Too much of everything

Crappy film

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This is a nice movie.Saw this first on HBO. In my childhood, That was the time when jean-Claude's career was at the top. Nice action, superb stunts, as specially the bike one on the bridge. Nice star cast. Every one did a great job and justice to their role. A treat for van damn fan's and also a 90's action flick. Good direction by John Woo. In all good movie to watch for its action.

A woman hires a drifter as her guide through New Orleans in search of her father, who has gone missing. They discover a deadly game of cat and mouse behind his disappearance in the process. Hard Target is definitely on the list with Jean Claude Van Damme's best movies such as Kickboxer, Universal Soldier and other movies of that time that truly worked cause they came out on the right time. The film packs easily one of Lance Henrisken's best performances since Aliens but also a very badass JCVD the fight scenes have been handled in a very good way just like in Mission Impossible II another John Woo film but also the acting is very good especially when you have an old 90's flick starring Van Damme. Hard Target is definitely a Classic!!!

Natasha Binder (Yancy Butler) comes to New Orleans in search for her missing father Douglas. He was a homeless vet killed in a secret game to hunt humans. Natasha is rescued from a group of thugs by drifter Cajun vet Chance Boudreaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme). She hires him to help. Emil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen) organizes the hunts and is angry at his recruiter Randal for supplying Douglas who has family that comes looking for him. The overstretched police is reluctant to investigate Douglas' death except for detective Mitchell. They are pursued into the Bayou by Fouchon and his men. Boudreaux uses his local knowledge, super-kicks and his uncle Douvee (Wilford Brimley) to fight off Fouchon.Director John Woo brings his HK action style to America. I love his real stunt action but I've always been ambivalent to his slow motion film style. To me, it slows the pacing and reduces the tension. If done too much, it gives an artificial feel to the action. I often admire the stunt work without admiring the film work. Van Damme is playing a Cajun which excuses his accent somewhat. There is nothing great about the story or the acting. I love some of the stunts but even they start to wear thin.

Rating-3/10Hard Target is an action movie, or more of a cat and mouse game really containing much violence and Wilford Brimley. Now this is the kind of movie you find late at night on TV, and many will go and watch it, it seems on the outside a good action thriller directed by a known director and starring an action legend. The only problem for me was, it isn't very good and that action legend isn't either.Jean-Claude Van Damme is that action legend and for me he is poor here, his character works in the story well though and if watched in the right way, his performance can be ignored. The plot as said is like a cat chasing a mouse, expect the mouse is a human in New Orleans and the cat or cats should I say are the very rich paying to chase them down. A unique take on an action movie but so unrefreshing that I can't give it credit for having uniqueness here.The director I mentioned is John Woo who's first ever American movie is actually well done, but only from him. With a poor script and acting and a plot that does hardly any favours, this is one movie where I feel kind of bad for Woo. He as I say does it nicely, he seems to know what he wants from the actors but they don't pay him back, the villains of the show are the real star actors with Lance Henriksen and Arnold Vosloo being the best, not great for the bad guys to outshine the good.I'll give the film credit where it's due, and it deserves it in terms of the stunts and choreography it has, Van Damme does excel with his high leg kicks and powerful head smashes, but don't worry, the violence isn't too crazy for those who dislike it. The one thing that really again hurts this movie is the editing, the strange camera shots then coupled with edited shots of people, it makes the action scenes seem like some crazy movie that makes no sense, or maybe that's what it is possibly.Whatever your view on action films there is no denying this is not how to do them, Woo gives it a go as I said and does it well, but problems hamper this throughout. It's the kind of movie that I have come to expect though I mean there aren't many action thrillers similar to this that actually turn out good, even the best of them are usually only average. This I feel just needed a bit more heavy action, more fighting but with less insane death defying stunts that make this even more hard to believe. I think it is crucial John Woo is not remembered in years to come for films like this, and to be fair same with Van Damme, both can do much better.Overall I felt it is a bad movie as you might guess, but it isn't awful and not by quite a bit. It's a piece of film where you can watch it and not be too bothered by it, you won't finish with it and decide to smash things in anger about it, but you may just feel this should be more clinical. A big shout out to the man in my first paragraph Wilford Brimley, makes an appearance albeit for not too long but he is funny and his accent and jokes make the the movie kind of more fun than dark in his certain moments.