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
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Another great Jean-Claude Van Damme Comment: Arrived in perfect condition for a good price. I love VHS because there's no skipping involved. Customer Rating: Summary: One Of Van Damme's Best Comment: Hard Target is clealry of the best movies Van Damme ever made. Van Damme movies where he picked up a gun were never that good but here with the cinematography and stylish vison of John Woo, Van Damme gives a good performance still has a chance for a few karate scenes and makes one of the best action movies of the nineties. Lance Henikrsen( whose always good) and Arnold Vosloo make great bad guys. Yancy Butler is sexy as hell (even though a T&A scene would have been good.) If you 've never seen this film check it out it's one of Van Damme best and Woo's first Amercian film. Customer Rating: Summary: RAIMI, TAPERT, WOO, VAN DAMME, HENRIKSEN, VOSLOO Comment: HARD TARGET
This is absolutely one of my favorite Van Damme films of all time; I mean come on look at the line up. Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lance Henriksen, Sam Raimi, John Woo, Ted Raimi, and Rob Tapert how could you not like this movie. This movie is a great thrill ride filled with all the action you could want, and great villains, Arnold Vosloo in particular as Van Clef. This has got to be one of Van Damme's best movies he has been apart of.
The story is basically just about some rich guys hunting bums through out the concrete jungle. It turns out that one of the people they hunted had a daughter that is trying to find him, naturally questions arise and that doesn't sit well with them. This is were Van Damme comes in and is hired by the woman to help find her father, what they find is a group of people in a very bad business. From here fights break out, gunshots are heard, and explosions can be seen for miles, what a great movie.
Performance wise this is a great movie as well, Van Damme is excellent in this film and never really gets the credit he deserves as an actor. Of course Yancy Butler as our lead actress is good as well and is very believable in her role. Villain wise is were this film really shines; this movie has two of the best villains ever for a film. First is the brilliant Lance Henriksen playing the lead villain, and as usual he is great and really determined to get what he wants. Which is also the reason why Arnold Vosloo is so extremely good as Van Clef, he is just as cold, vindictive, and evil as Lance but he is the calmer of the two who knows when to walk away. It is the difference between the two that make them such a great on screen team. Also on a side note the ever great Ted Raimi makes a guest appearance on this film, great to see him.
Of course on the production side this film is lined up with all time greats, Raimi, Tapert, and Woo. Of course Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert come through as Executive Producers and hired on the legendary John Woo as the director. Naturally John Woo's style shines through on this film and make it an explosive action packed thrill ride. Of course a lot of credit needs to go to writer Chuck Pfarrer who wrote a great action film that delivers. He did an excellent job with an idea that has been done many times through books and films alike.
Over all this is a great movie for a day off from work, grab the drinks and kick back.
Customer Rating: Summary: Good movie. Comment: This is a very good action movie, however, I don't like the plot (killing the homeless as a game for the rich). I would recommend this for Van Damme fans as well as those that like good action flicks. Customer Rating: Summary: One of my favorite bad movies... Comment: This movie is so bad it's good. Well, it's a mix of good and bad, but I couldn't take it too seriously, and it just made me laugh. I saw it in the theatre when it came out..and I was cracking up the whole time.... The slow-mo actions sequences are great, and Wilford Brimley playing a Cajun guy is the icing on the cake. Gotta love it.
