Hard Boiled (1992)

I remember seeing The Killer in my formative years. It was one of the first foreign films I saw, I think it was a subtitled pan & scan VHS version. But, I wasn't very impressed with it, so it took me a while to seek out Criterion's other John Woo film, Hard Boiled. Netflix has the Mei Ah disc for rent, which should only be watched if it's your last option. The A/V isn't bad, a slightly problematic anamorphic transfer and DTS audio that sounds almost completely mono. The worst part, by far, is the subtitles. They're laughably bad, and really ruin the effect of most of the scenes. It's hard to take Chow Yun Fat seriously when he's just called somebody a "motherful," or when his girlfriend says "Thanks you very much!"

That said, it's hard to judge the movie fairly, since it's really hard to note the film's merits when you're giggling over the subtitles. Mostly, the film isn't bad for what it is. The plot is very flimsy, merely a loose bridge from one outrageous gunfight to the next. Early on, most of the gunplay wasn't even too impressive, but during the second half of the movie, when the action shifts towards the hospital, the action gets surprisingly good. You can really see how Woo considers his gunfights more along the lines of a ballet.

So, plot is nonexistant, but the action in the second half is very solid. A decent flick if you can turn your brain off. And if not, the Mei Ah subtitles are incredibly hilarious. So, y'know, there's always that.