John Woo's Hollywood career has been turbulent, which nothing really defining him as a great action director. Broken Arrow was bland, the overrated Face/Off was even less fun, M:I 2 was the movie equivalent of a Big Mac, Windtalkers was absolute trash, as was Paycheck. But at least he started out on the right foot with Hard Target. Unfortunately neither the studios nor the MPAA were familiar with his OTT style of bloody action, and the film was neutered before it was exposed to movie-goers.
Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as Chance Boudreaux an out of work sailor slumming it in New Orleans, and boy is it a terrible performance, the Belgian kickboxer just isn't even trying a little bit. This was also made during the 90s, when he wore his belt-line directly underneath his nipples in an effort to look taller. Chance meets a pretty girl called Natasha (Yancy Butler, who despite being gorgeous seemed to just drop off the radar completely) and helps her find her missing dad. But during the course of their investigation they discover a game of death in which rich folks hunt the homeless.
Apparently Woo wanted Kurt Russell in the lead, but with Van Damme's sub-par skills draining fun from the film the best performances come from the always brilliant Lance Henriksen and Arnold Vosloo as the main villain and right-hand man. Mr. Woo's gunfighting and action SHOULD also make the film more enjoyable, though compared to his original vision, a 116-minute epic, the final cut is butchered 97-minute could-have-been. All the John Woo trademarks are here, but it's hard to enjoy it knowing what was cut out.
Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as Chance Boudreaux an out of work sailor slumming it in New Orleans, and boy is it a terrible performance, the Belgian kickboxer just isn't even trying a little bit. This was also made during the 90s, when he wore his belt-line directly underneath his nipples in an effort to look taller. Chance meets a pretty girl called Natasha (Yancy Butler, who despite being gorgeous seemed to just drop off the radar completely) and helps her find her missing dad. But during the course of their investigation they discover a game of death in which rich folks hunt the homeless.
Apparently Woo wanted Kurt Russell in the lead, but with Van Damme's sub-par skills draining fun from the film the best performances come from the always brilliant Lance Henriksen and Arnold Vosloo as the main villain and right-hand man. Mr. Woo's gunfighting and action SHOULD also make the film more enjoyable, though compared to his original vision, a 116-minute epic, the final cut is butchered 97-minute could-have-been. All the John Woo trademarks are here, but it's hard to enjoy it knowing what was cut out.