Hard Target poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lance Henriksen, Arnold Vosloo, Yancy Butler, Kasi Lemmons ... see more see more... , Wilford Brimley , Bob Apisa , Chuck Pfarrer , Michael D. Leinert , Willie C. Carpenter , Lenore Banks , Dave Efron , Eliott Keener , Jeanette Kontomitras , Sven Ole Thorsen , Theodore Raimi , Marco St. John , Joe Warfield , Nancy Nayor , Valerie McCaffrey , Robert Pavlovich , Jules Sylvester , Douglas Forsythe Rye , Mike Leinert , Robert Apisa

John Woo's first Hollywood feature stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Boudreaux, a down-and-out Cajun merchant seaman, who, after saving a young woman, Natasha Binder (Yancy Butler), from a gang of... read more read more... thugs on the streets of New Orleans, agrees to help her search for her father (Chuck Pfarrer), a homeless Vietnam vet. They locate local businessman Randall Poe (Elliott Keener), for whom the vet had been working, and learn that her father has become a victim of wealthy sportsman Emil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen), who, along with his cronies, hunts homeless men as a form of recreation. After Fouchon finds out that the girl is investigating the murder of her father, he arranges for she and Chance to be ambushed, but they manage to escape into the backwoods of Louisiana -- his stomping grounds. Realizing he needs to regroup, Fouchon assembles a private army to invade the bayous. They track the pair to the rustic cabin of Chance's Uncle Douvee (Wilford Brimley), and the real fireworks begin. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi

Flixster Users

50% liked it

34,587 ratings

Critics

50% liked it

30 critics

R, 1 hr. 37 min.

Directed by: John Woo

Release Date: January 1, 1993

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: June 30, 1998

Get It:

Stats: 1,165 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

hard target Hard Target hard target hard target hard target hard target hard target hard target Cory/Jean Claude VanDamme Cover Hard Target hard target Hard Target Hard Target hard target hard target hard target Hard Target hard target
Upload a Photo | View All Hard Target Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (1,165)

  • allan913
    April 14, 2011
    allan913
    Director, John Woo's first American film is an action masterpiece. A fun, explosive and adrenaline-charged edge of your seat action-packed thriller. It's loaded with dark humor, bone-crunching fights and enough explosive gun-battles to keep any action fan entertained. Van Damme a... read morend Woo are a stellar team together, bringing exactly what we want. Easily one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's best films. Lance Henriksen gives a thrilling and intense performance. This is one wickedly cool and wildly entertaining action movie.
  • phubbs1
    August 1, 2010
    phubbs1
    Haha this is really silly and really tacky but again the over the top violence and ultra cool gun fights really rock ass LOL! Henriksen gives it a touch of class and really hams it up beautiully haha and Woo really loves his slow mo leaps n gun pan shots LOL!. Predictable but gre... read moreat fun, and a dodgy Jean Claude hair style.
  • TheGame90
    July 3, 2010
    TheGame90
    Van Damme has one Badass haircut...but otherwise...a pretty average movie
  • ythelastman89
    May 29, 2010
    ythelastman89
    Cheesy and an odd way to incorporate the western genre with Jean-Claude's style, but it's certainly memorable and fun. The way John Woo shoots the movie is completely crazy, I don't know what he was thinking. The Most Dangerous Game remake aspect is by far the most deranged aspec... read moret though, especially when they're hunting down Nam Vets.
  • DragonEyeMorrison
    February 14, 2010
    DragonEyeMorrison
    Van Damme's legendary mullet, Woo in full over-the-top mode, Lance Henriksen as the bad guy. This should be a lot better, but the script, the ham-fisted acting and other crap going on relegates it to the late-night cable arena.
  • fb733768972
    January 14, 2010
    fb733768972
    I didn't find it that great. I've seen much better action films!
  • kpn666
    November 4, 2009
    kpn666
    John Woo's first venture into the American market was actually tame in comparison to his Hong Kong Movies which is stuff of legends.

    But then again, American movie makers did sit up and take notice... and their jaws dropped when this gem got released.

    Hardcore, over the top and... read more even maybe a little ridiculous at times, but still enjoyable for the action junkie. If its John Woo you want, this is gonna provide.

    Van Damme plays a retired Marine Recon Soldier (aka Special Forces) who is hired by a young woman looking for her missing father. What they uncover is a dark and sinister group who provides the ultimate hunt - man hunting of retired combat soldiers at half a million dollars per head. Led by the egotistical and smooth Lance Henriksen, and aided by his second, the ultra violent Arnold Vosloo (whose name is Van Cleef btw, XD) they decide Van Damme and his new friend have butted their nose in where it doesnt belong. But of course, who is hunting who, as Van Damme takes it up a few notches.

    Its the early 90's people want kick ass and things that go BOOOM. So be happy. XD

    I guess the standout scene is the intro fight, the drawling western showdown music, the gunslinger routine and lightning fast draw.... if its one thing this film does better than most, its the style of the action. Smooth, strong and effective, making use of Van Damme's awesome martial arts and beautifully caught in slow motion in some places.


    There's nothing really more to say, just action, action and more action. Thats what I loved about the 90's. Action. XD
  • MidnightMadwoman
    January 29, 2009
    MidnightMadwoman
    I hate to quote Peter Griffin of all people, but this movie is stupid... awesome! Apparently, everything in Jean-Calude Van Damme's world is flammable. Not just flammable, explosive. Hit anything against anything and it would probably create a fireball. He could use an orange as ... read morea grenade.

