The Hard Corps

"The Hard Corps" came out only three months after "Second In Command". That was fast. The plot is: Phillip Sauvage (Van Damme) is hired to be a bodyguard for a heavyweight boxer named Wayne Barclay (Raz Adoti) who is receiving death threats from gangsta Terrell Singeltery (Viv Leacock). Sauvage not only has to protect Wayne, but also his sister Tamara (Fox).

The movie is fast-paced at 110 minutes, but it still could be edited a bit. One character named Leonard, who is Terrell's nephew, is annoying and has way too much screen time. Besides that, the movie has some good action sequences, including the Uzi gun battle in a parking lot, and a excellent fight between Wayne and Phillip. It shows Van Damme can still kick ass any time.

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The picture concerns an Afghanistan/Irak veteran (Jean-Claude Van Damme) , he's living at hospital when is hired as a bodyguard . He must protect an ex-heavyweight champion , now a building magnate (Adoti) and his sister (Vivica A. Fox) against a dangerous rapper recently out of prison . The war veteran sets up an experienced team (Mark Griffin , among others) called ¨Hard Corps¨ to save menaced ex-boxer .

This movie direct to video packs violent action , suspense , shoot-outs , boxing and martial art fighting and results to be quite amusing . Suffering Van Damme plays finely a sad and affected veteran , splendid Vivica A. Fox as enjoyable sister who falls in love for him and the brother played convincingly by Adoti who acted along with Jean-Claude in his former film ¨Second-in-command¨ . The movie is pointlessly energetic , occasionally fun and entertaining and for that reason will appeal to real devotee Van Damme . It's produced in middling budget by Pierre Splenger who produced last films of Steven Seagal and Van Damme . The movie was professionally directed by Sheldon Lettich. He spent several years in the US Marines Corps , including a time in Vietnam war . Lettich is filmmaker of Van Damme previous hits such as ¨The order¨ , ¨Double impact¨,¨Lionheart¨ ; furthermore , he is author of hunk men vehicles such as Daniel Bernhardt : ¨Perfect day¨ , Dolph Lundgren : ¨List patrol¨, and Mark Dacascos : ¨Only the strong¨. Rating : Acceptable and passable .

The movie is not that bad. It's probably one of the best Van Damme did since (the Van Damme mania time). But it doesn't beat the time when he was everywhere. The money is one reason for sure. They are all B-Movies so the money's not in it that much so. But VD does play well and most of the cast too. I do miss the AMAZING VAN DAMME but who knows, maybe he lost it a bit. He's not that young so...I don't know I'm just saying he doesn't fight like BLOODSPORT,KICKBOXER or DOUBLE IMPACT time. The action is more like street fighting,shooting or boxing. There isn't any VD karate extra moves in it so...Don't look for that. He fight but...Streetfighting kinda moves.

Give it a try it's still worth watching. I've see a lot worst. Still..I give a 7/10.

Better plots make all the difference, especially for films that are of the arcade game action and thrill type. Sony Pictures had a better plot for this Jean-Claude Van Damme film. It's not original, but it is more down to earth and interesting. The hero is Philippe Sauvage, an American veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After some VA hospital recovery from the psychological effects of the war, Philippe joins a former sergeant for a private job of guarding a celebrity. He is the reigning heavyweight champion and a philanthropist. But Wayne Barclay, played by Razaaq Adoti, has one particular enemy who would like to see him dead. And when Terrell Singletery gets out of prison early, the fireworks start.

"The Hard Corps" isn't a good film, but it is fair. Philippe's buddy gets killed early on, and he is hired to run the protection. So, he brings in some more veterans with experience. But Barclay wants some of his buddies from his gym as bodyguards as well. The two forces mix and the vets train the others.

This has some good scenes and is refreshing in that it isn't constant machine gun firing back and forth. There are some lulls when the cast get chances to try to act. It's an improvement over some of his last films, but the violence and flashes of partial nudity make these films not suitable, or enjoyable for many.

The plot is simple, a soldier returning from Afhganistan becomes a body guard for a well known boxer who is loved by the community he restored, and hated by the man he put behind bars.

It begins typically with plot development and whatnot but where other straight to video movies fail this one succeeds, if you give the movie a chance you will feel the difference between this and anything else that has been released recently. The plot has more to it, the action pieces deliver what is expected but it is entertaining none the less and the humor and rap beats thrown in add what is needed to make this movie more entertaining than what i was expecting. treat yourself and get a hold of this for lazy nights where you just want to kick back and see Jean Claude do his best.