Hard Boiled (1992)
Director - John Woo
DVD Released by : Mei Ah
Player reviewed with : Cyberhome 500
Features:
Cantonese Mono Soundtrack
Cantonese and Mandarin 5.1 and DTS Soundtracks
Database
Running Time : 128 min.
All Region
If you only know one action movie to come out of Hong Kong, chances are it's HARD BOILED. John Woo directs what many consider the quintessential action movie. Chow Yun Fat is Tequila, the Dirty Harry-styled cop. He will bring the bad guys to justice no matter what it takes. When he is denied leading a heavily armed SWAT team into a Triad warehouse, he just does it all by himself. On the opposite end of spectrum is Anthony Wong who plays Johnny. He is as bad as they come. With no regard for human life, he chooses to store an armory of illegal weapons in the must unlikely places. He wants to be the top arms dealer but he is being undercut by a rival. His solution is have his rivals top guy work for him. What he doesn't know is that Tony (Tony Leung), is an undercover cop. So undercover, that only the police chief knows who he is.

There have been many releases of HARD BOILED on DVD. The most sought after is the Criterion. This came out very early in the DVD years. Not much more than a port from the wonderful Criterion laser disc, it was packed with extras. Most are in the form of text on the screen, but it also had John Woo's student film, trailers, and a commentary. This soon went out of print and Mei Ah released their first version which is a flipper and very bright. Not much going for it. Winstar soon had their version which didn't have any extras but like the others, was non-anamorphic. For an anamorphic DVD, there was either the Tartan or HKVideo DVD's which are not playable on Region 1 DVD players. While the Tartan DVD is considered average at best, the HKVideo version has all the bells and whistles. Besides not being Region 1, the HKVideo DVD has forced French subtitles while the Cantonese soundtrack is used.

Mei Ah
Criterion
Winstar
While extras are a fine edition to a DVD, the main attraction, of course, is the movie. Mei Ah now brings us the first HARD BOILED DVD that is anamorphic and All Region. The DVD case is in a cardboard case that has the same art work as the picture above. This is actually pretty slick work from Mei Ah. It's the best looking cover of the bunch. I have the same poster hanging in my TV room. Why mention this? Face it, even some of the best import DVD's come off as being a little cheesy in the packaging department.

There are no special features so the menu gives you a chapter search, audio selections, a "database", and the option to play the movie. I usually start with the picture quality but this time I'll start with the audio. I am happy to say that this DVD has the original soundtrack in mono. There is also a 5.1 and DTS option. The mono mix is fine. Everything is mixed well and music and sound effects don't overpower the dialogue. The source is clean without hiss or pops. The 5.1 track is louder and provides more bass but I prefer the mono track. The mono track is in Cantonese and the rest of the soundtracks are Cantonese or Mandarin. As far as the sound goes, I think those that want the original mono will be happy as well as those who prefer the remixes. Some have mentioned a lip sync problem in the scene in which Tequila and the police chief are arguing. This is very slight and is also somewhat noticeable on the Winstar DVD.

Mei Ah
Criterion
Winstar
For picture quality, it's sort of a mixed bag. The source print could have used some restoration. There are specks on the print as well as some pin hole type damage at times. As a reference point, the Anchor Bay release of A BETTER TOMORROW had a better source print than Mei Ah has of HARD BOILED. I didn't notice the jump frames that plague some of the other versions with this one on the 47 inch screen. They do seem a little more noticeable on a 27 inch TV. The transfer itself is decent and on par with some of the better HK imports. The colors and black levels are adequate. This doesn't have the contrast problem of the previous Mei Ah release. To fully appreciate this transfer, watch some of the Criterion or Winstar versions and then pop this in your player. You will see a difference. While not major studio new release quality, this is a step up. Not perfect, but the best there is for Region 1.

The player-generated subtitles are readable but do contain some spelling errors. Nothing too distracting but they pop up occasionally. The translation is different than the Criterion and Winstar versions but the feeling is overall the same. I get the sense that this translation emphasizes the frustration of having the cops so undercover that they wind up fighting each other. The subtitles are good as far as imports go.

Mei Ah
Criterion
Winstar

So the big question now is if it's worth the upgrade from the Criterion or Winstar DVD's. If you have them, don't get rid of them for this one. Both have extras that are nice to have. You could probably live without a lot of them unless you are a diehard John Woo fan. If you have a large widescreen TV or don't have this movie already, go for it. You won't be sorry. Just bare in mind that "best there is at this time" doesn't mean perfect. The best version available is from the French label HKVIDEO and won't play in your region 1 player. It also has no English subtitles. We will almost never see a truly great release in region 1 because Buena Vista owns the rights. They were all set to release R rated, English dubbed versions but they were pulled at the last minute. Some say Woo himself was involved. So unless you speak or read French, the remastered Mei Ah DVD will do.

Reviewed 7/2/03, Updated 7/9/03