Best movie of this year hands down!

A Disappointing Continuation

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Jean-Claude Van Damme is "Hard Target" one of my personal number 1 action favorite films of all time. Rambo movies and the original 87 RoboCop are my favorite action movies while Hard Target is at top of them and it is my favorite personal action film off all time. This is John Woo's best film in my opinion he made it in the USA. My favorite number 1 Jean-Claude Van Damme film his best one. I love the action scenes, the gory kills, Van Damme with two guns love his line: Give it a rest, pal and bang bang he shoots the bad guy in the motorcycle suite. "Hunting season... is over" and he launches grenade in to the bad guy. John Woo directed this film and he directed great. I love John Woo's movies: Broken Arrow, Hard Boiled, Paycheck, The Killer those are my favorite action films. Hard Target is really my favorite of the 90's action films and they don't make em these days those kind of action movies today. This is my number 1 John Woo action personal favorite film don't get me wrong I love Hard Boiled but I love Hard Target to death! I watched this movie on VHS, I used to had the film on a blank VHS tape and on Blank CD but the CD didn't work properly anymore. I have this film on Blu-ray disc. I watch it constantly and in 2015 it was my number 1 action film whenever someone asked me which was my favorite film it was Hard Target.Hard Target stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lance Henriksen, Arnold Vosloo, Yancy Butler, Kasi Lemmons and Wilford Brimley.Jean-Claude Van Damme is Chance Boudreaux "Hard Target" an ex US Marine Force Reconnaissance and an out-of-work Cajun. He is a bad-ass this is my comic book hero. My favorite action hero of all time, he ass kicking everywhere, shooting bad guys. Chance launches hundred of bullets and slugs in to thirty bad guys. The stuntman's are absolutely crazy insane ( Van Damme stands on a motorcycle while he races back towards in to one of the pursuing SUVs firing his gun at the bad guys, than crashes his bike in to SUV vehicle jumping off the bike, over the roof of the truck and landing safely behind it crazy bad-ass stunt the stuntman was absolutely insane crazy. He shoots behind with the gun igniting the gas tank and the truck explodes - bad ass scene in to the film.) Van Damme jumps with his leg and hit the motorcycle bad guy in to his helmet with his foot, the bad guy crashes off his bike, awesome. Bad-ass action film with balls if you ask me. You see a heavy automatic machine guns, hand guns Beretta 92FS, great explosive weapons. One mercenary uses SWD/Cobray Street Sweeper a grenade launcher and when he fires on Uncle Douvee (Wilford Brimley) he hits and blows up an entire shed. Shotguns and automatic weapons are used well. Van Damme in his 90's never used two hand guns so well except in Double Impact but not like in this movie. You have motorcycle gunmen with their MP5s automatic guns chasing Chance all over the town. You have an Arrow Stealth with arrow that is been used in the film. A thug uses Arrow Stealth on his prey awesome. You have Uncle Douvee - with a bow and arrow which he kills one of the thugs when he fired an automatic weapon on him. These days action movies don't use bow and arrow in the movies anymore. You have incredible explosions in the movie, real fire power guns, real practical effects. Real shotguns, real weapons are used no CGI they are real stunts used in this film. I absolutely love the filming locations in the film. The plot is about a mercenary Emil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen) who is recruiting a homeless combat veterans for the sports game to stalk and hunt people for the amusement of the rush and adrenalin on the streets of New Orleans. His clients are multi millionaire bored tycoons who pay a half of million dollars to stalk and kill the most challenging prey of them all. When Chance (Van Damme) is hired from Natasha Binder (Yancy Butler) to finding her missing father, he finds the game that Binder was killed and now Boudreaux becomes the next target. Boudreaux is an ex US Marine Force Reconnaissance expert in combats and martial artist and he is a "Hard Target" difficult to kill. I love Emil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen) in this movie, Lance is the best in this movie and he is excellent in his role, his best acting ever, he is a professional. I love Arnold Vosloo as Pik Van Cleef his best character ever. "I know you didn't mean to... hurt... my feelings.", "Boudreaux, Boudreaux, Boudreaux. I've been looking all over for you. ", "I don't get angry, I'm a professional. " his best lines ever, he is a bad-ass bad guy. Emil Fouchon is a great bad guy, but I enjoy Pik Van Cleef more. I love also Wilford Brimley as Uncle Douvee in the film he is great us Chance's uncle. 10/10 my personal number 1 favorite action film of all time, I think it is at top of Rambo and RoboCop my films, this is my film from the 90's and I love it so so so much. I love this film to death, I amazingly love it. Also Hard Target 2 doesn't exist for me. I never liked the sequel to the film skip the sequel and watch this one. Highly recommend to the fans.

