Excellent but underrated film

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

For Steven Seagal, it was a lucky break for him to catch popularity as an action star. Any later in the 1980s and his name may not have made as big a splash as it initially did. Thanks to the success of Above the Law (1988), Seagal was seen as an upcoming asset for Warner Brothers and was being looked at as competition against other high profile 1980s actioneers like Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris. Encouraging this prediction was this film. Unfortunately even for its financial success, Seagal's second film entry isn't anything ground breaking. As an overall product, it works but it's nothing special or unique. It's just a useful time waster. There are elements that work for the film but they're only equal to the flaws that flood the production.Steven Seagal plays Mason Storm, a cop who had a lead on a mysterious crime boss looking to get into power by running for congress. Due to unfortunate circumstances, Storm's cover gets blown and is attacked while at home with his family. Thought to be dead, Storm awakes from a coma in a hospital 7 years later and discovers the crime boss is still at large. It's at that point Storm decides to finish what he began. Although much of its premise has been seen many a time before, it's an acceptable one. Written by Steven McKay (Darkman II: The Return of Durant (1995)), his work here isn't bad but it isn't very good either. One of the biggest questions that don't make any sense is how was Storm's identity kept secret for so long? The reason is actually given later on but how did these villains not check up on that? That's really sloppy guys. Also, it turns out the film was heavily edited down, which explains the actual seen to how Storm was kept hidden from his enemies. However with that stated, credit can not be given for something that doesn't exist in the final product because no one else will know until they bother to lookup the information (if they're that curious).The other problem with McKay's writing is the suspense used for its villain. There really is no pay off to the realization of which the antagonist is. Not only is it revealed way ahead of time but also is only more clear as day due to a key phrase the character says. Mind you he says it after every claim he makes. Yet, another character clearly states that over the 7 years Storm was out, nobody could find any patterns. Sounds straightforward to me. The acting for the most part is fine. Steven Seagal has a number of good one-liners and his relationship with Lt. Kevin O'Malley (Frederick Coffin) feels authentic. Coffin and Seagal's role have the most real feeling relationship as two cops who have their backs. Then there's Kelly LeBrock (who happened to be Seagal's wife during the time). Slightly looking like a cheaper version of Angelina Jolie, LeBrock plays Andy Stewart, a nurse at the hospital that Storm wakes up in and ends up following until the ends of the earth. For what she portrays, it's fairly typical. However, this is nothing compared to her English/Australian accent she tries to pass with. It is very weak.The action was applaudable though. In fact, the amount of shoot outs and fist fights that occur feel a bit more frequent than the action sequences in Above the Law (1988). Plus, there are some more unique kill scenes too. For example, don't get angry with Steven Seagal while you're playing pool. Not a smart idea. The pacing on the other hand is a different story. Directed by Bruce Malmuth (Nighthawks (1981)) and edited by John F. Link, these two crewmembers seem to have clashing agendas. For the action scenes, Link provides tight editing that keeps things moving quickly. Yet as a whole, Bruce Malmuth's directorial skills end up slowing everything down no matter the quantity of action scenes. Much of the direction is the crime boss' henchmen trying to kill Storm. This is fine, but for a cat and mouse chase there should be fewer slow paced parts than fast. Link was working on getting that down but it seemed like Malmuth had other plans. This just makes the sit feel rather sluggish in general.The cinematography and music however attempted to reclaim some of the bad parts of the film. The film score, although hardly memorable at least had themes for its characters. Produced by David Michael Frank, a composer who's known for his fondness in synth compositions, doesn't stray far from that. Using a lot of keyboard and percussion, Frank demonstrates he can at least produce music with a signature style according to him. Matthew F. Leonetti (brother of John R. Leonetti) shot the cinematography. And although a large percentage of the film is shot at night or indoors, there are daylight and landscape shots that look great. A very good-looking scene is where Seagal is training in rural landscape. Seagal even climbs up a mountain and the view is magnificent. The action choreography is also well done and isn't shaky enough to disorient its viewers. Nice.It's not a good film but it isn't a total loss either. It has decent cinematography, music, acting (almost all) and energetic action. A lot its problems come from its sluggish pacing and rather nonsensically obvious writing that none of the characters seem to understand.

