Now I'm a fan of all Woo films; even the worst of his works, such as "Broken Arrow", are at least 'standard fare' in Hollywood-terms; this, however, does not apply to the few sad TV-attempts he made (The "Once a thief"-cable flick is just dreadful...). "Face/Off" and even the 'funny' "M:I-2" are both action-packed showdowns which demonstrate well what Woo can do. But his first Hollywood-attempt still remains the best of them- at least, to date! "Hard target" was shoot with very little time and then re-edited 7 times (count'em- seven!) to finally pass the censorship (yes, I'd call it that!) and STILL, after assumably at least half (?) the flavour taken out, it's still one tough cookie! Maybe frustrated at the censorship, Woo has later on stayed on the safe R-rated waters in Hollywood, not even trying to top himself (And again, STILL remaining the best bet when it comes to directing some serious action!)
"Hard Target" puts Jean-Claude Van 'Damage' against one of the always trustworthy screen villains, Lance Henriksen, and his pack of urban-commando (all black outfits, combat vests and MP5's) goons, and that's all you need to know! IF you think the going gets a little boring on the way, wait for the final 20 minutes, which will give you an adrenaline rush worth your while!
BTW, if anyone knows where I could get my hands on the 116-minutes (any shorter will not do!) uncut "Director's cut", I'd be happy to buy a copy, preferably DVD (but also VHS will do; we're talking cult classic here!)
