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Film Review: Hard Target (1993)@drax1284d

(source: tmdb.org)

Former citizens of Yugoslavia had to wait for two years before Hollywood bothered to address the chaotic and bloody dissolution of that country. When it happened, it was, at start, only a passing remark spoken by a villain in Hard Target, 1993 action film, nowadays best known as American debut of legendary Hong Kong director John Woo.

The plot of the film is set in New Orleans where the ruthless businessman Emil Fouchon (played by Lance Henriksen) has started the service that caters to the more perverted members of the world’s rich elite – those willing to hunt human beings for sport. To make experience more interesting, quarry is carefully selected among combat veterans who also happen to be homeless and whose disappearance wouldn’t cause much attention by authorities or anyone else. In the case of the latest hunt a mistake was made because Douglas Binder (played by Chuck Pfarrer, author of the script) happened to have family. When his estranged daughter Natasha “Nat” Binder (played by Yancey Butler) comes to New Orleans to investigate, she immediately gets into trouble. She is rescued by Chance Boudreaux (played by Jean-Claude Van Damme), sailor who used to be US Marine veteran and had his own experience with homelessness. Partly because he feels pity, and partly because he needs money, he accepts Nat’s request to help her with her quest. This, of course, brings him in conflict with Fouchon and his sadistic henchman Pik Van Cleef (played by Arnold Vosloo) who wants to eliminate anyone who could expose their lucrative operation. Boudreaux and Nat are forced to flee from Fouchon’s assassins and seek shelter in nearby Louisiana bayous where they could expect assistance from Boudreaux eccentric moonshine-producing uncle Clarence Douvee (played by Wilford Brimley).

Pfarrer found inspiration for his script in The Most Dangerous Game, 1924 short story by Richard Connell, itself adapted into 1932 Hollywood black-and-white film starring Joel McCrea and Fay Wray. Pfarrer, who is also an Navy SEALS veteran, added a little bit of personal touch to film, aware that many US military servicemen had issues of adapting to civilian life and ending on streets wasn’t that uncommon. Hard Target, especially in the beginning, contains glimpses of social commentary, confronting reality of ordinary citizens who, like the protagonist, have to struggle to make ends meet, with those of ultra-rich elite which can afford even the most depraved delights. But the script is rather simple and some would say very weak, with one-dimensional and undeveloped characters. Jean-Claude Van Damme, who wears mullet which went out of fashion years before production, shows very limited acting skills and even has very few opportunities to show them. Yancey Butler, although pleasing to the eye, is very weak in her role and almost forgettable. Lance Henriksen and Arnold Vosloo, who play villains, have a lot of plan playing their characters over-the-top and, especially in case of Vosloo who is presented as more thoughtful but menacing part of the duo, making them quite effective. On the other hand, Graeme Revell’s music, somewhat inspired by Cajun themes, is rather unremarkable and doesn’t add much to the film.

Many of such flaws were, however, compensated by John Woo, obviously quite enthusiastic to prove Hollywood (which was rather sceptical at the times) that can deliver memorable and effective action films in America as easily as he had done in his native Hong Kong. He embraces very stylish form of action, with plenty of slow motion and with a lot of homage to classics genre directors like Sam Peckinpah and Walter Hill, and at the same time conforms to MTV ethos. Hard Target features plenty of car chases, gunfire, explosions and hand-to-hand combat, allowing Van Damme to show his main asset – martial arts skills – even in scenes when his character relies on guns. This is especially evident in the second part and in the final showdown that takes place in abandoned factory, where Woo allows his imagination to run amok, resulting in plenty of unrealistic, but nevertheless very entertaining scenes in which the protagonists eliminates villains with combination of rapid pistol fire and roundhouse kicks. Woo’s great work is enhanced by very good cinematography by Russell Carpenter and superb stuntwork, including Lance Henriksen performing one of the most impressive and dangerous stunts himself for the scene near the end. Hard Target, made under supervision of Sam Raimi (sent by studio as possible replacement for Hong Kong director, and whose brother Ted Raimi appears in small cameo role), had mixed reviews but it, predictably, won the audience, making good results at box office and even more impressive on video. It allowed both Van Damme and Woo to continue with their careers, although in case of Woo never on the high levels reached during his Hong Kong days. In 2016 a sequel under title Hard Target 2 with very little to do with original film was released direct-to-video. For today’s audience, the original film can work as one of the best examples of “guilty pleasures” delivered by Hollywood action cinema in early 1990s.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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›'Hard Target' by John Woo Review: Far from Woo's greatest, but still fun@namiks1497d

