun Fat. If you happen to be a Woo fan, you've obviously picked up the wrong flick, you want 'Hard Boiled' which is probably miscategorized somewhere in action/foreign/martial arts.
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Gabe318523 November 2003that is the question that you will b asking urself. this movie does not make any sense. the back of the movie box is misleading, it talks about a hitman and a witness which doesnt happen in the movie. the movie is all over the place and the last scene is looped over so badly that u can tell it was looped because the music restartes. but the final and the only action scene is kinda funny. so please stay away!!!!
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cj715 August 2001This movie starts off with the main characters talking and introducing the plot. Fair enough - so does any movie. However, this goes on for over an hour (during which they do nothing but talk), by the end of which you'll most likely be asleep. This is made worse by the absolutely awful English dub, making it almost unwatchable.
About halfway through the film, the scene changes dramatically to a hospital, which is cue for an hour-long gun-fight. Now, there's nothing wrong with a gunfight in a film, and some of the scenes are very stylish - but the sheer length of the thing means that you'll be struggling to stay awake near the end. Since all the characters are wearing similar clothes, no-one really knows who is on who's side and it ends up as a all-on-all deathmatch, with people randomly shooting each other and the civilians.
Worth watching the second half for a laugh, but don't try and take it seriously. -
kartaron11 August 2001Some previous reviewers of this movie have either mistaken it for The Killer or Hard Boiled. It isnt too hard to mistake them when the people who released this movie retitled it and put some pictures from these movies on the cover. In truth this movie is titled Police Sir (or Be The First) a slapstick comedy more like the keystone kops than a John Woo film. It begins with Chow Yun Fat, a newly graduated officer coming on to his first day on the force. Because he is new he doesnt understand the right way to do things. This leads to all sorts of silliness and humor based in the Hong Kong? culture. There are some hints about corruption and incompetence on the police force that run through the movie. These might have been meant to be funny though at the time I was expecting a serious Woo action film. It is filmed poorly, my copy had huge objects on parts of the film and whole scenes are unwatchable due to dust and hair. Stay away unless you love eastern hong kong comedy and can find a great copy but dont be mistaken that this is a very silly movie.
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Hard Boiled Killers Taking the "eye by eye"philosophy as in Charles Bronson's Film,the "always firing and never reload the weapon" bug as Rambo and artistic concept of violence like "The Warriors" (but never so fine as "A Clockwork Orange"). Funny but bore. The action scenes are good, but there is no more. "hard boiled", probably because the first killings starts when a water heater with boiling water ready for tea is throwing and pouring over a man.
The real influence and fame was obtained because Yun-Fat Chow constantly fires two guns using both hands, an innovative performance in 1980,it will be very imitated after in movies and videogames. -
jasonpittman-18 December 2001This film is rubbish don't get it confused with Hard Boiled it's a light comedy with light gun play and the cover does not reflect the contents of the film. Only watch this film if you are a die hard Chow Yun Fat fan and even then you will be disappointed.
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Stubert00112 June 2004If You Know Jon Woo Movies, Then You Will Know That He Likes To Think Of His Movies As Old Kung Fu Movies. Instead Of Duel Swords He Uses Duel Pistols. And You Don't Reload Swords, So Why Would You Reload Pistols. I Think Its A Very Cool Idea. And, This Movie Was No Exception. Cool Shoot Outs, Good Characters, Cool Movie. Although I Must Admit, It Was A Little Disturbing To See A Bunch Of People Kill A Bunch Of Patients And Nurses In A Hospital.
Chow Yun Fat Always Seems To Play Cops That Have Their Own Style Of Doing Things, Other Than By The Book. Even Though His Techniques Are A Little Blunt, He Still Gets The Job Done. And, I Couldn't Imagine Anyone Else Other Than Mr. Fat Doing It.