Hard Target

""Your trophy is tearing us a new orifice." - Pik

release year: 1993
genre: action
viewing setting: home Bluray 3/16/24 and home DVD 5/19/19 and 9/30/09 and 8/23/05 and 2/23/03

synopsis: In New Orleans, a band of mercenaries conducts hunts with human prey, charging rich people a lot of money to partake. When their next quarry is someone who knows how to fight back, things get violent.

impressions: Pretty good violent action movie, lots of gunplay, some hand-to-hand, even a bow and arrow! This was John Woo's first big American movie, and his style, while interesting, annoys me at times (the slow-motion thing with the music, I don't care for it.) There is no reason I should have to watch the same leap or kick four times, in slow motion, from different angles. Anyway, the plot revolves around a group of ex-mercenaries who move from place to place, setting up hunts where rich people can track and kill human targets. Of course, Van Damme has the skills to make the latest hunt a little more difficult than the bad guys imagined.

things to watch for: The fight near the beginning, around the lady's Camaro, was good.

acting: Even with long hair, Van Damme is no Oscar-winner - but he gave one of his better performances here, with more dialogue than usual. Lance Henriksen and Arnold Vosloo were both nasty and competent as the main bad guys. The female lead was okay, but didn't add much. The guy who played the other Vietnam vet had a good supporting role. This movie kind of gave a face and personality to the homeless.

final word: Good action flick, worth seeing.

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