Hard Target

 
Director: John Woo
Year: 1993
Rating: 7.5
I am trying to recall what I thought of this film when I saw it upon its release some 30-years ago. It came with baggage for Hong Kong film fans. Fans were upset that John Woo had deserted the streets of Hong Kong for the money of Hollywood. That and 1997 was on the horizon. His films The Killer and Hard Boiled had started to become cult classics in America. You were cool if you knew of these films. The phrase Bullet Ballet became something you threw around if talk turned to action films. Then on top of that Woo was stuck with Jean-Claude Van Damme who was associated with run of the mill action films, it was the debut of the main actress, word came that he was supervised on set by Sam Raimi because Universal was not confident Woo could handle a big film and finally that he was forced to make numerous cuts of the violence to obtain an R rating that Universal insisted on.

 

I think a lot of Hong Kong fans were dismissive of the film, probably including myself since this is my first visit to it since then. It seems there are a few versions out there - the theatrical release at 97 minutes, the blu-ray at 100 minutes and a version in which someone added in all the cuts that comes in at nearly two hours. Some are rapturous of this long version calling it a masterpiece. It all confuses me. I saw the blu-ray version and thought it was brilliant but for the life of me, it was extremely violent. That arrow through the throat? That made it into the R rated version and multiple brutal up-close killings as well. But Woo had to cut some out. So, I fast forwarded through the long version where it is easy to see what has been cut because those parts are murky and clearly many copied generations later. I would slow down to watch those and was underwhelmed at what was cut out. Woo edits out a few seconds here and there, some snips of violence, some drama, some unneeded bits and pieces. It really doesn't add that much that I could tell. Two hours is too long for an action film like this - the 100-minute version is lean and mean.  Perhaps the three minutes added to the blu-ray version was significant but I don't feel like watching the theatrical version to find out. There is also much to my amusement a version that JCVD put together with him in nearly every frame and others edited out. Does he do that with all his films? Woo is aware of this longer version and has said he would like to see the it put out officially - I assume all cleaned up.

 

This came after Hard Boiled - one of the truly great action films of all time. Though I still prefer The Killer. Woo sprinkles his style from those films throughout this one - kind of a wink at his fans. The pigeons, the slow-mo of the arrow, the long coat that JCVD wears at the beginning, the shoot-out in the Mardi Gras warehouse, especially when the two men are on opposite sides of a wall firing at one another - pure Hard Boiled - with Chow Yun Fat this would be called a classic but with JCVD it is hard giving him that much credit just because. Woo wisely builds it slowly - I expect the audience back then not familiar with his work was thinking, what's the big deal - and then boom. About half-way in it explodes in wonderful set-pieces and stunts with the finale that will make your toes curl. It brought back my beating heart. There have been hundreds of action films influenced by Woo since then but are any of them as good as this, Hard Boiled and The Killer? His mix of murder and melodrama is exquisite. I love the John Wick films but those are as much fantasy as anything while Woo's films though exaggerated are grounded in reality and the every day. The scene when the black man being hunted down can't get anyone to listen to him and eventually just fatalistically turns around to die is heartbreaking and we feel it in our gut.

 

The plot is of course absurd and more absurd is that the streets of New Orleans always seem to be empty when much of the action takes place. The streets of New Orleans are never empty. Yancy Butler and her strange eyes has come to find her father. But he was living on the streets and was enticed to become the target for a hunt by men willing to pay for a kill. This is even more horrific than men who call killing a defenseless animal sport - on the killing side are bow and arrow, guns, dogs, rocket launchers and a platoon of men on motorcycles. All against a man who has only his feet and smarts to make it to the river. But the main bad guy played by Lance Hendriksen says to his number two played by Arnold Vosloo "Like a drug to bring a man down". A game of monopoly would be more challenging. They have been setting up these "hunts" all over the world and have now brought their operation to New Orleans because the police are on strike. Thus, you can blow out the brains of a man on Main Street and not worry. Shoot down a cop and not worry. Well, except for JCVD.

 

Yancy hires the down and out JCVD and his bedraggled hee-haw mullet to help look for her father. The police find his burnt dead body and JCVD uncovers evidence to suggest that he was murdered. And the villains decide he needs killing and bring in professional hunters from everywhere. It has strong hints of other films - Naked Prey and The Most Dangerous Game - but the execution is so well done. Ridiculous but very satisfying, Hell, they even bring on Wilford Brimley with a thick Cajun accent and a bow and arrow to help JCVD. He is great. My only criticism of the film is when Yancy rides back to help him - and you immediately know that she will be captured and used to force JCVD to lay down his arms. That cliché has to be exorcised out of movies. So, I still can't remember what I thought 30-years ago, but damn this is a great action film.