Great Movie Re-Watch

Hard Target (1993)

Director:

John Woo

Writer:

Chuck Pfarrer

Starring:

Jean-Claude Van Damme

Lance Hendrickson

Yancy Butler

Arnold Vosloo

Blurb:

A woman hires a drifter as her guide through New Orleans in search of her missing father. In the process, they discover a deadly game of cat and mouse behind his disappearance.

Thoughts:

Hard Target is about peak Jean-Claude Van Damme and yet, despite some egotistical comments, he did not demand writing credit, worked really hard, and didn’t ruin the movie. He did make an attempt in all fairness. They had to send the movie back multiple times because it was so violent and his people did their own Cobra take where they cut everyone else, but thankfully that wasn’t the one that was chosen. It would be nice to see the original unrated version, but that’s never going to happen.

My re-watch quest has revealed some bitterness towards several Hollywood people and apparently, Stallone is one of them lol

Hard Target is one of, if not the last good 80s style action movie. It has a saxophone. It has a bare-bones plot that upon any kind of thought makes no sense. It has Jean-Claude Van Damme with a mullet so greasy you could fry chicken from all the oil. There’s Yancy Butler with a disappearing black eye. And, according to my husband, you’ve got Lance Hendrickson playing the best action villain of all time. Plus, it’s John Woo’s first American movie.

It’s a lot.

Wait, did I mention it’s got the Diabetus man in it? Wilfred Brimley plays Van Damme’s cajun, bow and arrow toting, uncle.

As if you needed another reason to watch.

The final fight scene is set in a cross between a barn and a warehouse. It’s filled with Mardi Gras floats that explode at a moment’s notice. There are also doves flying all over the place. I believe there was a crossbow, a sword, guns, and, of course, flying splits.

I’m fairly certain Hard Target missed nothing on the 80s action movie bingo card. Well, Yancy Butler did not kiss Jean-Claude Van Damme, but she would have.

This is my husband’s favorite movie but I’ve surprisingly only watched it two times. It’s entertaining and if Van Damme’s hair wasn’t so greasy I would enjoy it more. Despite that, it’s a fun film and was a good re-watch.