Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Hard Target Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 21, 2013

John Woo's "Hard Target" (1993) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Studios-UK. There are no supplemental features on this release. In English, with optional English SDH, French, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese, German, Italian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Chance Boudreaux

Hard Target most definitely falls into the "so-bad-it's-good" category. Nothing makes sense in it, but the action, the dialog, and even the hairstyles are so wild that one truly can't stop watching.

In New Orleans, handsome drifter Chance Boudreaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme, Death Warrant, Maximum Risk) is approached by a beautiful girl (Yancy Butler, Drop Zone, Fast Money) looking for her father, a homeless vet. She offers to pay Chance a few hundred dollars if he agrees to be her guide and help her find her old man. Since a few hundred dollars is exactly what Chances needs to pay his overdue union fees, they shake hands.

Soon after Chance starts asking questions, the badly burned body of the girl’s father is discovered by the local authorities. A detective then informs the girl that her father died in an accident. But Chance quickly learns that the old man was actually killed by wealthy hunters in a game organized by a ruthless businessman (Lance Henriksen, The Terminator, No Escape). The rules of the game are simple -- the hunters pay the businessmen a hefty fee and he delivers a live target willing to risk his life for ten thousand dollars. The unarmed target then runs from one part of the city to another, while the heavily armed hunters try to kill him.

Things get really nasty when the businessman and his goons, led by an elegant sadist with an accent (Arnold Vosloo, Darkman 2: The Return of Durant, The Mummy Returns), go after Chance and his employer.

John Woo's touch is felt in virtually every single sequence, but the magic that made The Killer and Hard Boiled legendary action films is quite simply missing here. The horrible editing is partially to blame for its absence. For example, there are entire parts that feel unfinished, while elsewhere the action sequences look unnecessarily prolonged. To make things worse, Van Damme's arsenal of simple English words is so small that at times it is truly painful to watch him confront his opponents. On top of this Hard Target happens to be one of those films where the one-liners are really, really poor as well.

The relationship between the action and the music could have been managed better, too. For example, the slow-motion camera movement and the edgy guitar solos that complement the action routinely leave the impression that instead of a feature-length film one is viewing a long collection of surprisingly violent TV commercials for new products targeting young hot-blooded men. (One of those mystical products could be an exotic hair product since the camera can't seem to get enough of Van Damme's long wet hair).

The good in the film is almost exclusively linked to Henriksen and Vosloo's performances. The former is very convincing as the unhinged businessman who must punish the man who has challenged him before he leaves New Orleans. The latter plays the sadistic killer to perfection.

Note: This Blu-ray release features a version of the film that runs at approximately 100 minutes. A more graphic Director's Cut of the film also exists. According to various sources, this Director's Cut runs at approximately 116 minutes. However, it is not currently available on Blu-ray anywhere in the world.

Hard Target Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with VC-1 and granted a 1080p transfer, John Woo's Hard Target arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Studios-UK.

The disc's main menu can be set in one of the following languages: Japanese, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, and Mandarin.

The high-definition transfer has been struck from an older master which was probably used for previous DVD releases of Hard Target. There are various traces of light filtering corrections that affect image depth and clarity. There are also noticeable traces of minor sharpening corrections, though it is clear that they are not recent corrections. As it is typically the case with dated high-definition transfers, the range of healthy colors is also limited. Where light is restricted, color reproduction is often problematic. Overall image stability is good. Also, there are no large damage marks, cuts, debris, or stains to report in this review. To sum it all up, this is an average presentation of Hard Target that will likely please only a small group of its fans. It is obvious that a new high-definition transfer would make the film look drastically different. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Hard Target Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are six standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French DTS 5.1, German DTS 2.0., Spanish DTS 2.0, and Spanish (Latin America) DTS 2.0. For the record, Universal Studios has included optional English SDH, French, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese, German, Italian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless track has pleasing depth and surprisingly good fluidity. The action sequences are fairly aggressive, but you should not expect to hear impressive surround movement. Even during the final shootout in the factory there is very little that could impress those of you who appreciate the dynamic intensity lossless tracks for modern big-budget films typically have. For the record, the dialog is crisp, stable, and very easy to follow.

Hard Target Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray release.

Hard Target Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This new Blu-ray release of John Woo's Hard Target will likely please only hardcore fans of the film - it uses a high-definition transfer that has been struck from a dated master and does not have any supplemental features. If you wish to replace your DVD release of Hard Target, look around and see if you could find the Blu-ray release on sale. If you can't, RENT IT.