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After a string of action masterpieces—which included A Better Tomorrow (1986), The Killer (1989), and Hard Boiled (1992)—made him a critical darling and the international representative of Hong Kong’s heroic bloodshed genre of cinema, it was inevitable that director John Woo would receive offers from Hollywood. Hard Target (1993) would be Woo’s first American film and, in spite of its well-chronicled production issues, it’s an action classic and one of star Jean-Claude Van Damme’s best—even if it’s not the undiluted John Woo actioner it might have been, had the studio, its leading man, and the MPAA not meddled in what ultimately became Hard Target’s final cut. Andrew Hernandez on So Close | Blu-ray (88 Films) I’ve learned over time that when a release has that red rating icon at the bo… Woo may not have made his best film here, but it was easily one of his best US outings, crafting a bona fide action classic The UHD disc comes with an informative commentary by action film historians Brandon Bently and Mike Leeder that contextualize the film within Woo and Jean-Claude Van Damme’s careers, while the accompanying Blu-ray contains short interviews with the cast and crew, including Woo, actors Lance Henriksen and Yancy Butler, and stunt coordinator Billy Burton. Overall Mr. Odessa on Don’t miss Goodie Emporium’s New Release update! RUN AND KILL is being released by Team Error 4444. It’s available for pre ord…
JJ Bona on Slaughter in San Francisco | Blu-ray (88 Films) You can definitely polish turd so a "so bad, it's good" film is presented bet… The “workprint version” has attained a sort of mythologized reverence among many. But having once been in “possession” of it (have deleted it since as I’m trying not to be that asshole with a hard drive full of torrented shit) I have to say it’s not exactly “John Woo’s Hard Target” with the released version being some Joss Whedon re-tooled Frankenstein. It’s mostly violent scenes extended beyond their effectiveness, in my opinion. Some work, some don’t, or more precisely, don’t significantly up the visceral thrill quotient
Then we come to the most colorfully fun character of the movie - Uncle Douvee played by the late great Wilford Brimley. “Sip, but don’t spill. Kill the grass.” became a running joke with me and my Dad for years. I would have loved to have been a fly in the room for that casting decision. “Who do we get to play Van Damme’s cajun uncle?”“Hmmm… the diabetic Quaker Oats guy?”“Brilliant!” Again, in case you get a copy with the wrong disc - follow the link to request your replacement disc: Ska Martes on The Heroic Trio & Executioners | 4K UHD & Blu-ray (Criterion) Great movies and the kind of megastar casting that you just don't get anymore… Bright New Orleans scenery drives the contrast in full, generous and bold as sunlight drops onto the imagery. Peak brightness isn’t subtle, but also not overly exaggerated. Solid shadows do equally well on their end, giving Hard Target heavy dimensionality. A pleasing warmth brings flesh tones vibrancy, while primaries look just as saturated, with the same temperature push. This does look digital, if attractive, and suited to the coastal aesthetic. Audio
An absolutely beautiful film grain sits over Hard Target, and with few exceptions, Kino’s encode handles the material flawlessly. Rarely does the imagery look anything less than filmic. The print shows some dust, minor as it is. Restoration takes care of most (keyword: most) scratches or other faults though. Gaylord Picht on Hard Target | 4K UHD + Blu-ray (Kino Lorber) That's fantastic news! I'm thrilled to hear that the 116 min test screening v…Paul Bramhall on Slaughter in San Francisco | Blu-ray (88 Films) We have a polishing face off between Eureka and 88 Films right now....in Eure… The issue with the audio on the first pressing of the disc was the right and left channels were flipped. This wasn't always noticeable as so much of the mix is fairly front/center focused, but when there was some movement you could easily notice the problem. The motorcycle chase sequence is a key example: there's a shot where Chance and Nat are under an overpass riding from left to right with the guys pursuing in a car drives in left to right. The original mix had these elements flipped. So that's what you really need to listen for.