Let me start by saying that this is one of my favorite films, of Van Damme I consider this a true action classic.Director John Woo was the right choice for the film, he's style of film-making is cool and unique and for his first American feature he did a hell of a good job.I'm just going to go into what I liked on the film.Where do I begin, well just about every action sequence in the picture I liked, but most notably is the warehouse at the end.Overall a cool action film that I consider a classic.I give it an 8/10. If your a fan of Van Damme and never seen this give it a look. Highly recommended.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this thriller, especially after I'd read so much negative press about it over the Internet. But, despite it being much maligned, I thought this was a great action film. One of the best I've seen, in fact, ranking right up there with the DIE HARD and UNDER SIEGE series. I do agree that the story is basically just an excuse to string together the numerous set pieces and ripping off THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME. But thankfully, most of the screen time is given to these set pieces, so there's nothing really to complain about that much. Much of the acting is also pretty bad, but done in a strange tongue in cheek way, so I was enjoying this and laughing along at the things happening.Many people have said this was one of Van Damme's best films. I agree, although at the moment there are only two early films of his that I've seen which I class as average. I don't know why, I can understand all the negative comments about his films, but I enjoy them anyway. Maybe I'll get around to explaining it one day. HARD TARGET gives us a different Van Damme - one who has long hair, and is basically a homeless guy, but Woo still concentrates on those characteristics which make Van Damme a star, namely, his high kicks. Therefore, our hero gets to use these in much abundance in this film, all rendered in loving slow motion.As the heroine, Yancy Butler is pretty, yet a totally awful actress who is painful to watch at some moments (witness the snake scene, talk about over the top). Most of the time she doesn't have to say much, though, which is something, as she's infinitely more likable when she keeps her mouth closed. Wilford Brimley, a solid character actor, enjoys his role as a dusty old uncle who brews moonshine in his shed, and he's fun too. The rest of the cast are all okay, and it's good to see another cameo from Ted Raimi (after all, Sam was an executive producer here), but the main actors who stick in the mind are the two villains: Vosloo and Henriksen.Arnold Vosloo relishes his role as a foreigner who enjoys torturing and slaying those who oppose him, and you can tell that Vosloo is having a great time. He also looks pretty young and slim too, in the wake of THE MUMMY anyway. Lance Henriksen, meanwhile, also has a ball in his way over-the-top role as the chief villain. While some people might not like the intensity of his performance, I loved it, especially when he started gasping and shouting at the end. Who can forget the bit where his coat sets on fire - apparently an on-set accident during which he stayed in character? However, it's the action that people will watch this for, and it's trademark Woo in every respect. Slow motion is used in abundance, to great achievement, and such scenes as Van Damme leaping over a car firing two pistols at once, or Van Damme kicking the sunglasses (and cigar) out of an enemy's mouth, are sheer brilliance. The opening chase scene is a good one, and there are lots of explosions to enjoy too, and stunts (the motorcycle bit is great). However the finest achievement is the final shootout in the Mardi Gras graveyard, which lasts twenty minutes and has Van Damme running around and shooting and kicking people over and over again. It's great, and there is a really high death count. I loved it. Forget the critics, throw aside your hatred of poor acting, and if you like action then watch this film.

Natasha Binder (Yancy Butler) comes to New Orleans in search for her missing father Douglas. He was a homeless vet killed in a secret game to hunt humans. Natasha is rescued from a group of thugs by drifter Cajun vet Chance Boudreaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme). She hires him to help. Emil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen) organizes the hunts and is angry at his recruiter Randal for supplying Douglas who has family that comes looking for him. The overstretched police is reluctant to investigate Douglas' death except for detective Mitchell. They are pursued into the Bayou by Fouchon and his men. Boudreaux uses his local knowledge, super-kicks and his uncle Douvee (Wilford Brimley) to fight off Fouchon.Director John Woo brings his HK action style to America. I love his real stunt action but I've always been ambivalent to his slow motion film style. To me, it slows the pacing and reduces the tension. If done too much, it gives an artificial feel to the action. I often admire the stunt work without admiring the film work. Van Damme is playing a Cajun which excuses his accent somewhat. There is nothing great about the story or the acting. I love some of the stunts but even they start to wear thin.