Directed by:
John WooScreenplay:
Chuck PfarrerCinematography:
Russell CarpenterComposer:
Graeme RevellCast:
Jean-Claude Van Damme, Arnold Vosloo, Lance Henriksen, Yancy Butler, Lenore Banks, Willie C. Carpenter, Kasi Lemmons, Marco St. John, Ted Raimi (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
A young woman searching for her missing and homeless father in a seamy section of New Orleans is saved by a martial arts fighter, sometime merchant seaman, when a gang of thugs try to rob her. She hires the man to help track down the lost parent, and they both end up being the targets for a vicious gang of "human" hunters. Chance Boudreaux, a brawny merchant sailor who has come up on hard times saves doe-eyed Natasha Binder from a gang of thugs and she offers him a proposition; she'll pay him well if he'll help find her missing father in New Orleans. But her father may already have been killed by wealthy thrill-seeking businessmen who have made a sport of hunting forgotten, homeless, veterans, and if Chance and Natasha discover this deadly scheme, they just might, be the next victims. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (7)
This is a great TV classic that I enjoyed remembering, and I finally found out which movie had that opening scene with the motorcycles. That scene is stuck in my memory from childhood, I just never associated it with JCVD. This is a period when JCVD was still kicking ass, and here, he demonstrates it fully. A great confrontation with Vosloo and Henriksen.
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Though Hard Target’s screenplay is that of a standard Van Damme B-movie with dumb clichés in places, John Woo works wonders with it. Van Damme’s long hair flies through the air as coolly as he does after crashing his motorcycle into a jeep, Lance Henriksen in a black coat and wielding a stylish shotgun is the most ruthless and arrogant bad guy who loves playing piano, and Yancy Butler is a goddess of wild ONS sex. Van Damme’s best film!
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The film has a terrible script, poorly written dialogue and not even John Woo’s directing was particularly impressive. All the action scenes were in slow motion, and because there were quite a few, they soon grew tedious. Despite the incredibly slow pace, the director failed to notice many goofs, so for example Lance Henriksen takes off his burning coat in one of the scenes only to have it on again after a few shots. The film is chock-full of such nonsense. He would need to drag a cart with ammunition behind him not to run out of bullets, firing about ten into each enemy. And the jovial uncle.. A really bad film.
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It’s still a classic, the kind nobody makes anymore. The action wizard John Woo, Van Damme with a ponytail, an intriguing plot and one of the best and most ruthless villains in history played by the phenomenal Henriksen. What ended up annoying me were Van Damme’s superhuman abilities, which he displays in every action scene, and I also rooted for Henriksen, so I just can't grant the 4th star :-) 65%
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So simple and straightforward, it's almost hard to believe. It is all the more a pleasant surprise, as this unbelievably fast-paced movie lasts less than a hundred minutes. The screenplay is empty, but the action is breathtaking, with John Woo’s typical tricks present in every other shot. Lance Henriksen as the main antagonist is brilliant, his arrogance and the gun on his belt overshadow the unimpressive Jean-Claude Van Damme. Simple exteriors, minimal actors – everything is subordinate to the action scenes, and there is definitely something to watch here! A fantastic action ride that you will appreciate the most on a proper home theater system.
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