John Woo’s Last True Hong Kong Masterpiece Was This Vicious Dirty Harry-Inspired Thrill Ride
John Woo's last true Hong Kong masterpiece was the action crime thriller Hard Boiled, inspired by Dirty Harry.
The legendary Hong Kong films of director John Woo have influenced American action filmmakers for nearly four decades. He crafted a new visual language through his signature ‘heroic bloodshed’ storylines that featured eye-popping gunplay mixed with melodramatic themes. As the crossover success of A Better Tomorrow and The Killer resulted in his global influence on action cinema by the early ‘90s, Woo proved that he was ready for Hollywood when he made his magnum opus, Hard Boiled,in 1992.
