Let me start by saying that this is one of my favorite films, of Van Damme I consider this a true action classic.Director John Woo was the right choice for the film, he's style of film-making is cool and unique and for his first American feature he did a hell of a good job.I'm just going to go into what I liked on the film.Where do I begin, well just about every action sequence in the picture I liked, but most notably is the warehouse at the end.Overall a cool action film that I consider a classic.I give it an 8/10. If your a fan of Van Damme and never seen this give it a look. Highly recommended.

(1) How much do I like it? 2/5. (2) Direction: 2/5. (3) Is the personal style of the director noticeable? No, 0/1. (4) Editing: 2/3. (5) Plot/Story: 3/5. (6) Quality of dialogue: 1/3. (7) Originality: 1/3. (8) Level of sophistication: 0/2. (9) Is it good writing? No, 0/1. (10) Cleverness: 1/3. (11) Memorability/Uniqueness: 1/3. (12) Quality of the ending: 1/2. (13) Quality of characters: 1/2. (14) Is there character development? Not really, 0/1. (15) Do you root for the lead character? Yes, 1/2. (16) Do you care for the lead character? Yes 1/2. (17) Act structure, conflict/denouement/etc.: 2/4. (18) Acting: 2/5. (19) Chemistry of the leads: 1/1. (20) Cinematography: 2/4. (21) Style/Art Direction/Wardrobe/Make-up & Hair, etc.: 1/3. (22) Emotion/Experience of watching it/Catharsis: 2/5. (23) Atmosphere, i.e. were you sucked into the film? Not really, 0/1. (24) How well made is it?, i.e. effort clause: 2/4. (25) Entertainment value: 3/4. (26) Coolness: 2/2. (27) Would I be OK with dying while watching this? Nah, 0/1. (28) Would I be ashamed to admit I like this? 0/1. (29) Would I rewatch this? No, 0/1. (30) Soundtrack: 1/2. (31) Sound: 1/1. (32) Do I like it of my own free will? I don't like it, 0/1. (33) Is it one of my favourites? No, 0/1. (34) Did something I like happen? 1/3. (35) Would I recommend this to someone? No, 0/1. (36) Truth to the genre, or first of its kind (trailblazer): 1/2. (37) Is it believable? Or Reasonable? 0/1. (38) Overall quality 3/5.Overall score: 41/85, which is 48% and so a 5/10.

In 1993 Jean-Claude Van Damme was at the peak of his powers and popularity and in August of that year saw the release of his best and most exciting movie: Hard Target. This time Van Damme was directed by veteran Chinese action-film director John Woo - and what a utterly thrilling combination of talents and ability it turned out to be!In his American film debut Woo and Van Damme made a masterpiece of action, ablaze in a fury of gun battles, neck-breaking flying kicks and just overall killer stunt-work. To me, Woo's most important contribution to the picture, is his utterly captivating camera-work and razor-sharp (often complex) film editing. These two qualities place Hard Target far above most other movies of the genre, I'm especially fond of Woo's liberal use of tracking shots (that great moving camera work!) one of his several trademarks. What Woo's cinematography and editing produce is a very vivid and physically visceral film experience. The action scene's are extremely impactful and grandiose, having more snap to them then most films of the genre and the gunplay in this movie is amazingly intense and exciting and, to great effect, they often go overboard in the "squibs and blood-packs department". It's a terrible shame those two talents Van Damme/Woo never worked with each other again - it should have been the starting of a dynasty. Factually speaking, a majority of the fans who are familiar with Jon Woo's American films also agree, that Hard Target (his first) is the best of the lot. I certainly second that notion.The casting, for the most part, is terrific, especially the main baddies: Lance Henriksen as Mr. Fouchon and Arnold Vosloo as Pik, I think Vosloo turns out to be one of the best and most convincing hit-men ever portrayed in film and he's involved in almost all of the gun fights. Yancey Butler in her film debut is only so-so, though it doesn't matter much, because she's completely interchangeable with three of four dozen other actresses of the era - any one of which would have done as good a job or better. The movie takes place in and around New Orleans, several great action sequences make use of the sites of said city, they go all over it as a matter of fact and later on the chase continues into the surrounding bayou and that's when the movie really kicks into full-speed. While meeting Uncle Douvee (thats Wilford Brimley as some kind of crusty old moon-shinin' cajun hermit) along the way, who's a relative of Chance Boudreaux (Van Dammes character), who colorfully enhances the movie. Even some horseback riding action finds it's way into the mix, leading up to an absolutely enthrallingly explosive finale (very stylishly staged Mr. Woo) in an abandoned warehouse. A quick heads-up: Expect to see Lance Henriksen explode across scene in what has to be one of cinema's funniest death scenes. Hard Target is undoubtedly, in grand thundering fashion, the high-point of Van Damme's career - in other words it's his best movie! None of that direct-to-video garbage he's been churning out since the late-90's counts.As many other reviewers have stated before, I just HAVE TO make mention of Van Damme's unbelievably super-awesome MULLET! Wow, now that THING is just beyond awesome, rightfully titled by another reviewer to be "a pantheon-level mullet". In any case it's certainly one of the best (if not the best) movie mullets of all time - Period.Various prints of this spectacularly exciting action film exist, however, UN-like most of the time, it's the Euro-print that is the less edited and more violent print, which..... you might have guessed, is the better print. Up until about 2014 I was only familiar with the somewhat choppy, subdued and >>> !!! NEEDLESSLY EDITED !!! <<< US-version. I'm super-glad to say I own a region-free blu-ray copy of this film, that features the Euro-version, which is definitely the superior presentation. It's the vision that Woo and Van Damme had in mind for the audience all along. As you may already know it was the US ratings-board who were dead-set on bringing John Woo (and his reputation of making hyper-violent movies) to a heel. Which in fact qualifies them as: Meddlesome Morons. I spit on you POS. In the end, 23 years later, time has proved to be very kind to this film and it's definitely still every bit as exciting now as it was then. Hot damn action films were awesome in the early 90's!Oh yah one last point, the SOUND of this movie is fantastic and is just as hard-hitting as the visuals - so crank it to 10!