I have to admit from the start that I am a massive fan of John Woo's works. His action films and style from Hong Kong in the 80s and 90s are full of soul and exaggerated filmmaking techniques that are incredibly difficult to not love. Slow motion action scenes, jazz music, and a hail of all-out gunfire from weapons that appear to never need to be reloaded, and explosions that come from anything and everything. These films are still somewhat present in today's film blockbusters, but simply do not contain the same creativity and freshness that stemmed from Woo's era of neon lights and the white buildings of tropical Hong Kong.

It is no surprise that Woo's lowest rated films are the ones that were filmed once he moved to the west and began to enter the sphere of Hollywood. Where the styles and standards as a result of the differences in environment and culture would begin to affect the types of stories told and how they are told. For me, these are my least favourite films of his, but some can still be appreciated despite not particularly being on par with his greatest films from the east. The style he crafted is somewhat lost, but there are still attempts at it. As if he lost some creative control in the west as budgets increased and the hands that fed began to pull the strings as well.

John Woo's style is also one that I feel does not entirely translate into the world of digital, where the aspects of film format instead contribute to the gritty, dark, and somewhat tone strong elements of interiors where atmosphere plays such an important piece in forming visual narrative for context.

Hard Target

Hard Target is a film I struggled to enjoy for the most part, unlike many other action films of the era that consist of mostly guns and explosions. I feel this is down to the fact that Hard Target just does not introduce much depth into its characters at all. There's seemingly no real introduction or added context to its main cast. Each of these characters as a result is very hard to really care for or even root for. The first fifteen minutes of the film are focusing on the story's main elements of which some villains are hunting down a person in the dead of the night. We discover that the person is a homeless guy and his daughter takes the initiative to try to find him after he goes missing. Our main tough guy protagonist is merely a regular worker from the docks that gets hired to help.

The problem here, however, is that Jean-Claude Van Damme's performance as Chance Boudreaux is utterly boring. He completely lacks charisma and is easily the most plain, uninteresting aspect of the film, which is not a good look considering he's actually the main focus. The villains aren't much better, but the film takes advantage of typical tropes to propel them forward: an evil English accent followed by shady businessmen that wear all black. These men are merely corrupt criminals that thrive on hunting down those less fortunate in society. And that's pretty much all there is to the story, as well as our characters.

It's certainly disappointing, given John Woo's prior films are ripe in characters and cast members that ooze charisma and are incredibly pleasant to have on the screen at all times. You can't help but find them cool with their styles and performances. The character of Chance Boudreaux is the total opposite of this. His line delivery is completely lacking in any elements of emotion, and it seems as if he isn't really trying. This total lack of charisma and context in the characters also ripples deep into the directing as action scenes take reign -- as expected -- but ultimately fall completely flat due to the total lack of support elsewhere.

These action scenes don't really have any weight to them. There isn't really anything at stake in the narrative, which makes the endless gunfire and explosions very monotone. I noticed this very early on, as the film, in typical John Woo fashion, went straight into the action. Though usually our characters are given some time to develop a little bit for the audience to get a feel for who they are. That isn't to say that all characters need context and depth, just that in Hard Target, the performances are too weak to make you want to know anything more, and the action doesn't distract you from this. Instead, you don't really feel anything.

