John Woo’s 1992 Hard Boiled might actually be the greatest action film of all time. It certainly sits at the top of the heap, a masterfully directed opus, untouched thirty-one years later. Hard Boiled II: The Last Blood isn’t what you think it is. In fact, the Wong Jing (High Risk) directed movie isn’t a sequel at all.
It’s actually from 1990, has no relation to the Woo epic, and is also known as The Last Blood, but can also be found under the title 12 Hours of Terror. For whatever reason, it was dubbed Hard Boiled II when it was released on home video in the UK, and the title has stuck. Either way, 88 Films is back at it and has added The Last Blood (from here on out, this is the title I’ll use) to their 88 Asia Collection.
There’s a Japanese terrorist group known as The Red Army. They’re on the lookout for the Daki Lama, a Buddhist leader from Singapore, and they want him dead. He has plans to go back to Singapore in order to give a speech to world leaders, which would bring awareness to the poverty and destruction his country is living in.
With The Red Army ready to take him out, the only way he’ll survive is through the aid of a couple of cops, Hong Kong’s finest. With the Daki Lama being wounded and with a rare blood type, the law enforcement officers will have to protect the donor from the terrorists until he can delivered for the transfusion.
Wong Jing has always kind of delivered these oddball action films, crossing lines most filmmakers wouldn’t. The Last Blood is no exception. The bad guys could care less about children getting in their way, and it’s quite acceptable to make jokes about AIDS, at least it is in a Wong Jing film. The story is uneven and overly complicated when it doesn’t need to be. There is a hefty amount of gunplay, and the action doesn’t disappoint. If you’re expecting John Woo’s unmistakable beauty in violence, it’s more cartoonish and lacks style. That’s not to say it isn’t entertaining; just keep your expectations in check.
The one thing it does have in common with Woo’s classic is that they both have finales that take place in a hospital. The cast is highly entertaining, with Hong Kong legends like Alan Tam, Andy Lau, Leung Kar-Yan, and others hamming it up HK style, putting it all up on the screen.
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88 Films has once again put together a stacked package that includes a limited edition slipcase and poster, High Definition transfer, Cantonese audio track with English subtitles, an English dubbed track, an audio commentary track with Hong Kong film expert Frank Djeng, trailers, still gallery, and a reversible insert.
As long as you go into The Last Blood knowing it has nothing to do with Hard Boiled, you’ll enjoy this wacky piece of early ’90s action cinema.
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