WasteOfTechnology.com » Top 12 Moments From Hard Target

A couple of months ago for the first time in probably a decade I ran into the 1993 Van Damme classic, Hard Target on digital cable and, having admittedly never been a big fan of the "Muscles from Brussels" I watched the film and enjoyed it. No doubt the movie is one of his best roles and is a display that, though the butt of many jokes (including those from yours truly), Van Damme may actually not be all that bad within the genre. His acting talent isn’t there, but for action films that consist of mindless entertainment, Jean-Claude has the potential to deliver

I must give credit where credit was due and in the case of this John Woo directed gem, there is plenty to go around. The film had an over the top storyline featuring Lance Henriksen leading hunts on homeless war veterans in New Orleans and, as you’ll see here, no shortage of over the top scenes. It was around this time that Schwarzenegger films were beginning to be a bit more serious and the kill counts were getting lower. Rambo was a distant memory and Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme were there to salvage the scraps of the action genre. Hard Target marked John Woo’s American debut and the final version was one that was toned down because, according to the almighty Wikipedia, "Woo found himself hamstrung at every turn by the studios, having to deal with things such as how many people could be killed in each scene, how many bullets Van Damme could pump into somebody, how Van Damme could behave and so on."

Following Time Cop, Van Damme’s career would take a plummet into the realm of direct-to-video releases, Seagal would put on weight and would fade away as well, with what films he did put out lacking the action of his previous movies and having way too many rappers co-starring with him.

All this being said, while Hard Target, is by no means the best action movie there is, it represents the primordial end of the action genre’s heyday where there the kill counts were high, the explosions unnecessary and the realism completely out the window. Van Damme has a great haircut, Woo goes over the top and Henriksen makes a great villain. In fact Hard Target is just great enough that I couldn’t even limit these twelve select clips to the standard top ten and putting them in order was one of the hardest tasks I’ve ever given myself.

So here you have it, the top twelve Hard Target moments.

12. The Barrel Scene

I put this one as 12 because, though it may not be the worst, it will help to set the tone for the whole countdown and after all, there’s no action in this scene-well not in the traditional sense at least.
This movie is great because of the overuse of slow motion shots like this and the soundtrack just sets a great vibe throughout. Note Van Damme’s hair and the look on the girl’s face as the camera pans in.

This scene really sums up where this film is going. It’s not the first Van Damme scene and there is already a fight before this, but after you see this scene you get that feeling where you lean forward in your chair and think "Man I have a feeling this may be a very painful 80 minutes ahead of me…but a pain that never felt so good."

11. Enter: Van Damme

A rather lengthy scene, this is the true introduction to Van Damme’s character, Chance Boudreaux. It’s not that exciting of a fight scene as it isn’t nearly as silly as some of the other ones, but good nonetheless. I enjoy him reaching behind him like he’s going for a knife and then unleashing too knockout kicks. Him throwing the guy on the hood of the car and then using his feet to kick out the bottle-wileding character is a nice touch. This scene again features no shortage of the slow motion shots and it’s a good display of the liberal use of post-production sound effects (for example, the guy hitting his head on the metal post). My favorite part of this fight is Van Damme’s stare into the camera after breaking the guys arm at 1:08 point of the clip. Bottom line, every action movie needs a good one on four fight scene and this one delivers.

10. The Rope Swing

This scene in and of itself isn’t totally great but is much better in the context in the movie, where you can see it completely unnecessary. There is absolutely no buildup involving Van Damme being stranded at a high point in the warehouse with the rope being his only option. The scene just cuts from some other scene directly to Van Damme swinging on the rope and then ends. The clip as you see it here makes about as much sense as it does in the film and is great for that reason. Completely unnecessary and brilliant.

9. The Cold-Blooded Wilford Brimley

This is a good scene. The guy runs out of bullets and instead of charging at the old man from an angle like most of us might do he runs for dear life and hides from the old timer. The violence of this scene makes me miss the old days and the stern look of Brimley as he lowers his bow at the end is something out of a nightmare.

8. Kicked Off the Motorcycle

Great and incredibly unbelievable scene. That helmet may be designed to take some of the worst blows a motorcycle accident could deliver but a roundhouse kick…different story.

7. The Snake Scene

The snake scene would probably be higher on the list if it ended at this point…but it continues:

It would have to be number one if it was simply Van Damme punching out a snake and the scene ending there. The fact that it actually makes some sense kind of takes away from it but it’s great nonetheless. This scene is just completely ridiculous and I don’t think I even have to go into the breakdown of why. The slow buildup and the woman expecting a romantic kiss just make the snake punch even better. The sound effect of the punch knocking out the snake is another one of those scenes (and there are many in this film) that make you wonder if this movie is a parody of an action movie or the real thing.

6. Brimley on the Attack

One of my favorite scenes from the film but I am biased in that I love it moreso for the fact that it’s Wilford Brimley than the content of the scene itself. For that reason it’s in the middle of the list. The fact that a team of villains with automatic weapons, some motorcycles and a helicopter get foiled by an old man with a bow and arrow on horseback is great. But for me personally, the fact that it’s the guy from the Diabetes commercials doing it just makes it all better.

Some things to note: The arrow whizzing by Henriksen’s head in slow motion, the Cajun gibberish from Brimley before the shot, the slow motion multi-cut explosions and of course, Brimley riding off into the wilderness triumphantly babbling even more Cajun gibberish.

5. "Sorry about de shirt"

One thing I love about this movie is how several of the bad guys wear motorcycle helmets throughout the film, like some sort of old school video game. Even when he’s off the cycle and in the warehouse on foot this guy is wearing his helmet. I enjoy the zoom in on Van Damme’s eyes before he sees the guy in the awful shirt and the cigar in the reflection of the helmet. This guy has a cigar in his mouth the whole movie up until this point which I absolutely love. Any scene he’s in he has the stogie hanging off his lip. Note how he gets shot over 25 times (I lost count) all on one clip and doesn’t go down until Van Damme delivers a spin kick.

Then there’s the other guy in a motorcycle helmet that just pops up at the end. It’s just like something out of some first person shooter video game.

4. The Pigeon Scene

"Hey pigeon." Van Damme just pops into the frame after the bird craps on the guy and then, kicks the gas tank at the guy and delivers a perfect shotgun blast to blow the guy into 56 pieces. Of course, the guy was out of bullets coincidentally. Classic.

3. The Final Showdown

Unfortunately I can’t put this climactic final scene as number one. It’s good, but just not great. The dropping a grenade down the pants isn’t completely original but enjoyable nonetheless. The "hunting season is over" line stands out as a very good one and the head butt, a classic maneuver, worked for me but it’s just missing something, almost disappointing as the finale for such a film.

2. Endless Bullets

I was trying to count the number of shots fired in this scene but lost track, which says something about the amount of gunfire here. Again, the nine shots to the chest aren’t enough to bring the bad guy down, that’s reserved for a Van Damme spin kick.

I mentioned before how Woo loved using slow motion in this movie and this scene shows just why that doesn’t always work. The over the top acting of the second guy after getting his face kicked couldn’t look more unnatural at this pace but the groan he makes just seals the deal on this scene making it towards the top of the list. Note that this time, even after he kicks the guy he fires some more rounds into him on the way down for good measure.

1. The Motorcycle Scene

As difficult as this list was to put together overall, this clip was a no-brainer for the number one scene. The whole scene pretty much speaks for itself. And the noise that Van Damme makes at the very end is nothing short of classic.

There you have it…the top twelve Hard Target moments and no doubt one of the top twelve biggest wastes of time in my life.