The fight scenes are brilliantly choreographed, with heroes and villains pulling off the most (improbable) acrobatic feats; the scenes are edited at a breakneck pace; the production design is grand and baroque; the violence is brutal and intense – anyone who watches an action film by the Chinese director John Woo knows that this is exactly what to expect. Woo has, therefore, left a significant mark on the action film genre with his films. It is no surprise that he eventually ended up in Hollywood, where he made films such as Hard Target, Face/Off and Mission Impossible II in his characteristic style. Before he left for the US, he made Hard Boiled.

In Hong Kong, rival gangs are waging war over a lucrative arms trade. During a shootout in a teahouse, the partner of the hardened police officer ‘Tequila’ Yuen is killed. Yuen is determined to dismantle the criminal triad responsible for this. He finds an ally in the ruthless hitman Tony, an agent who has infiltrated the triad.