Hard Target [Blu-ray]

Director: John Woo, Billy Burton John Woo

Overview

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 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.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/19/2019
UPC:	0191329092286
Original Release:	1993
Rating:	R
Source:	Universal Studios
Language:	English
Time:	1:40:00
Sales rank:	18,326

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jean-Claude Van Damme	Chance Boudreaux
Lance Henriksen	Emil Fouchon
Yancy Butler	Natasha Binder
Arnold Vosloo	Pik Van Cleaf
Wilford Brimley	Uncle Douvee
Kasi Lemmons	Carmine Mitchell
Chuck Pfarrer	Binder
Bob Apisa	Mr. Lopacki,Mr. Lopacki
Lenore Banks	Marie
Douglas Forsythe Rye	Frick,Frick
Michael D. Leinert	Frack,Frack
Valerie McCaffrey	Actor
Willie Carpenter	Elijah Roper,Elijah Roper
Barbara Tasker	Waitress
Nancy Nayor	Actor
Randy Cheramie	Shop Steward
Eliott Keener	Randal Poe
Robert Pavlovich	Police Detective
Marco St. John	Dr. Morton
Joe Warfield	Ismal Zenan
Jeanette Kontomitras	Madam
Ted Raimi	Man on the Street
Sven-Ole Thorsen	Stephan
Tom Lupo	Jerome
Jules Sylvester	Peterson
Dave Efron	Billy Bob,Billy Bob
Pete Antico	Thug in Bar
Codie Scott	Reporter
Graeme Revell	Composer
Tim Simonec	Composer

Technical Credits

Chuck Pfarrer

John Woo	Director
Chuck Pfarrer	Screenwriter
James Jacks	Producer
Sean Daniel	Producer
Billy Burton	Stunts,Director
Moshe Diamant	Executive Producer,Producer
Dale Martin	Special Effects
Sam Raimi	Executive Producer,Producer
Robert Tapert	Executive Producer,Producer,Executive Producer
Dale Jones	Special Effects
Tobi Allyn	Stunts
Rick Alexander	Sound Effects
Terence Chang	Producer
Joseph Armand Fedele	Special Effects
Ron Bartlett	Sound Effects
Kevin Bartnof	Sound Effects
Matthew C. Beville	Sound Effects
James Bolt	Sound Effects
Daryl Kass	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Switching from alter ego Chow Yun-Fat to Van Damme for his American debut, Woo goes from the sublime to the ridiculous, and while the film lacks the hard-edged focus of his best work, it has enough of the director's signature tricks to keep his fans happy. Another version of the oft-remade Richard Connell story, originally filmed as The Most Dangerous Game (1932), its dialogue seems to have been written with the star's limitations in mind, but his creative mangling of the Cajun accent will still leave many viewers begging for subtitles. The primitive story also lacks Woo's characteristic doppelganger theme, which would resurface in the superior Face/Off (1997) a few years later. Nonetheless, for those who are capable of appreciating Henriksen's demonic aristocrat as well as some vintage Woo set pieces, one in a Mardi Gras storage area, and another in a graveyard, the film is worth a look.

All Movie Guide - Michael Costello