The day action fans have been waiting over four years for has finally arrived: The Raid franchise mastermind Gareth Evans’ new action movie, Havoc, has finally dropped. The Netflix original — made under Evans’ deal with the streamer, which also resulted in the Dan Stevens-starring horror-mystery Apostle — stars Tom Hardy and is already, in my view, the standout in a strong crop of 2025 action movies.
It’s also a slight stylistic departure for Evans, although the motivated camera movement, visceral violence, and ambitious long takes that helped make the Raid movies so iconic are still very present. While large portions of the Raid movies featured essentially nonstop action, Havoc more closely follows the “heroic bloodshed” model that late-1980s Hong Kong action movies employed. Heroic bloodshed movies typically emphasize gunplay over hand-to-hand combat, feature crime and gangster-focused storylines, and have tons of blood, but are also notable for their deeply emotional themes and character arcs.
Havoc really feels like Evans’ John Woo movie, which is exactly as good as it sounds. It’s shockingly well-constructed emotionally, touching on themes of redemption and love, while also delivering on the hard-hitting action you want from an Evans project. And no surprise, when the director shared on an Instagram story about nine of the movies that deeply inspired Havoc, multiple all-time Woo classics made the cut. (That IG story is no longer up, but you can see Evans and Hardy talk more about Havoc influences with Letterboxd.)
Here are some of the movies that influenced Havoc and where to watch them.
Hard Boiled
Where to watch: YouTube or a physical copy
A stone-cold heroic bloodshed classic that influenced dozens of action movies that followed, Hard Boiled is a jazzy, stylish entry in the vaunted history of John Woo/Chow Yun-fat collaborations. It was one of the first John Woo movies I ever watched (although it was his last in Hong Kong before taking his talents to Hollywood), and while I personally prefer A Better Tomorrow (which you can find on Dailymotion), there’s no denying the thrills and influence of Hard Boiled, including one of the most impressive extended takes in action movie history.
The Killer
remade The Killer for Peacock in 2024, putting a fresh spin on the story while retaining his singular sense of action design. It doesn’t match up to the original, but nothing really can, and it is a fun watch if you’re looking for a new version of Woo’s heroic bloodshed.
Full Contact
Where to watch: The Internet Archive or a physical copy
Here’s a bloody crime story about betrayal, vengeance, and a weapons heist gone wrong where Chow Yun-fat teams up with the other major heroic bloodshed director of this era of Hong Kong action, Ringo Lam. Like with Woo, Chow worked on many movies with Lam, and Full Contact is a stellar entry in their partnership. In many ways, Lam’s heroic bloodshed movies are a mirror image of Woo’s — darker, sleazier, and unabashedly loud when contrasted with the elegance of Woo’s gun battles. But both directors are in the upper, upper echelon of the pantheon of great action directors when it comes to an innate understanding of space and precise depictions of extreme violence.
My Heart Is That Eternal Rose
Where to watch: Criterion Channel
A Hong Kong actioner with a more romantic spin, My Heart Is That Eternal Rose comes from director/editor Patrick Tam (a collaborator of Hong Kong legends Wong Kar-wai and Johnnie To). It follows a young couple who are forced to part ways after a job gone wrong, and what happens when they stumble upon each other again years later. Tony Leung Chiu-wai won Best Supporting Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards for his turn in this one, which was co-shot by legendary cinematographer Christopher Doyle (In the Mood for Love).
Beast Cops
Where to watch: The Internet Archive or a physical copy
Beast Cops follows the complicated friendship between a police officer (Anthony Wong) and a gangster (Michael Wong). Like Havoc, it has a dark and gritty focus on the criminal underworld, and how that world easily intersects with that of the police. Beast Cops won a ton of Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor.
The Longest Nite
Where to watch: YouTube or a physical copy
Tony Leung plays a corrupt cop who lives a secret life as a gang enforcer, now attempting to negotiate terms between faction leaders in the midst of a gang war. A bleak crime thriller co-directed and written by the great Johnnie To, The Longest Nite brings the noir influences of this era of Hong Kong cinema to the forefront.
Hong Kong Godfather
Where to watch: Dailymotion or a physical copy
Former Shaw Brothers star Wang Lung-wei moved to directing in 1985, and the bloody gangster drama Hong Kong Godfather was one of his first projects behind the camera. In this one, a retired gangster seeks revenge when his former boss is betrayed and killed and his daughter is kidnapped. While many movies from this era prioritize gunplay over martial arts, this one leans more into the latter (and both are present in Havoc).
The Wild Bunch
Where to watch: For digital rental/purchase on Amazon, Apple TV, Fandango at Home
As the one non-Hong Kong movie on this list, The Wild Bunch stands out, but it is arguably the movie that most deeply influenced this era of Hong Kong cinema. An extremely controversial movie when it was released in 1969 because of its amoral cast of characters and unabashedly graphic violence, The Wild Bunch is filled with massive, bloody shootouts and groundbreaking use of slow motion and quick-cut editing techniques. There’s a lot of John Woo in this movie, and by extension, a lot of Havoc.
City on Fire
Where to watch: The Internet Archive or a physical copy
We talked about Full Contact earlier, but City on Fire is The Chow Yun-Fat/Ringo Lam collaboration you have to see. Chow plays an undercover cop torn between allegiances to the police department, his girlfriend, and his newfound friends in the gang he’s been infiltrating. It’s got all the heroic bloodshed staples: shocking violence, deeply felt love (both romantic and platonic), and a stylish sense of cool that just oozes off the screen. Along with A Better Tomorrow, City on Fire propelled Chow to international stardom, and it’s easy to see why. Few people have ever looked better on the big screen.
The post Watch the all-time action classics that inspired Netflix’s Havoc appeared first on Polygon.
