Hard Target (1993)
Director: John Woo
Screenplay: Chuck Pfarrer
Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lance Henriksen, Yancy Butler, Arnold Vosloo, Willie C. Carpenter, Kasi Lemmons, Robert Pavlovich, Ted Raimi, Chuck Pfarrer and Wilford Brimley
Tagline: Don’t hunt what you can’t kill.
The Plot…
Natasha Binder (Butler) has come to New Orleans to find her estranged father, who is a homeless vet. When several thugs attempt to mug Natasha, Chance Boudreaux (Van Damme) comes to her rescue. Natasha then hires Boudreaux to assist her in her quest.
What neither Natasha nor Boudreaux know is that Natasha’s father was murdered by rich hunters who paid Emil Fouchon (Henriksen) for the opportunity to track and kill a human. When Fouchon learns that Boudreaux and Natasha are getting close to discovering him, he brings in a team to take them out.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
There are some very over the top moments (Van Damme grabs a snake then hits it in the head to knock it out, he stands on a motorcycle as it roars into a truck launching Van Damme over the crash, etc.) and lots of explosions, fire, slow motion that John Woo makes work. (Or maybe I just accept the them because I like the rest of the movie so much).
Universal brought in Sam Raimi to be on set to assist John Woo. Their concern was it was his first Hollywood film and he didn’t speak English. Raimi appears in a cameo.
Kurt Russell was considered at one point for the role that ultimately went to JCVD.
In the scene where Lance Henriksen’s coat catches fire, it wasn’t supposed to, but did. Henriksen never broke character and the accident appears in the final film.
JCVD was the star of the film and played the part off-screen. He had script control and definite ideas of how scenes should be shot. According to Lance Henriksen it started as a JCVD vehicle, but as filming continued it became clear it was a John Woo film.
Arnold Vosloo has never been better.
Hard Target (1993) rates 4 of 5 stars.