There is some good stuff here. But we do need more Seagal action. The best thing is maybe the super hot Kelly LeBrock as a nurse. Can we get a sponge bath? Steven does some Eastern Medicine stuff, does some fighting, and you know.... Seagal needs to expand his acting skills. Or else they need to cover the bad acting with a funny sidekick or a lot of big action. At least they got LeBrock as a distraction.Mason Storm (Steven Seagal) films Senator Vernon Trent (William Sadler) in a compromising dockside conversation to corrupt cops. Then they come after him. His wife was killed, and they think they killed him, too. Unknown to them, he was only in a Coma. Seven years later, he comes out of the coma, and the senator comes after him again. Nurse Andy Stewart (Kelly LeBrock) is caught in the gunfight, and she helps Mason escape the hospital. This time, Mason need to take down the senator once and for all.

Good, straightforward actioner with Seagal in his second feature film vehicle (after debuting in "Above the Law"). He plays Mason Storm, an undercover detective who digs up some dirt on a mobster and a crooked politician, and receives multiple bullets to the chest as a result (turns out some of his fellow cops are crooked, too). His wife is murdered, and his son disappears. Meanwhile, he spends the next seven years in a coma, and when he awakens, he's ready to get his revenge. Efficient direction by Bruce Malmuth in this enjoyable diversion that gets right to the point, and delivers enough violence to keep us happy. It also gives us a smoking hot love interest in the form of luscious Kelly Le Brock (Seagal's wife at the time), as the nurse who takes an interest in him and helps him get back to prime ass kicking condition. The supporting cast is all quite capable, from the always fantastic William Sadler as the weaselly, cowardly senator (who should have known better than to give himself an identifiable catch phrase), Frederick Coffin as Storm's loyal old buddy O'Malley, Charles Boswell, Branscombe Richmond, Andrew Bloch, and Dean Norris as various corrupt detectives / thugs, and lovely Bonnie Burroughs as Storm's ill-fated wife. There are some amusing touches to this screenplay, as it initially takes place in 1983, during the night of the Academy Awards, and there's also Storm's reaction to the changes that have taken place, such as President George Bush, Sr.; his reaction to seeing Geraldo Rivera on TV is particularly funny. We also get to see Seagal with his hair down for once, and sporting a very nice moustache and beard (cultivated by the nurse during his coma). Then there's the opportunity to see Seagal play a character who's very vulnerable during one section of the movie, and who's obliged to orchestrate an escape using a handy mop. The pace never flags, and it's fun as always to see Seagal doing his thing, at least during these early years of his career where he really gave more of an effort. And the villains are wretched enough scum that we just can't wait to see them get what they deserve. A solid film of its type, "Hard to Kill" delivers the goods for fans of this genre.

There's not a great deal to say about Hard to Kill; it's a passable revenge thriller with obvious flaws, but this shouldn't necessarily put off action film buffs and most certainly not fans of Steven Seagal. Indeed, nobody would seriously expect great acting and plotting in your typical Seagal film: the moviegoers flock to see Seagal kick ass and take names (sometimes quite brutally). Hard to Kill certainly delivers this, with ample bone-breaking action scattered throughout the film. However, films don't usually deserve high ratings based on action alone; Hard to Kill is no different.Why? Well, there are many other flaws, starting with the plot. On a very basic level, the plot just about works; Mason Storm's (Seagal) family was torn asunder by assassins working for a corrupt senator and police lieutenant and he went into a 7-year long coma as a result. Now he wants revenge. Fair enough, I say.However, there are many obvious plot holes: if Storm's would-be killers were led to believe that Storm died 7 years ago, how did they know it was HIM that awoke from a coma? How did Seagal know that Jack Axel killed his wife if he was masked and O'Malley (Coffin) never told him? Would Senators REALLY meet with criminals directly? Why didn't Jack Axel try to shoot Storm in the hospital? The acting was also very much a mixed bag. Seagal is Seagal; in other words, he is unconvincing when doing anything other than talking and fighting despite his solid screen presence. Kelly LeBrock looks good, but that's about it. Coffin is alright playing a role that often doesn't demand much in the way of emotion bar a brief altercation with Hulland (Bloch). Bloch is more or less in the same boat as Coffin regarding his role. However, the other villains are a bit better: Sadler is suitably slimy despite his limited screen time, while Boswell and Richmond are suitably callous and evil. The dialogue was often fairly typical action movie stuff, with some profanity, some hilarious lines ('blood bank') and some of that subtle bravado that Seagal specialises in ('we're gonna win because we have a superior attitude etc.').On the other hand, it was quite watchable. Time rarely dragged. Ultimately, this film is probably worth a view if you're an action buff. I also think that Seagal fans would enjoy this, given that this probably looks heavenly compared to most of his later stuff. It's not like Seagal fans would necessarily expect competent acting or good plotting, anyway. Not from Seagal, at least. However, it's ultimately nothing more than an adequate, standard-issue revenge thriller, so I'd be hard pressed to recommend it to anybody else. 2.5/5 stars