If you look up the word “cool” in the dictionary, you won’t find a definition. You’ll find a picture of Chow Yun-Fat sliding down a banister with a toothpick in his mouth and a Beretta in each hand.

Released in 1992 as director John Woo’s farewell love letter to Hong Kong cinema before his move to Hollywood, Hard Boiled is widely considered the peak of the “Heroic Bloodshed” genre. And standing tall at the center of this hurricane of bullets and broken glass is the incomparable Chow Yun-Fat.

Here is why his performance as Inspector “Tequila” Yuen remains the gold standard for action heroes.