Hard Boiled....It's about time.

[Kithyen]

Hard Boiled at Amazon

Hard Boiled IMDB Page

For anyone that doesn't know, this was John Woo's final film before his doppleganger came over to the US and started making crap. If you're not a fan of action, stay far away. I think their's maybe thirty minutes of film that doesn't have explosions or guns going off. Not to say it doesn't have interesting characters but it seems to know it's an action movie first.

I've been waiting for this movie to have a proper release for a while. I've heard some complaints about this version having a wierd aspect ratio (Apparently they took the original and stretched it to meet 1:85:1 standard here or something) so that it looks like the actors put on some pounds. I've seen the still capture comparisons on a different site and it doesn't seem to be that noticable.

Also some complaints about 'dubtitles' which I guess is another way of saying it's not a good translation for the english subtitles. Everything I've read about the audio is nothing short of amazing. I'll probably be picking it up when I get paid.

Now we just need a decent cleaned up release of "The Killer" and I'll be completely satisfied.

[Aslanna]

What was wrong with the Criterion Collection version?

[Kithyen]

I didn't have access to the criterion because for the longest time it was only available thru ebay or other online auction services. And for the longest while it was expensive even for a used copy. It's fallen down in price but from the prices I've seen online it's still more than I want to spend on a dvd. Regardless of some of the decisions that were made for the Dragon Dynasty release it's nice to see a more widely available version of it without having to buy the criterion online and possibly worrying about getting a bootlegged copy of it instead (which I've heard had been happening a bit with both The Killer and Hard Boiled)

If you have the Criterion, than this release probably won't do much else for you, minus the new audio track. For those that have never owned a copy or have only seen a cruddy bootlegged copy as I have this is the perfect chance to get it.

[Hesten]

Hehe, i already got both the (BAD quality) US releases, and the danish releases of both Hard Boiled and The Killer.

Can only reccomend them, great movies. Oh, and if you like Hard Boiled, the game Stranglehold are coming, its a sequel to the movie.