There certainly wasn't a shortage of action movies, and - by extension - action movie heroes, during the first half of the nineties. Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Steven Seagal, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, Sylvester Stallone, ... They all brightly colored my own personal teenage years with their action blockbusters, but only a handful of those still look top-notch and dazzling today.
One of them is "Hard Target" and, no, it's not because of Van Damme's adorable curly hair or because someone had the brilliant idea to set the story in New Orleans so that his thick French accent make sense. It's largely thanks to the man in the driver seat; - John Woo and his visionary filming style and value-adding trademarks. Woo's first Hollywood adventure isn't as great as his Hong-Kong classics starring Chow Yun-Fat (notably "The Killer") but he nonetheless brings out the best in what usually are mediocre actors, like Van Damme and Arnold Vosloo. And someone like Lance Henriksen is even more phenomenal than he usually is.
The plot certainly won't win any prizes for originality. "Hard Target" is another interpretation of the legendary 1932 milestone "The Most Dangerous Game" (see also: "Blood Camp Thatcher", "Deadly Prey", "Surviving the Game", "The Women Hunt", ...) in which hunting on human preys is turned into a sport for the elite. The film differentiates itself by the fierce and masterful action sequences, including shootouts with massive firepower, dazzling motorcycle stunts, kickboxing techniques in slow-motion, venomous snake traps, and fireworks in a Mardi Grass warehouse. Deliberate or not, John Woo also portrays a marvelous slice of biting social satire. In a grim city like New Orleans, nobody cares to help a dying homeless man, and his assailants mustn't even fear any witnesses.
One of them is "Hard Target" and, no, it's not because of Van Damme's adorable curly hair or because someone had the brilliant idea to set the story in New Orleans so that his thick French accent make sense. It's largely thanks to the man in the driver seat; - John Woo and his visionary filming style and value-adding trademarks. Woo's first Hollywood adventure isn't as great as his Hong-Kong classics starring Chow Yun-Fat (notably "The Killer") but he nonetheless brings out the best in what usually are mediocre actors, like Van Damme and Arnold Vosloo. And someone like Lance Henriksen is even more phenomenal than he usually is.
The plot certainly won't win any prizes for originality. "Hard Target" is another interpretation of the legendary 1932 milestone "The Most Dangerous Game" (see also: "Blood Camp Thatcher", "Deadly Prey", "Surviving the Game", "The Women Hunt", ...) in which hunting on human preys is turned into a sport for the elite. The film differentiates itself by the fierce and masterful action sequences, including shootouts with massive firepower, dazzling motorcycle stunts, kickboxing techniques in slow-motion, venomous snake traps, and fireworks in a Mardi Grass warehouse. Deliberate or not, John Woo also portrays a marvelous slice of biting social satire. In a grim city like New Orleans, nobody cares to help a dying homeless man, and his assailants mustn't even fear any witnesses.