Hard Boiled

Hard Boiled
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Woo
Screenplay by	Gordon Chan Barry Wong
Story by	John Woo
Produced by	Linda Kuk Terence Chang
Starring	Chow Yun-fat Tony Leung Chiu-wai Teresa Mo Philip Chan Philip Kwok Anthony Wong
Cinematography	Wang Wing-heng
Edited by	John Woo David Wu Kai Kit-wai Jack Ah
Music by	Michael Gibbs
Production companies	Golden Princess Film Production Milestone Pictures
Distributed by	Golden Princess Film Production
Release date	16 April 1992 (1992-04-16) (Hong Kong)
Running time	128 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese
Budget	US$4.5 million[1]
Box office	HK$19.7 million (HK) US$71,858 (US) 85,104 tickets (France)

Hard Boiled (Chinese: 辣手神探)^[2] is a 1992 Hong Kong action thriller film directed by John Woo from a screenplay by Gordon Chan and Barry Wong based on a story written by Woo. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and Anthony Wong. It follows a police inspector whose investigation of a brutal Triad leader entangles him in the complex world of undercover policing.

The film was John Woo's last Hong Kong film before his transition to Hollywood. After receiving criticism for making films that glamorized gangsters, Woo wanted to make a Dirty Harry-styled film to glamorize the police. With the death of screenwriter Barry Wong, the film's screenplay underwent constant changes during filming. New characters such as Mad Dog and Mr. Woo were introduced, while the original plotline of a baby-poisoning psychopath was cut.

Hard Boiled was released in Hong Kong in 1992 to generally positive audience reception. Though it was not as commercially successful as Woo's A Better Tomorrow, it still did slightly better than The Killer in the domestic box office. Reception from Western critics was much more positive, with many critics and film scholars describing its action scenes as being among the best ever filmed. In 2007, a video game sequel titled Stranglehold was released.