Hardcore

In short; I did like the movie but still had plenty of problems with it.

The premise of the movie is really good and interesting and also lets this movie sound like it is a great and powerful movie, about some previously unseen and very ugly, dirty things. But the movie just isn't quite it. It never gets confronting or shocking enough and in the long run, the movie fails to make a true emotional or dramatic impact.

That is the real problem with this movie; it's lacking any good emotions and dramatic developments. The search for George C. Scott's daughter just never feels intense enough and he doesn't always make a very desperate or depressed impression at all.

The movie also gives you the feeling it really isn't delving deep enough into things. This could had been an interesting exploration into the darker and ugly side of the porn business but the movie just never quite goes there. You could blame it all on the writing but perhaps you should also blame it a bit on the approach that the movie is taking.

The approach just never makes the movie a real interesting one really. It's lacking a good buildup to certain things and situations, which also causes the movie to fail to make a true great impact with anything.

Some moments are still being made great by George C. Scott's performance. But unfortunately he himself also can't really ever make his character a compelling enough one. He isn't even all that likable and his character is also making some odd and very unlikely choices throughout the entire movie.

There still is plenty to like about this movie. I for instance loved it how it was taking a real typical '70's approach with its film-making, even though not everything about it worked out all that well. And like I also said before, the movie does still definitely has its moments and it besides still remains a original movie to watch, thanks to its main concept and premise.

Definitely good enough but it all had far more potential in it really.

7/10

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I'm not a big fan of Paul Schrader, but I really dug this film! Personally, I think `Hardcore' is Schrader's best film, as it successfully mixes effective social drama with compelling tension. George C. Scott is truly magnificent as the hardworking, Midwesterner Jake Van Dorn who individually searches for his lost preteen daughter. At first, he cooperates with a private-detective (a very convincing Peter Boyle) who discovers that his offspring is now active in the hardcore porn-industry. Later, Van Dorn forms a partnership with a poor whore who brings him into contact with the right persons in the business. The first hour of this film is really good and works on many levels. Not only does Schrader mixes different social mentalities and religious convictions, he also gives a perfect portrayal of how someone is driven to complete distraction. The sequences in which Van Dorn witnesses his own flesh and blood feature in a sexfilm are truly intense and vindictive. Of course, the pornography shown isn't real (or even explicit) but you can easily imagine what a father's reaction would be. And please keep in mind that the film is now 25 year old and the censorship has changed a lot since then. Unfortunately, Van Dorn's private investigations aren't always credible (Scott dresses up as a stereotypical adult film-director and organises a cast-session) and the ending is rather abrupt and unsatisfying. Nevertheless, `Hardcore' is a dreadfully overlooked film and one of the most efficient thrillers of the late seventies. George C. Scott is truly brilliant and I personally think this was his best period as an actor. A year later, he starred in the unforgettable horror-chiller `The Changeling' and gave away an equally brilliant performance. If you appreciate good thrillers, you have to give `Hardcore' a chance. Highly recommended.

Paul Schrader's celebrated collaborations with Martin Scorsese will unfortunately always overshadow his own directorial efforts. His own movies have been variable to say the least ranging from the truly forgettable (e.g. 'Light Of Day' and 'Witch Hunt', both from the "what on earth was he thinking?!" category), to the truly unforgettable ('Mishima', and 'Light Sleeper', both sadly overlooked). 'Hardcore' is one of his best efforts in my opinion, but MUST be watched taking into consideration WHEN it was made, and the censorship prevalent at the time (something a few of the other comments here fail to do). Over twenty years later certain scenes seem way too tame and almost unintentionally humorous to our jaded "sophisticated" movie-going eyes, but even so to me overall it is still a very powerful and impressive film. And for those who think it too dated and "safe" just compare it to Schumacher's lame '8MM', a movie which is almost an uncredited remake of 'Hardcore' in some ways, but one that despite the relaxation in depicting sex, violence and profanity in mainstream moviemaking, fails to pack the punch that Schrader's movie does. 'Dr Strangelove's George C. Scott is solid as a straight-laced and in many ways unworldly man who finds himself in the alien (to him) urban world of sleazy strip joints, sex shops and pornography. Season Hubley (John Carpenter's 'Elvis') plays the streetwise hooker who becomes his guide. Peter Boyle ('Taxi Driver', 'Young Frankenstein')) is a stand out as a crafty low life private detective. Buffs will also get a kick out of small roles by Tracey Walter ('Repo Man') and Ed Begley Jr ('Meet The Applegates') as a clerk in a dirty book store and a porn actor respectively. 'Hardcore' is a very fine movie, one of the most underrated of the 1970s, and highly recommended viewing.

George C. Scott stars in this Paul Schrader vehicle as Jake VanDorn, a man of a different, more simple era whom finds himself thrust into the seamy underbelly of the pornography business after his daughter, Kristen, goes missing. The police are no help and the sleazy private investigator he hires (played superbly by Peter Boyle) is not much better. Jake tries hopelessly to keep his unvarnished soul intact as he looks for his daughter. This is a well-acted, well written, well directed film that kept me riveted...to a point. That point being the horrible studio required cop-out ending that forces the film to tie everything up in a neat little bow at the detriment of what could have otherwise been a classic. Tis a shame.

My Grade: B

Eye Candy: Linda Morell shows her heavy hangers; Season Hubley shows everything; Ilah Davis provides T&A; Gigi Vorgan, Leslie Ackerman, & Serena get topless as well

Hardcore is the mirror image of Boogie Nights. Whereas Boogie Nights the pornography industry is seen from the participant's point of view, Hardcore shows it from the outside. It's not a pretty picture.

Though the film itself doesn't come off in many ways, no question that George C. Scott's performance in the lead is strong dynamic stuff. He's a Midwest businessman of conservative values from Grand Rapids, Michigan whose daughter runs off during a church youth convention out in Southern California.

It would have been very easy to have made Scott's character something of ridicule. This was right around the time of the founding of the Moral Majority and Scott's church seems just the kind to have signed up for that. Instead Scott creates a sympathetic and totally believable character as the father who dominates the film.

In order to accomplish his mission he has to invade a world he hasn't a clue about, but he proves surprisingly resourceful.

Also look for a good performance by Peter Boyle as a private detective who operates on both sides of the moral and immoral.

Hardcore is not a great film, but it's a great performance by George C. Scott.