Running Out of Time (; literal title: Hidden War) is a 1999 Hong Kong action thriller film produced and directed by Johnnie To and starring Andy Lau as a cancer-ridden criminal who challenges a police negotiator, played by Sean Lau, to a 72-hour battle of wits and courage. Andy Lau won his first Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor in 2000 for his performance in the film. The film was followed by a sequel, Running Out of Time 2, which was released in 2001.

Plot

Cheung Wah is diagnosed as suffering from late-stage cancer and given four weeks to live by his doctor. As Chueng eats at a diner, Inspector Ho Sheung-sang, a police negotiator, has been called to the scene of a bank robbery standoff that's being bungled by his inept boss, Wong Kai-fat. Ho goes in to negotiate with the robbers. After goading them to release the injured hostages first, a man amongst the hostages stands up and shoots the robbers dead. The man claims to be an off-duty police officer, but Ho realizes that the man is the mastermind of the robbery. Ho convinces the man that it is impossible to shoot him and get away with it as his fingerprints would be all over the murder weapon. As Ho leaves the crime scene to grab some breakfast, a shot rings out and Ho tells Wong that the robbery mastermind has committed suicide.