Poor sound design

I couldn't help but notice how bad the sound design was, which simply added to my lack of interest in the film. John Woo is known for his audio dubbing in his films, where lines delivered on screen don't always match the audio, and sound effects are often exaggerated and heavy. I love this about older films, and while it may bother some, I feel it's a part of filmmaking history that adds to my passion for it all. But in the case of Hard Target, the sound design was terrible in parts, to the point where I began testing my own audio setup to ensure nothing was off and causing these issues.

Now, we all know that punches in films are met with a very ridiculous sound as they land on the unfortunate victim, but in Hard Target, these sounds are distracting, loud, and far from realistic. In one moment, we hear a match being lit, this shot in the film is meant to display a dramatic event where our protagonist meets the main villain face-to-face, but the sound of the match being lit comes out of nowhere, with certainly much higher levels of decibels than the rest of the sounds and dialogue. Like a loud, very low quality scratch that is quick.

As mention already, these use of sound effects in the past, and present, are very much normal, and often are done very well despite not being obvious to what they're actually attempting to portray, but in this case the audio was far too loud and different to the rest of the audio. This happens again and again with other effects and it almost appears to be an afterthought to the directing and sound design rather than a planned intention from the start.

Though, I must admit that the film still utilises good ambient music to provide some atmosphere when necessary, something that many modern films now fail to do.

John Woo Directing

Despite my many issues with the film, I still can't help but appreciate certain techniques found in John Woo's films. I love slow motion action sequences, followed by emphasised sound design on things such as guns being reloaded and fired. Where time comes to a near standstill in moments of high risk and danger. I love John Woo's films for moments such as these, and I can't deny that there are moments in Hard Target where I still do feel some of this admiration.

Sadly, there just isn't enough of everything else to really make this film great. It is only when these concepts are used alongside everything else that they truly flourish and can be appreciated. Though, if you're into John Woo or want to get a general idea of what he's all about, Hard Target might just give you a brief idea. It seems to be a film all about the fun without much of the charisma that usually follows.

To experience John Woo at his peak, however, you must instead stick to his films from Hong Kong.

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›My 'Hard Target' Review Two Decades Later@wolfofnostreet1785d
Image source

Jean-Claude Van Damme was my absolute favorite actor back when I was little. By actor, I mean my favorite protagonist because that's what we called them as kids in Nigeria.

He's the main character in Hard Target which was one of my dad's favorite and we watched it on VHS so many times, I could lip sync to some scenes. I saw this movie on TV last night and it brought back so many memories of movie time with my dad. Action movies created bonding moments that it didn't matter how often we had seen it. Our reactions were always priceless.

Well, while I basked in past memories last night, I couldn't help but be amused by how much I was in awe of this film. My partner kept laughing at most of the stunts and I could only smile because 7 years old me would jump and run around the house at those scenes.

Hard Target is a 1993 action film that has since morphed into the Hard Target franchise. It is reputably the first Hollywood film made by a Chinese director. Damme plays Chance Boudreaux, a seaman, and ex-marine who saves Natasha from thugs and then reluctantly joins her in search of her missing father.

It turns out Natasha's father was murdered in a human hunt game by Fouchon and Van Cleef. Van Cleef finds out Natasha and Chance are on their trail when he eavesdrops on a conversation between his recruiter Randal and Natasha. He then beats up Randal as punishment for recruiting a man with family ties.

The film continues in a long chase of both Natasha and Chance by Van Cleef, Fuchon, and his mercenaries with Chance fighting them off. Chance enlists the help of Uncle Douvee and they lead the hunting group to Mardi Gras graveyard. There, Chance and uncle Douvee kill off the men one by one. Van Cleef is also killed leaving Fuchon to battle it out with Chance.

My Thoughts

I can't get over Van Damme's blank face all through the movie. He really wasn't much of a great actor in Hard Target but his stunts were awesome. Some of it looks silly now but that was pretty cool for a movie made over two decades ago.

