Hard Target

With Woo, violence is not just a means to an end. It's something pretty; it's fascinating. His talent is an original and peculiar one. Woo brings an esthetic sensibility to bear on the phenomenon of a good guy beating people up -- and to the spectacle of a violent shoot-out. Explosions aren't just impressive but beautiful. [20 Aug 1993, p.C1]

By the time Hard Target reaches its amazing climax, set in a warehouse stocked with surreal Mardi Gras floats, the film has become an incendiary action orgy, as joyously excessive as the grand finale in a fireworks show. Woo puts the thrill back into getting blown away. Read full review

Woo's film has an exciting look and visceral feel that is unique in Western filmmaking. If nothing else, it should increase video rentals of Woo's foreign films and make a ton of money for those happy capitalists at Universal Pictures. Read full review

Van Damme is no mere fighting machine: His performance is buffed with subtle humor and a sympathetic, self-deprecating demeanor. The bad guys are terrific: Lance Henriksen as the cold and cunning sporting promoter and Arnold Vosloo as his psycho hunting dog. Read full review

To be fair, this isn't The Killer. Woo's unique penchant for over-the-top male bonding is basically nowhere to be seen, but then this is, after all, a very American story, despite Woo's name at the top. Read full review

It's a spectacular ballet of death, lavishing upon us the highest body count of any action movie since "Total Recall," and its cynical panache marks a return to form for kickboxer Jean-Claude Van Damme, whose recent vehicles have sputtered. Not "Hard Target," though, which floors it from start to finish as it sends Van Damme after a vicious gang that rounds up homeless vets to serve as sacrificial victims for rich hunters in New Orleans. [20 Aug 1993, p.43]

One super non-stop thrill show, it is also a dishearteningly detached and grim piece of work. [20 Aug 1993, p.C]

Hong Kong's China-born cult director makes his U.S. debut here, serving up so many briskly staged and edited action scenes that you'll wager Sam Peckinpah somehow figured in his gene pool. Forget grenades and assault weapons (though they're here, too); Target deals in bows and arrows, a serpent booby-trap and even one portly hero (Wilford Brimley) on horseback. All this and Brimley's Cajun accent, too. [20 Aug 1993, p.1D]

It’s a sturdy bridge between two markedly different filmmaking cultures. Read full review

A briskly vigorous, occasionally brilliant actioner. Read full review

Mr. Woo's obvious gusto and his taste for myth making are readily apparent. But so is his fondness for the slow, lingering death scene coupled with sickening sound effects. Presenting Mr. Van Damme as reverentially as Sergio Leone did the young Clint Eastwood, Mr. Woo displays a real aptitude for malignant mischief, which is this story's stock in trade. Read full review

The good news is there still are scenes to peel back the eyelids, beginning with a nighttime stalking and ending with some slambang mano a mano encounters in a warehouse for Mardi Gras floats - the kind of restricted setting of which Woo is a master. But the adrenaline lift, not to mention the deeper dimensions, of such films of his as "The Killer" are missing in action. [20 Aug 1993, p.46]

Without the elegant technique of John Woo, Hard Target could have been a real dud. It is not a good alternative to more intelligent thrillers such as In the Line of Fire and as The Fugitive, but that's not the market it's aimed at. However, those who enter a darkened theater showing this film with a reasonable idea of what they're getting themselves into, are likely to emerge satisfied. Read full review

Enjoyable from start to finish, this throw-away action flick does what it says on the tin. Read full review

Even when the acting is hammy, notably Wilford Brimley’s turn as Chance’s Cajun uncle, Woo stages every fight with hypnotic grace. Read full review

The movie's firepower would shame the devil. It's what Hollywood wanted Woo for: bigger, brighter explosions. Read full review

though it has its share of boggling action sequences and will serve as an acceptable introduction to domestic fans not familiar with Woo’s work, “Hard Target” is an awkward mixture, not on the level of the director’s best work, and leaves open the question of how well his style can adapt to Hollywood. Read full review

Woo's camera is easily the star of the film -- poring over Van Damme's cheekbones and chest (and groovy new locks) in an effort to make an epic character of him, caressing shotgun barrels and split lips, expanding and contracting time like Silly Putty. [20 Aug 1993, p.AE17]

When Van Damme isn't duking it out with the English language, scriptwriter Chuck Pfarrer is filling Henriksen's mouth with villainous pseudo-profundities. Even in a second-rate action picture like this, and despite Henriksen's commendable efforts, they're painful to listen to. Read full review

Though working on a Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle can be seen as a comedown for Woo, he rises to the occasion to create an often rousing entertainment that is almost inarguably Van Damme's best film to date. Read full review

The only thing wrong with John Woo's American debut, Hard Target, is that it's too American and not enough Woo. Read full review

Hard Target is pretty much a bust from every conceivable aspect, except the visual -- it looks terrific, and one sequence, a shoot-out on the streets of New Orleans between Van Damme and a progressively larger number of bad guys, comes close to capturing the trademark frenzied, exhilarating feel of Woo's previous work. [20 Aug 1993, p.5]