Hard Boiled - Plot

Plot

In a tea house in Hong Kong, Officer "Tequila" Yuen (Chow Yun-Fat) and his partner Benny (Bowie Lam), attempt to arrest a group of gun smugglers while they are making a deal. After an ambush from another gang member, a fierce gun battle breaks out. The gangsters are defeated but with several police officers badly wounded, and Benny is killed. Tequila decides to get revenge on the gangster who ambushed them, which angers his boss, Officer Superintendent Pang (Philip Chan), who orders Tequila off the case. Elsewhere, Tony (Tony Leung) works for triad boss "Uncle" Hoi (Kwan Hoi-Shan). Tony had murdered a fellow member of Hoi's gang, who had been working for Johnny Wong's (Anthony Wong) syndicate. Wong is impressed by Tony's skill and attempts to recruit him. Tony reluctantly turns against Hoi when Wong conducts a raid on Hoi's arsenal at a warehouse. At the warehouse, Wong's men kill Hoi's workers and destroy his stock. When Hoi arrives, Wong demands Tony kill Hoi. After Tony kills Hoi and his gang members, smoke grenades explode and Tequila appears from the ceiling. Tony covers Wong's escape as Tequila battles and kills most of the gangsters. Tequila finds himself confronting Tony face to face in the smoke, with guns to each other's heads. Tequila tries to shoot Tony, but his revolver is out of ammo. Tony slowly lowers his gun and walks away.

At the police station, Tequila learns that Tony is an undercover cop working for Pang. Tequila tracks Tony down to his sailboat to try to make sense of the situation but the two are ambushed by the remnants of Hoi's gang. Tequila and Tony manage to kill their attackers just before Wong arrives which allows Tony to keep his cover. Wong realizes that one of his gangsters named Foxy (Tung Wei), is an informant for the police. Foxy is beaten by Wong's henchman Mad Dog (Philip Kwok) and tells Tony to kill Foxy. Tony slips a cigarette lighter into Foxy's pocket where he shoots him, saving Foxy's life. Foxy finds Tequila at a jazz bar and informs him that Wong's armory is in the nearby Maple Group Hospital. As Tequila takes Foxy to the hospital, Wong finds out Foxy is alive and sends Tony to kill Foxy as well as sending Mad Dog separately to cover Tony. At the hospital, Tony confronts Tequila, demanding to know the whereabouts of Wong's arsenal. While Tony and Tequila are distracted, Foxy is killed by Mad Dog.

Tony and Tequila discover a hidden passage in the hospital leading to Wong's arsenal. They are confronted by Mad Dog, who engages them. Wong arrives at the hospital and has all the patients, police officers and staff taken hostage. After fighting their way to the main lobby, Tony and Tequila liberate the kidnapped patients and police officers. Pang evacuates the lobby while police detective Teresa Chang (Teresa Mo) goes to the maternity ward to organize evacuating the babies. Tony and Tequila continue fighting gangsters until finding Mad Dog. While Tequila goes to assist Chang with the babies, Tony and Mad Dog find themselves in a standoff with a group of patients caught in the middle. Wong appears and begins shooting the patients. An enraged Mad Dog shoots Wong in the torso. Wong shoots and kills Mad Dog while Tony escapes. Tequila finds the last baby in the maternity unit, and carries it to safety while fighting off the last of the gangsters. Tony and Tequila meet up again and are confronted by Johnny Wong, who has programmed bombs to blow up the building. Tequila escapes the hospital with the last baby. Wong suddenly appears holding Tony at gunpoint. After watching Johnny humiliate Tequila, Tony grabs Wong's gun. In a struggle, Tony shoots himself through the stomach giving Tequila enough time to shoot Wong dead. Later at the police station, Pang and Tequila burn Tony's police file. Tony is then shown in his boat sailing away from Hong Kong.