My best scene was when Van Damme knocked out a rattlesnake in a forest. That has to be the most ridiculous thing in the history of movies but it really got me hyped as a kid. It wasn't necessary and unintentionally funny especially with Van Damme's expressionless face.

It's so much fun to watch even when most of it was just outrageous, like an entire army of killers ferociously shoot at Van Damme but they're never able to kill him. It was a very thrilling chase and the villains are the coolest of their kind.

I liked the uncle Douvee character too and when I was younger I cried when he was stabbed with his arrow in the Mardi Gras scene. It's not comedy but I think everyone should see this for a good laugh and then spectacular action.

I'd rate this an 8/10 and would definitely recommend it.

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›Hard Target (1993 film): Terrible, but entertaining JCVD film@netflixr1847d
I have to admit that I find Jean Claude Van Damme films to be a guilty pleasure. Nearly every movie that he is in has basically the same plot sequence yet the people back in the late 80's and early 90's flocked to cinemas to see them every single time. This film made 50-60 million dollars in profits (before marketing) and back in those days, this was about what you could expect from all Van Damme films.

JCVD is NOT a good actor but he has a certain allure to him that worked in the 90's. Unlike a lot of other action film stars, he is actually a very good cinematic martial-artist and performs a lot of his own stunts. If you have seen Hard Target you realize that there is no chance he did some of the stunts because they would have killed him.

This is not a good movie unless you appreciate bad and cliché action cinema from the 90's and I do.
[src](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Sghh_udxxPs/maxresdefault.jpg)
This particular film comes from the "greasy mullet" portion of JCVD's career and his persona and acting is just laughably bad in this one. This didn't seem to matter much to audiences though and literally no one was claiming they went to see his films because of his award-capable acting. I don't even know anyone who thought he was good looking, he was an anomaly for sure.

In this film he plays the role of Chance Boudreaux, a homeless dude that just happens to have exceptional martial-arts skills and he gets dragged into the dealings of a criminal group arranges "hunts" for humans for the ultra-wealthy because he randomly meets a pretty girl who is in trouble in the street getting mugged.
[src](https://reelgingermoviefan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/hard6.jpg)
Even though he kicks the shit out of a group of 5 people in broad daylight with tons of witnesses and breaks a store window in the scuffle, there doesn't seem to be any consequences for these actions for the muggers or for him. This lack of enforcement is later weakly explained by the fact that a police strike is currently taking place in New Orleans.

The over-the-top action is what lures me into this and many other JCVD films although even by Van Damme standards this movie is riddled with impossibilities such as there being no reaction from the public regarding machine gun fire that ravages the streets even in popular and populated areas. Whether or not the police are on strike, if a city turns into a war zone of this magnitude someone would intervene.

The idea of a group of rich folks hunting humans is nothing new either. This has been used in many other films and all of the ones that I am thinking of, at least from a script point of view, are better than this one.
[src](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hH59cd3OPcw/hqdefault.jpg)
One of my favorite impossible stunts in all of cinema occurs in this movie when Chance (JCVD) rides towards an oncoming vehicle that has multiple shooters with automatic weapons firing at him, then stands on the motorcycle as he jumps over the vehicle and of course the bike explodes turning the entire crash into a massive fireball. If you know anything about the flash point of gasoline you know that this is not what would have happened but that is what makes it fun.

src

The best and perhaps only "good" actor in the entire film is Lance Henriksen (Bishop from Alien(s)) who is the leader of the baddies and despite the fact that he has what appears to be every military-grade weapon at his disposal his weapon of choice is a pistol that fires a single bullet at a time.

