Hard Target (1993)

Hard Target (1993)-* * * *

Directed by: John Woo

Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Yancy Butler, Arnold Vosloo, Lance Henriksen, Kasi Lemmons, and Wilford Brimley

Chance Boudreaux (Van Damme) is a New Orleans longshoreman who is down on his luck and struggling to find work. Opportunity comes his way when Nat (Butler) hires him to help her find her missing father. As it turns out, her father isn’t missing, necessarily, he was a victim of a malevolent gang of “human hunters”. Led by Fouchon (Henriksen), and with his second in command Pik Van Cleef (Vosloo), they get their kicks (and get rich) letting weekend warriors pay them to go on the ultimate hunting expedition: for man! But they meet their match with the fearless Chance, a man they cannot kill. Along for the ride is Chance’s uncle Douvee (Brimley). Will Chance get his chance at glory? Or, to the human hunters, is he just another HARD TARGET?

Hard Target is hands-down one of Van Damme’s best. It’s explosively entertaining and lives up to the promise of a Van Damme and John Woo team-up. It’s everything a combination of those two men could be and should be, and doesn’t let the audience down.

Once again, this is classic 90’s action fun from the golden time when Van Damme movies went to the theater. Back then, we remember joking with our friends that because there’s so much slow motion in this movie, if it was all played at regular speed, the film would be about 20 minutes. And it’s true, there is a lot of dramatic slo-mo, but it’s all for the best. And Van Damme and others get a lot of unnecessarily portentous entrances and exits, which just adds to the style of Hard Target, which is just a tad bit off-kilter. But that’s far from a bad thing. It separates itself from its many competitors that way.

Besides Van Damme and his absurd hair, the cast assembled for this is just killer: Lance Henriksen is great as the baddie who’s so bad, even his piano-playing is evil. Vosloo is also adept at being bad, and his quasi-Scottish (?) accent, well, accentuates his sinister glares. Yancy Butler gives a bug-eyed performance who always seems surprised at the proceedings. But top marks must go to the great Wilford Brimley. In a strange role for him, the barely-intelligible, bow-and-arrow toting, horseback riding uncle is truly lovable and you root for him, even though he doesn’t appear until late in the film. That’s a tribute to Brimley that the audience can grow to love him so quickly.

This movie puts a twist on the time-honored Most Dangerous Game (1932) idea. The formula’s been tried before, with varying degrees of success, in everything from Death Ring (1992) to Avenging Force (1986). But Hard Target has plenty of awesome moments, including the extended climax in (what else) an abandoned warehouse. Never one to be afraid of wasting bullets, Woo pulls out all the stops in an extended feast of overkill. It’s over-the-top fun everyone should see.

On a technical note, the British DVD is longer than the American cut, including more violence. So try to track that down if you can, for the complete picture.

Go down to the bayou tonight for some high-octane, high-quality Van Damme at his absolute best.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

American Justice (1986)

American Justice (1986)-* *

AKA: Jackals

Directed by: Gary Grillo

Starring: Gerald McRaney, Jack Lucarelli, Jameson Parker, Jeannie Wilson, and Wilford Brimley










Joe Case (Lucarelli) is a man from California who comes to visit a small Arizona border community. As an out-of-towner, he witnesses violence, corruption and murder at the hands of the local cops and sheriff. The main antagonist is Jake Wheeler (McRaney), a belligerent racist who has no problem dealing with the Mexican border-crossers...one way or another. Sheriff Mitchell (Brimley) also has an uneasy relationship with Wheeler, a loose cannon. Joe teams up with Dave Buchanon (Parker), one of the good cops, in an attempt to right the situation and bring Jake to justice. But will it be AMERICAN JUSTICE?

Plenty of movies in the 80’s dealt with the subject of the U.S./Mexico border - even on this site alone we have Border Cop (1979), Border Heat (1990) (AKA Deadly Stranger) and now American Justice. THIS particular border movie isn’t really an action movie per se, it’s more of a downbeat, serious drama with some violence/thriller elements. The movie’s attempt at seriousness isn’t a bad thing at all, but the storyline is simplistic, and not a lot happens around it. The movie is almost airy, if that makes any sense. The odd, slow pace isn’t conducive to anything cohesive that will stick in your mind, and the movie becomes forgettable.

Except for a few violent bits, it feels like a TV movie, which isn’t surprising, as that’s the medium director Gary Grillo spent most of his career in. Add to that the presences of McRaney and Parker, known for the show Simon and Simon. Of course, McRaney is also known as “TV’s Major Dad” as well. McRaney is well cast here and acquits himself well, and Wilford Brimley is a bright spot, adding what meat he possibly can to his small role, but there should have been MORE. More plot, more character development, more action, more suspense, more twists, more SOMETHING.

While the VHS in the U.S. was released on one of our favorite labels, Lightning, the tagline used, “Justice from the barrel of a gun”, is sadly not lived up to. It makes you think a bigger, grander movie is forthcoming. Additionally, the box states the running time at 79 minutes, but it’s really 92. Why they did this is unknown. Did they think video store patrons might rent it because it’s not a big drain on their time? If so, it may have backfired, as people want to get as much for their money as they can, and they may have thought a meager 79 minutes is not worth the investment of a video rental. These are the things that keep you up at night. Or at least us.

While not a BAD movie by any means, American Justice isn’t a great one either. File this one under “missed opportunity”.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty