Hard Target *** (1993, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lance Henriksen, Yancy Butler) – Classic Movie Review 1,723

John Woo’s 1993 action thriller film Hard Target provides Jean-Claude Van Damme with one of his better vehicles, starring as Chance Boudreaux, a homeless Cajun fighting a human hunting operation in New Orleans.

Director John Woo’s 1993 action thriller film Hard Target provides Jean-Claude Van Damme with one of his better vehicles, starring as Chance Boudreaux, a down-on-his-luck New Orleans merchant seaman who comes to the aid of determined young Detroit lawyer ‘Nat’ Binder (Yancy Butler) who has come to New Orleans searching for her missing father.

The duo find that homeless Vietnam veterans are being used as prey in human hunting games, and that ‘Nat’ Binder (Yancy Butler)’s estranged father (Chuck Pfarrer) is the latest victim of a lethal and sadistic operation by an organisation that is selling the opportunity to hunt human prey. Chance Boudreaux (Van Damme) then takes on an evil ex-mercenary Emil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen), the ice-cold, morally-challenged organiser of the human safaris for rich businessmen. The hunt then moves from the mean streets of New Orleans, where the hunters are taking advantage of a police strike, on to the treacherous Louisiana bayous.

Happily teaming Woo in his first Hollywood attempt with the Muscles from Brussels Van Damme, this fairly imaginative Nineties updating of the 1924 O Henry Award prize-winning story The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell and its 1932 classic film adaptation The Most Dangerous Game may be only a B-movie action thriller with a great deal of nasty violence, but it is none the less efficient and enjoyable on that level.

Van Damme in his prime makes an excellent hero and Henriksen an inspired villain. Woo keeps it crisp and fast moving. The good cast also notable includes Wilford Brimley as Chance Boudreaux’s uncle Clarence Douvee, Arnold Vosloo as Fouchon’s right-hand mercenary Pik Van Cleaf, Kasi Lemmons as New Orleans police detective May Mitchell, and Chuck Pfarrer as Nat’s father Douglas Binder.

The much more satisfying full, uncut Director’s Cut version runs 116 minutes and contains considerable extra footage not seen in the 97-minute cinema release version. The film was to have climaxed with a boat chase, but was changed to a pursuit on horseback at Van Damme’s urging. This final 20-minute action climax is a blast.

Rated R for a large amount of strong violence, and for language.

John Woo says: ‘I got many offers from Hollywood studios. The producer and scriptwriters flew to Hong Kong and asked me to do the picture. Van Damme wanted a change. He wanted to prove himself as an actor. And he asked me to do the film. I thought I could do some magic. I know myself. I’m pretty sure of my abilities of how to make an actor look great on the screen, make him look like a hero. The original script was pretty good. And I did try to do the things that I did with Chow Yun-Fat and make Van Damme look different.’

Richard Connell’s prize-winning short story The Most Dangerous Game was first published in Collier’s magazine on January 19 1924 and has often been remade, including The Most Dangerous Game (1932), A Game of Death (1945), Run for the Sun (1956), Hard Target (1993) and Surviving the Game (1994) with Rutger Hauer.

The year 2022 brings ANOTHER The Most Dangerous Game – and this time starring poor old Tom Berenger, Judd Nelson, Bruce Dern, Casper Van Dien.

The 2016 film Hard Target 2, starring Scott Adkins, Robert Knepper, Temuera Morrison and Rhona Mitra, reboots the 1993 Hard Target but has no narrative connection to it.

The cast are Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Boudreaux, Lance Henriksen as Emil Fouchon, Arnold Vosloo as Pik Van Cleaf, Yancy Butler as Natasha Binder, Kasi Lemmons as Detective May Mitchell, Chuck Pfarrer as Douglas Binder, Willie C. Carpenter as Elijah Roper, Wilford Brimley as Uncle Clarence Douvee, Sven-Ole Thorsen as Stephan, Jules Sylvester as Peterson, Robert Apisa as Mr. Lopacki, Tom Lupo as Jerome, David Efron as Billy Bob, Joe Warfield as Ismal Zenan, Eliott Keener as Randal Poe, Douglas Forsythe Rye as Frick, Michael D. Leinert as Frack, Marco St. John as Dr. Morton, Lenore Banks as Marie, Randy Cheramie as Shop Steward, Jeanette Kontomitras as Madam, and Ted Raimi as Man on Street.

Wilford Brimley (September 27, 1934 – August 1, 2020)

Wilford Brimley became a beloved character actor in films such as The China Syndrome (1979), The Thing (1982), Tender Mercies (1983), The Natural (1984), and Cocoon (1985).

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1,723

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