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Hard Target [Region 2]
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List Price: N/A
Our Price: $21.99
Availability: N/A
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chuck Pfarrer, Robert Apisa, Arnold Vosloo, Lance Henriksen
Directed By: John Woo
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 5035822004740
Format: PAL
Number Of Discs: 1
Region Code: 2
Theatrical Release Date: 1993-08-20
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Editorial Reviews:
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Jean-Claude Van Damme, "the Muscles from Brussels," has sought to revitalize his flagging career by working with the most adrenalized directors from Hong Kong action films. His first such effort was this, the umpteenth remake of The Most Dangerous Game, which teamed him with Hong Kong's most fluid action poet, John Woo. Woo does what he can but, as much magic as he injects into the action, he can't turn Van Damme into an actor. Still, this is above-average fare for the wooden Belgian, in which he plays a guy trying to bust a ring of hunters who pay for the right to track and kill human quarry. And Woo has the ever-reliable Lance Henriksen as the chief bad guy, always a plus. --Marshall Fine
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: VanDamme!
Comment: If you have cable, you've seen "Hard Target"!
Another predictable, but action packed VanDamme film!
Good stuff!
Customer Rating:
Summary: "We've got a little game we'd like you to play..."
Comment: Plotwise: Emil Fuchon (Lance Henriksen) and Pik Van Cleef (Arnold Vosloo) operate a high-cost game in New Orleans during a citywide police strike: rich individuals pay big bucks to hunt the toughest target of all: man. Combat veterans, reduced to living on the streets, are coerced into participating, all for the client's satisfaction of taking down such a prey. One of these is Douglas Binder (Chuck Pfarrer), whose daughter Natasha (Yancy Butler) soon comes looking for. She hires local dock worker and combat veteran Chance Boudreaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) to help her out. Of course, Fuchon and Van Cleef would prefer there be no questions asked...
Review: John Woo's first American film is, all in all, the best kind of action film from yesteryear: all-out battles, little to no depth. The plot, the who-knows-how-manyth rehash of "The Most Dangerous Game," has some substance to it, but little character development. While Woo's Hong Kong productions were not of Shakesperian proportions, the characters had depth and personality. Most of the characters here are largely one-dimensional, and stay that way.
But so what? It's an action film, and on that level it more than delivers. The first major action sequence features a large amount of environmental damage- cars get ripped apart, blown up and such- and bullets fly endlessly, more often than not hitting someone in the process. The gunshot noises sound appropriately powerful, as if someone getting shot would take a lot of damage from even a pistol round. This scene sets a standard for the rest of the film, and the final confrontation takes up the last, oh, 15-20 minutes of a roughly 90 minute film. You can guess how epic it gets. Plus, all the Woo staples, like using two guns at once, pigeons and doves flying around, etc. are in abundance.
If for some reason you want to know how it goes as far as acting, you're clearly expecting too much from this film. As uber-insane as Woo can make the action, he can't make Van Damme an actor with depth. Van Damme's flat delivery makes him a relatively lifeless character, and his cocky, all-powerful attitude (as in parts of "Timecop") make him a typical action hero, the unstoppable one. As Fuchon, Lance Henriksen is a villain with class and cunning, although he turns into a raving maniac near the end. Arnold Vosloo is simply the sadistic right-hand man, nothing more, although he gives his character a hint of something else when he isn't smiling maniacally. Yancy Butler is relatively weak in her acting, although you can't expect much when she interacts mostly with Van Damme. A surprise comes from Wilford Brimley, who is hilarious as Van Damme's Cajun uncle.
To sum it up, see it for the action, not the acting.
On a scale of 1 to 10, this film gets a 7.
On a scale of 0.0 to 10.0, this film gets a 7.4.
On a scale of A to F, this film gets a B-.
On a scale of 1 to 5, this film gets a 3 1/2.
On a scale of 1 to 4, this film gets a 3.
Contentwise: Being a Van Damme film and a John Woo film, you'd expect a ton of bone-crunching brawls and billions-of-bullets gunfights, but there is almost none of the former, while the latter makes up roughly 80% of the film. There's nothing particularly graphic, except for when a snake's head is blown apart. There's no sex or nudity of any kind, and the language is brief.