The climax of the film is one of epic ridiculosity (and no, that isn't a word.) They find themselves in an abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere with Chance, his Uncle (The Diabeetus guy Wilford Brimley who speaks in a horrible fake French accent) and of course a hapless female are being stalked by 20+ henchmen including a henchman named Pik (Arnold Vosloo or The Mummy from The Mummy films).
[src](https://allouttabubblegum.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Pik-Van-Cleef-1.jpg)
This warehouse contains a world of things in it that can be flipped over and used for cover and of course almost everything in there is explosive when Chance (JCVD) wants it to be. One scene where he floats down from the ceiling on a gigantic paper mâché falcon and takes out half of the attackers is particularly funny seeing as how he is completely exposed but these "expert hunters" don't manage to hit him at all despite having 20 guys with automatic weapons. It reminds me of UHF when Weird Al was playing the role of Rambo and no one can hit him.

src

The movie carries on exactly how you would expect it to. It was also John Woo's first ever foray into American cinema and it shows. Woo would later lament about the poor script but was proud of his action sequences: Critics generally agreed with this sentiment.
_{This fan-made trailer is actually much better than the official one}
Should I watch it?
If you are expecting it to be a great or inventive film then I would say no. This is a cookie-cutter film that was basically every Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Van Damme film of the early 90's. The action is good only because it is so completely unrealistic and that is kind of a staple of Woo films anyway. This is one of those movies that can (and has been) turned into a drinking game where you have to have a drink whenever any of these things happen
- Every slow-motion shot
- Motorcycles and motorcycle stunts
- Any time you see an arrow or a character uses one
If you have a drink every time one of these things happen you might die by the end of it, so be careful and definitely don't use hard liquor or you wont make it through the first half hour. I enjoyed this film but I seriously don't think most people would unless they appreciate "so bad it's good" cinema.
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›Hard Target - Movie Review@smendel2113d
Hard Target came hot on the heels of Hard Boiled - a film I often cite as the greatest action movie of the past half century and maybe all time.
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›Insomniac Movie Marathon: Hard Target@rvgenaille2400d
Hard Target stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Beaudreau, a down on his luck, New Orleans veteran helping a woman, Yancy Butler, find her father. What they uncover is a group of bad guys who take rich folk on safari, hunting homeless, combat veterans.

Wilford Brinkley plays his uncle with a Cajun accent.

It’s a weird action flick. This is director John Woo’s first American film and it is an odd hybrid between his style and American film needs. It’s kind of a western. It doesn’t quite work but it is enjoyable.

Bad guys are led by Lance Henrickson in a psychotic performance.

I quite enjoyed the movie.

Fun.

-all photos via IMDb.com.

Posted using Partiko iOS

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›Insomniac Movie Marathon: Hard Target@rvgenaille2449d
Hard Target stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Beaudreau, a down on his luck, New Orleans veteran helping a woman, Yancy Butler, find her father. What they uncover is a group of bad guys who take rich folk on safari, hunting homeless, combat veterans.

Wilford Brinkley plays his uncle with a Cajun accent.

It’s a weird action flick. This is director John Woo’s first American film and it is an odd hybrid between his style and American film needs. It’s kind of a western. It doesn’t quite work but it is enjoyable.

Bad guys are led by Lance Henrickson in a psychotic performance.

I quite enjoyed the movie.

Fun.

-all photos via IMDb.com.

Posted using Partiko iOS

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›Insomniac Film Festival #75: Hard Target@rvgenaille2878d
Hard Target stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Beaudreau, a down on his luck, New Orleans veteran helping a woman, Yancy Butler, find her father. What they uncover is a group of bad guys who take rich folk on safari, hunting homeless, combat veterans.

Wilford Brinkley plays his uncle with a Cajun accent.

It’s a weird action flick. This is director John Woo’s first American film and it is an odd hybrid between his style and American film needs. It’s kind of a western. It doesn’t quite work but it is enjoyable.

Bad guys are led by Lance Henrickson in a psychotic performance.

I quite enjoyed the movie.

Fun.

-all photos via IMDb.com.

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My Thoughts

Should I watch it?

Fun.

Fun.

Fun.