Plot
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.

Release Year: 1993

Rating: 5.8/10 (17,888 voted)

Director: John Woo

Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lance Henriksen, Yancy Butler

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?

Cast:
Jean-Claude Van Damme - Chance Boudreaux
Lance Henriksen - Emil Fouchon
Yancy Butler - Natasha 'Nat' Binder
Wilford Brimley - Uncle Douvee
Kasi Lemmons - Det. Marie Mitchell
Arnold Vosloo - Pik van Cleef
Robert Apisa - Mr. Lopacki
Chuck Pfarrer - Douglas Binder
Douglas Forsythe Rye - Frick
Mike Leinert - Frack
Lenore Banks - Marie
Willie C. Carpenter - Elijah Roper
Barbara Tasker - Waitress
Randy Cheramie - Shop Steward
Eliott Keener - Randal Poe

Taglines: Don't hunt what you can't kill.

Release Date: 20 August 1993

Filming Locations: 2100 Chartres St, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $10,106,500 (USA) (20 August 1993)

Gross: $74,189,677 (Worldwide) (1993)

Runtime: 97 min  | Germany: 73 min (cut version)  | 116 min (Director's Cut)  | 128 min (Workprint Version)

Trivia:
Kurt Russell was considered for the title role.

Goofs:
Continuity: During the opening sequence, when Binder falls through the wood, you can see an arrow stuck in his thigh even though no-one fired at him there.

Quotes:
Chance Boudreaux: Grab the bar!

Don't watch what you can't enjoy!

Rating:

Typical of the absurd criticism comes the way of most any Van Damme film is a reviewer I noticed below, who protractedly raves on paragraph after paragraph about nothing more incidental than the credibility-challenging motor cycle sequence. Jesus wept, what the hell does it matter whether such is possible or not? Is the freeway chase in THE MATRIX or TERMINATOR 3 likely? We go to the movies primarily to be entertained....to take a step into a world where reality takes a rain-check half the time! HARD TARGET is right up there with Van Damme's best work, and yes he DOES work. Personally I consider it his best film. Being Woo's first American outing, he creatively put a lot into this. Although scaled down, I found it equally as entertaining as FACE OFF, which like BROKEN ARROW, offered insane, impossible but FUN action sequences.

HARD TARGET is a stylistic film that although admittedly ripped off from THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (but so too was THE RUNNING MAN and DOGBOYS) delivers some superb sequencies. Van Damme is NOT wooden, he's not one half-bad Cajun with a real bad attitude. Matter of fact, HARD TARGET succeeds because it has that one vital spark necessary to any worthwhile flick - interesting characters! Vosloo (Before THE MUMMY) is absolutely great as Henriksen's right hand man. A professional killer with no shred of decency. Er, thats what a killer is SUPPOSED to be! When he utters that line "Randall, Randall, Randall!" you just know that Randall is about to have a real bad day! Henriksen chews up the film as the soul-less Fouchon....he even goes out with class... "Oops!"

Yancy Butler is not one to ignore either. Spunky little thing who took her charisma to another level in DROP ZONE! And dear old Wilf Brimley as Chance's reliable and feisty Uncle. He almost steals the film.

If you don't like this one you're really hard to please and if you wanna complain about Van Damme's acting again? for God's sake go watch THE ENGLISH PATIENT.

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