    The plot of this film is essentially what The Pest would have been if it had been an action film instead of a comedy. As stories go, this one is pretty formulaic: the villains are pure evil and their blunders drive the film - and are mistaken for thier target being especially adept. Yancy Butler is terrible in this, and Van Damme serves his purpose. This movie is really not that special. If John Woo hadn't used so much slow motion, it's probably only be about an hour long.
  • Chiefilms
    March 2, 2008
    Chiefilms
    John Woo, Van Damme, doesn't work.
  • cancercapricorn2002
    November 27, 2007
    cancercapricorn2002
    'Hard Target' is not as bad of a film as most make it out to be, a joint production between Sam Raimi and John Woo, written by Chuck Pfarrer, and starring Jean-Claude Van Dame and Lance Henriksen, and so it has a very mainstream quality to it. When first viewing this film anyone... read more who is a John Woo fan can tell almost straight away that it is a John Woo film, featuring a ballet of guns and violence, slow-motion action captures, and breath-taking stunts This film is notable for being John Woo's first American production, and he does well. I personally prefer his Hong Kong movies but this is a good film for him. This film lacks all the great filmic qualities of his Hong Kong films, so I guess you can call this 'mainstream' John Woo .

    The film tells the story of a woman searching for her vagrant father in the streets of New Orleans. She is attacked by a group of thugs but then rescued by a man named Chance Boudreaux (Van Damme), a bum, a bum who knows the streets of New Orleans. Natasha, the woman who Chance has rescued, asks Chance if he will help her find her father. In the process, they uncover information as to the existence of a game where rich businessmen hunt vagrants for sport, where they offer the homeless people $10,000 if they can get away, and if they can't, they die. The two find out that Natasha's father was a victim of this, but as they uncover this, they suddenly work out that they are now part of the game.

    'Hard Target' may lack certain things, especially for a John Woo film, but it still features enough of Woo's trademarks to make it a worthwhile addition to his list of films. From the start, you can tell that Hollywood had a big say in what happened, and this is one of the crippling factors behind this film. The writing isn't particularly good ( not bad but not great either) and it gives the impression that they wrote the script with Van Damme in mind, granted his limitations as a dramatic actor. Rumor is that Kurt Russell was up for the lead in this film, would Russell have been a better choice? I myself have no doubts, because his roles are dramatic (Back Draft) as well as action-packed (Escape from New York), but Van Damme manages to pull it off in a way. One of the major saving grace's of this film is, as always, Lance Henriksen, who plays the typical ice-faced sociopath with glee, he has made such a career out of playing these small 'crazy person' roles that it has become almost a typecast, but because of this typecast, you just know that he will manage to pull it off, and he does.

    Overall, 'Hard Target' is a decent enough film but if you are going to watch a John Woo film, try something like 'The Killer' or 'Hard Boiled'. If you wish to watch this just for Van Damme, however, then you should be in luck, because he is in the hands of a director who know what he is doing.

View All Hard Target Reviews

Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy
October 10, 2006
Emanuel Levy, Variety

A disappointing American debut of the Hong Kong cult director John Woo is a decent action vehicle by standards of its star Jean-Claude Van Damme but, hampered by a B script and flat characters, it doe... Full Review

Janet Maslin
August 30, 2004
Janet Maslin, New York Times

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. Full Review

Peter Travers
May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

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

Richard Harrington
January 1, 2000
Richard Harrington, Washington Post

Woo, a master of stylized violence and explosive action, has had to buy into America's fascination with explosive effects and reaction. Something gets lost in the transition. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

Its characters are poorly-developed, the plot is the pinnacle of absurdity, and the acting, at best, is well over-the-top. Nevertheless, on the most basic, visceral level, the film succeeds. Full Review

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

Essentially, Hard Target is a risk-averse Van Damme vehicle, steered by many hands, and set on tracks leading directly to the delivery entrances of the country's video stores. Full Review

November 2, 2008
TV Guide's Movie Guide

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 t... Full Review

Derek Adams
June 24, 2006
Derek Adams, Time Out

It's what Hollywood wanted Woo for: bigger, brighter explosions. Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
May 26, 2006
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

One of my greatest guilty pleasures. Full Review

Jon Niccum
January 20, 2006
Jon Niccum, Lawrence Journal-World

Hysterically inept attempt at action filmmaking

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Mr. & Mrs. Smith
    Mr. & Mrs. Smith (56%)
  • Titanic (in 3D)
    Titanic (in 3D) (6%)
  • In My Country
    In My Country (33%)
  • The Passion of Darkly Noon
    The Passion of Darkly Noon (100%)

More Movies like Hard Target

Facts

Submit a Fact | View All
  • Kurt Russell was at one point considered for the lead role.
  • Don't hunt what you can't kill.
Submit a Fact | View All

Hard Target : Watch Free on TV

Hard Target Trivia

  • What was John Woo's first American Directorial Debut?  Answer »
  • This is a quote from which film - "What I want out of each and every one of you is a hard target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, hen house, outhouse, and doghouse in that area."?   Answer »
  • what was john woos first american film  Answer »
  • some of his movies include: replicant double team inferno death warrant hard target who is he?   Answer »
More Hard Target Trivia

Movie Quizzes

Create a Quiz |

All Quizzes

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add Hard Target to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?