Almost thirty years on, and Hard Target remains a veritable action classic and one of the best movies of Jean-Claude Van Damme's career. Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. On December 7, 2021, Kino Lorber Studio Classics will release a New 4K UHD + Blu-ray for John Woo and Jean-Claude Van Damme’s 1993 actioner Hard Target. Rounding out the supporting cast - I’ve always been surprised that Yancy Butler never really hit it big. Attractive and talented, she enjoyed parts in other action movies before headlining the underrated Witchblade series - but she’s never really had that huge star-making movie role. After The Silence of the Lambs and Candyman, Kasi Lemmons completes her notable supporting role trilogy as a cynical but determined detective. She doesn’t get a lot to do, but she holds her own. And before they slapped a CGI rubber mouth on him, Arnold Vosloo was a genuine baddie in this film.The only extra on the UHD is an audio commentary featuring ‘action film historians' Brandon Bently and Mike Leeder. The start off by noting the similarities to The Most Dangerous Game as well as Cannon Film's Avenging Force, how they both came to know John Woo's cinema, the MPAA's issues with the film and its violence and the differences between the R-rated cut and the unrated cut included here, John Woo's earlier workprint cut that runs two hours plus, the film's score, the stunt work featured in the picture and, of course, plenty of details about Van Damme's career and work in this picture. They also cover the contributions of the other cast and crew members, the film's trailer, the reaction to the film when it came out and how it blended Hong Kong style 'heroic bloodshed' movies with more traditional American action films and quite a bit more. It's an interesting talk and one worth listening to. Part of the fun of this movie is just how evil our villains are. Lance Henriksen is great in everything he does and his Fouchon is next-level diabolical - and hilarious. He’s a man who clearly loves what he does and takes that “work” seriously, but at the same time has the utmost contempt for his clients willfully killing them if and when necessary. When they need to start hunting Boudreaux, instead of just letting loose his lethal right-hand man Pik (the always awesome Arnold Vosloo), he instead gives select former clients the chance to pay him an exorbitant fee for the opportunity to kill the uber-mulleted Van Damme knowing full well most are likely to die. He's evil and also a bit of a grifter. Our hero and villain share very little screentime together but it’s a classic dynamic both actors play well. Ska Martes on Hard Target | 4K UHD + Blu-ray (Kino Lorber) Love this movie. As lomg as its the longer international cut, this is the onl…
Although the dual language barrier made their working relationship even more strained than it already was - so much so that Woo opted out of any further projects with him - having Van Damme on board did come with a silver lining, as it meant that Woo could tailor the script to feature considerably more action than before, as well as a hefty chunk of expertly-choreographed martial arts, something that Woo's HK projects had only dabbled in. It certainly lent itself well to the auteur's distinctive balletic action style and, at the same time, probably made Van Damme look the coolest he'd ever looked (and, likely, ever will). 1992's Universal Soldier and 1994's Timecop might have been his biggest hitters at the Box Office but, sandwiched in-between, Hard Target is easily the best action film in his entire career. JCVD was a rising leading man star ahead of Hard Target. John Woo was a Hong Kong director Hollywood was desperate to hire before Hard Target. These two titans of action cinema came together for one hell of a ride. Full of high-flying stunt work, this film is a ballet of martial arts and bullets. A great supporting cast including Yancy Butler, Lance Henriksen, Kasi Lemmons, Arnold Vosloo, and a highly entertaining turn from Wilford Brimley ensures there's never a dull moment. So yeah, maybe Hard Target doesn’t actually deserve the full five-star rating - but I’m an unabashed fan with a big nostalgic heart - so I’m keeping it. It’s been a favorite ever since that first viewing and I’ve watched it countless times since. It’s when Van Damme was at his best to see on the big screen before the ego and severe cocaine addiction took over. JCVD Still pumps out some fun movies, but nothing has come close to the excellence that is Hard Target. Now if they want to pair him up with Scott Adkins again and do a Hard Target 3 - I’d be all for that mayhem! According to Kino, Woo considers the international unrated cut, his cut. Before agreeing to the interview, he wanted to make sure the company was restoring his preferred cut. The infamous workprint cut is not his cut and will not be included (many of the scenes of the work print cut no longer exist). Ultimately Hard Target is a Van-Damme film and when it comes to the muscles-from-Brussels, we want to see the action above anything else and when it comes to a Woo film, we want to see birds flying in slow motion around the action. Yep, we get plenty of both. While I felt that the three films that Woo followed up with, Broken Arrow, Face/Off and Mission: Impossible II are better (mainly because they have better actors and more interesting characters in those), Hard Target for the most part gets the job done for action fans.
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JJ Bona on So Close | Blu-ray (88 Films) The actually do both (one with, one without) on some of their US/UK releases. Ska Martes on The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell (2023) Review I really tried to like this one because the first White Storm was an acceptab… Bruce Jensen on Slaughter in San Francisco | Blu-ray (88 Films) Wow. I appreciate the fine work Eureka!, 88 Films, Arrow, etc. are doing in b…
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