Hard Target is an excellent,explosive and underrated Action-Thriller that combines terrific direction,a great cast,fantastic Action and a fine score. All of those elements make Hard Target one of the better Action Films of the 1990s that is John Woo and Jean-Claude Van Damme at their best.Set in New Orleans,Louisana,Hard Target tells the story of Chance Doudreaux(Jean Claude Van Damme),who is asked by Natalie Binder(Yancy Butler)to track down her War Veteran Father who is homeless. While looking Chance and Natalie clash with wealthy man Emil Fouchon(Lance Henriksen)who hunts homeless people for sport. Now,it's up to Chance to take down Emil once and for all.Released in 1993,Hard Target is a terrific slam bang Action-Thriller that was a Box Office success for Jean Claude Van Damme and was John Woo's first Action film in America after making brilliant and unforgettable Action classics such as The Killer(1989),Hard Boiled(1992),A Better Tomorrow(1986)and A Better Tomorrow II(1987)in Hong Kong,China with actor Chow Yun Fat. And while Hard Target isn't as good as those films it's an outstanding and memorable movie and is one of the better Action films of the 1990s. For 97 wild and fast paced minutes Hard Target is pure,nonstop entertainment from start to finish and is a film I have always enjoyed and liked ever since I saw it on home video back in the mid-1990s and was the film that introduced me to Action master John Woo and is an Action movie that was made strictly for Action fans and John Woo fans because this movie has all of the trademarks you would see in Woo's Hong Kong films and his later movies such as Broken Arrow(1995)and Face/Off(1997):gun and hand to hand fights,explosions,use of slow motion and an over the top style that just works. Hard Target is the kind of Action movie that never stops to accomplish it's goal and that is to put viewers on the edge of your seat with excitement and thrills and Hard Target does it with a vengeance. It's a shame that John Woo and Jean Claude Van Damme never worked together again because together they seemed like a great fit for each others styles. The main character and hero Chance Boudreaux is a memorable character and an Action hero in the truest sense of the term and is the kind of character where his Actions speak louder than words while having a good mullet. Also,Chance uses his fighting skills and his wits to out do the bad guys who do the bad thing by underestimating and getting in trouble because of it. When Chance beats the bad guys and outsmarts them It's the kind of movie where the storyline isn't always strong and there isn't a lot of depth with the characters there is enough dialog and scenes with the main characters to keep the viewers interested. One of the main reasons to watch Hard Target is the Action scenes. The Action scenes in Hard Target is exciting,intense and is done in the classic John Woo style with attention to detail and where pretty much everything is big whether it's the gunfights(with one and at times two guns)or the explosions(with cars,buildings and at other times with motorcycles)everything in Hard Target is pushed to the limit and beyond like in Woo's Hong Kong films and while the scenery is changed from Hong Kong to New Orleans Woo's Action is still the same. What I also liked about Hard Target is the New Orleans locations which still looked beautiful despite the violence all around. The ending of Hard Target is amazing and filled with tons of Action and excitement that never stops and will have you cheering. A sensational ending.The cast is wonderful. Jean-Claude Van Damme is terrific as Chance,with Van Damme being charismatic and kicking butt at the same time. Lance Henriksen is wonderful and memorable as Emil Fouchon,with Henriksen stealing every scene he's in. Arnold Volsoo is fantastic as Pik,Emil's right hand man. Yancy Butler does a great job as Natasha,a woman who needs Chance's help. Wilford Brimley is outstanding as Uncle Dovee,Chance's Uncle. Kasi Lemmons is fine as May Mitchell,a cop. Willie C. Carpenter is sensational as Elijah,Chance's homeless friend. Chuck Pfarrer(who also wrote the screenplay)is good as Douglas Binder,Natasha's homeless Father.The direction by John Woo is outstanding and stylish,with Woo constantly moving the camera and showing close-ups,zooms and freeze frames while doing a great job with the Action scenes. Amazing direction,Woo.The score by Graeme Revell is fantastic,thrilling and matches the film's tone. Great score,Revell.In final word,if you love Jean Claude Van Damme,John Woo or Action Films,I highly suggest you see Hard Target,an excellent,underrated Action-Thriller that you can watch again and again. Highly Recommended. 10/10.