Hard Target (1993)

A woman hires a drifter as her guide through New Orleans in search of her father, who has gone missing. They discover a deadly game of cat and mouse behind his disappearance in the process.

Director:

John Woo

Writer:

Chuck Pfarrer

Stars:

Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lance Henriksen, Yancy Butler

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chuck Pfarrer	...	Douglas Binder
Robert Apisa	...	Mr. Lopacki (as Bob Apisa)
Arnold Vosloo	...	Pik van Cleef
Lance Henriksen	...	Emil Fouchon
Douglas Rye	...	Frick (as Douglas Forsythe Rye)
Mike Leinert	...	Frack (as Michael D. Leinert)
Yancy Butler	...	Natasha 'Nat' Binder
Lenore Banks	...	Marie
Willie C. Carpenter	...	Elijah Roper (as Willie Carpenter)
Jean-Claude Van Damme	...	Chance Boudreaux
Barbara Tasker	...	Waitress
Kasi Lemmons	...	Det. Marie Mitchell
Randy Cheramie	...	Shop Steward
Eliott Keener	...	Randal Poe
Robert Pavlovich	...	Detective

Storyline

Natasha Binder comes to New Orleans looking for her father, who has gone missing. In doing so, she meets a very hard man called Chance. He helps her find out that her father was killed by an organisation who sell the opportunity to hunt human prey. They are taking advantage of a police strike in New Orleans. Will the Muscles from Brussels win through?

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Plot Keywords:

mercenary | money | drifter | human prey | union | 

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Taglines:

Catch him if you can.

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a great amount of strong violence, and for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 August 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Harte Ziele

Filming Locations:

White Castle, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$32,534,954 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Alphaville Films, Renaissance Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 73 min (cut) 116 min (Director's Cut) 128 min (Workprint Version)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo (4 channels) DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chuck Pfarrer had the story take place in New Orleans to give an explanation of Jean-Claude Van Damme's accent.

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Goofs

When Emil Fouchon uses his hand gun, which is a Thompson Contender, the .45-70 barrel he is using has no sights. You can not shoot this firearm accurately without sights.

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Quotes

Chance Boudreaux: What's your name?
Natasha Binder: It's Nat.
Chance Boudreaux: 'Nat?'
Natasha Binder: Mm-hmm.
Chance Boudreaux: Your parents named you for a... bug?

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Connections

References Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

User Reviews

The best Van Damme film...thanks to John Woo!

Jean Claude Van Damme has many, many and many action films all in all...but none of them comes close to the art, fast-pace, intensity and entertainment of Hard Target. And the factor behind these? John Woo! John Woo has proven himself the answer on providing greatness to Van Damme, and it's obvious that Van Damme's films that followed, simply lacked goodness.

With Woo on the helm, we get to see Van Damme doing those Woo signature-action like double-gun firing, action slow-mo, dangerous stunts, revealing views, and the back-to-back 2 side camera view...you name it. Van Damme himself said that this was the most creative action film he's ever done, and you'll see why.

Regarding the story, the plot seemed simple on paper but John Woo added twists and gimmicks to transform the simplicity into interest. The cast is highlighted by Lance Henriksen's role as the bad boss, and he adds quality acting and voice to this film. Yancy Butler however, does not make a good lead lady here, and I always thought of other actresses replacing her.

John Woo's action scenes are very defined here, and thanks to those slow-mo scenes, you get to see Van Damme REALLY HIT HIS ENEMIES...as opposed to seeing him move too fast in other films, which made you wonder if his kicks were real or not. In addition, he did some dangerous stunts on his own, which adds authencity to his action figurre.

Van Damme needs to team up again with Woo. The films that followed this were simply lacking of quality (The Quest) or lousy (Double Team). It's easy to realize that Hard Target is more of a John Woo-film than a Van Damme-film. Van Damme, in my opinion, is better-off with Woo as director simply because his best is brought out. Since this film is Woo's US debut, this film is like a preview of things to come...meaning Broken Arrow, Face/Off and the ongoing blockbuster Mission Impossible II! You'll really see how far Woo went from this debut.

Definitely worth watching! Hard Target is not John Woo's best, but it's Van Damme's best film ever! This is where you see Van Damme in his greatest action, and thank Woo for that!