Customer Rating:
Summary: "i come back here, and i cut me a steak"
Comment: Lance Henriksen (Aliens, AVP) and Arnold Vosloo (Mummy, Mummy Returns) make this film a sucess. Both play the top bad guys, and both steal the show. Lance Henriksen is the boss named "Fouchon" who's thrill is hiring men to pay him, to hunt down homeless people who have no family or connections. Arnold Vosloo is Fouchon's number one guy "Van Cleaf" who makes the most of his role, with numerous memorable one liners, and a presence that absorbs the camera. Its all about the hunt, and these guys will stop at nothing to see their prey dead.
Van Damme did not have quite a show-stopper as these guys, but thanks to Hong Kong action director John Woo, he provides plenty to make Van Damme shine. Although there are not many martial art sequences, there are plenty of hard kicks Van Damme executes on his enemies, including his famous leaping split kick at one point.
Most of the action occurs in chase sequences throughout the film, and the chases are on foot. There are a couple of scenes where the bad guys are hunting down a single man. Some of the sequences are thrilling and suspenseful. The final 30 minutes of the film are spent hunting down "Chance" (Van Damme's unusual character name) throughout the Bayou. The finale takes place in a large warehouse, where it appears many old Mardi Gras floats and decorations are kept. The finale is basically lots of guns and tons of explosions. Van Damme does get plenty of good kicks in his opponents, but no big match ups that I hoped for, and Van Cleaf dies too soon and easily for a villain who gave such a great performance throughout the film. I loves Fouchon's death scene, it was quite hilarious.
Overall, this movie entertained me with its thrilling chases, lots of explosions, and awesome villains. Van Damme was good in the action, but rather bland with his lines and the majority of the cast was nothing special. John Woo does an ok job, but brings some originality to a Van Damme film, still delivering great action.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I'll put 3 stars...
Comment: ...because there is 1 for Wilford Brimley (always a pleasure to watch his appearances), 1 for Lance Henriksen (who doesn't need any rehearsal for this kind of part), and 1 for John Woo whose effort to make Van Damme look like an actor is the only excuse for casting the most stupid-looking female lead I ever saw : I'm not sure if she was trying to look bewildered or else, but the intensity of the stupidity filling her eyes (especially in close-ups) should have got her some kind of reward, since I don't think it was (or could be) ever matched, except perhaps with the always reliable T(otal)V(ulgarity) products (but that I can't really tell since I NEVER had a TV set).
Besides, I think Van Damme should be liable for some compensation, after stating that John Woo was "THE Martin Scorcese of Asia", which, in my opinion is close to some defamatory remark : there is some violence in some Scorcese's movies, but violence is NEVER the whole of the show!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Action
Comment: This is a fantastic action packed movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. The storyline is interesting as it shows the possible challenges that the homeless face. Natasha Binder (Yancy Butler) comes to New Orleans looking for her father who was missing. She meets up with Chance, a sailor (Jean-van Damme) who she hires to help her find her missing father (after Chance fails to be selected from going out to sea). Chance helps her to find out that her father was murdered by some notorious mercenaries who excel at hunting ex-Vietnam war vets on the streets of New Orleans for fun. Here retired war veterans are hunted down like prey.
Claude van Damme demonstrates his exceptional fighting skills when he and the blood thirsty mercenaries are engaged in a spectacular chase through the streets and bayous of New Orleans. This is a great action film with Van Damme displaying his customary exceptional talents in the martial arts area.
This film was producer John Woo's American debut and is one of the best that he has made. It includes some outstanding shootouts, spectacular stunts and breath-taking car chases. It is full of explicit violent deeds. It is filmed in New Orleans and has some good music from Graeme Revell. Lance Henricksen plays the wicked brains behind this grisly sport very well.
I recommend this film to action or martial arts fans, particularly those who enjoy watching a good hard fight. This is one van Damme movie that needs to be seen by every action fan.
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![Hard Target [Region 2] :: Martial Arts Movies and Kung Fu Videos Database :: Grandmaster Video](http://www.grandmastervideo.com//images/top1a.gif "Hard Target [Region 2] :: Martial Arts Movies and Kung Fu Videos Database :: Grandmaster Video")
![Hard Target [Region 2] :: Martial Arts Movies and Kung Fu Videos Database :: Grandmaster Video](http://www.grandmastervideo.com//images/top2a.gif "Hard Target [Region 2] :: Martial Arts Movies and Kung Fu Videos Database :: Grandmaster Video"){kind=small}
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![Hard Target [Region 2] :: Martial Arts Movies and Kung Fu Videos Database :: Grandmaster Video](http://www.grandmastervideo.com//images/top1b.gif "Hard Target [Region 2] :: Martial Arts Movies and Kung Fu Videos Database :: Grandmaster Video"){kind=small}