Lat sau san taam (1992)

Director:

John Woo

Writers:

John Woo (story)
Barry Wong (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 April 1992 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

As a cop, he has brains, brawn, and an instinct to kill.

Plot:

A tough-as-nails cop teams up with an undercover agent to shut down a sinister mobster and his crew.

Plot Keywords:

Gun | Undercover | Partner | Hong Kong | Detective

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Yun-Fat Chow	...	Insp. 'Tequila' Yuen
Tony Leung Chiu Wai	...	Tony (as Tony Leung)
Teresa Mo	...	Teresa Chang
Philip Chan	...	Supt. Pang
Philip Kwok	...	Mad Dog (as Cheng Jue-Luh)
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	Johnny Wong (as Anthony Wong)
Hoi-Shan Kwan	...	Mr. Hoi (as Kwan Hoi Sang)
Wei Tung	...	Foxy (as Tung Wai)
Bowie Lam	...	Ah Lung
Meng Lo	...	Lonny (as Johnson Law)
Bobbie Au-Yeung	...	Lionheart (as Bobby Au Yeung)
Shui Ting Ng	...	Ah Chung (as Ng Shui-Tung)
Kong Lau	...	Hospital Director
Wai-Sun Lam	...	Hitman 1
Benny Lam	...	Hitman 2

Also Known As:

Hard Boiled (UK) (USA)
Hard-Boiled (Hong Kong: English title) (International: English title)
God of Guns
Hot-Handed God of Cops (Hong Kong: English title) (literal title)
La shou shen tan (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Ruthless Super-Cop

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive violence and some language.

Runtime:

126 min | Germany:92 min (cut version) | Taiwan:131 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1994) | Finland:K-18 (2001) | Iceland:16 | Germany:18 (video rating) (heavily cut) | Germany:18 (re-rating) (JK/SPIO) (uncut) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Sweden:15 (uncut) | Malaysia:(Banned) | USA:R | Philippines:R-18 | Chile:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Canada:XXX (Nova Scotia) | France:-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:18 | Germany:16 (heavily cut)

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Golden Princess Film Production Limited

Trivia:

The "hallway shot" in the hospital was put in to break the monotony of filming. It was set up in about a day and a half. The crew had to all sit in one little room and watch the action via a series of monitors strategically placed along the hallway. Steadicams had proven to be too heavy, so Woo had his cameramen use hand-held cameras. Woo wanted to do the shot all in one take, but money was running low, so (even though the crew offered to work for free) he had to splice two shots together.

Goofs:

Continuity: After shooting the mysterious "machine gunner" at point blank range to end the Teahouse shoot out, the shot Tequila fired leaves a gory glob of blood on his face. However, when Tequila rushes to the side of his fallen partner, Benny in the Teahouse, the blood on Tequila's face appears to be only a small dried smudge on his face even though it's supposed to be just moments after Tequila shot the thug. While Tequila could've wiped his face, there's less kitchen flour on his face and clothes than a moment ago as well.

Quotes:

Alan: When I'm a Triad, the cops want to kill me and when I'm a cop, everyone wants to kill me! I'm a scared man.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Aan: Men at Work (2004)

Soundtrack:

Hello

Relentless and explosive

An action film at heart. The story of gun smuggling is just a backing just big enough to support the relentless action scenes.

Motorcycles exploding in mid-air, cars blowing up, shotguns, pistols, submachine guns, bombs...it's all here.

They all make for some of the best action sequences ever filmed. A good mix of the gritty and realistic with the improbable and totally fake. Though I think that the ending is bit too much. But what can you expect from Woo aside from a molotov cocktail of intense explosive action and violence?

Action and cult movie fans are advised to watch this film, however others might be turned off by it. 7/10

Rated R: intense strong violence