An absolutely beautiful film grain sits over Hard Target, and with few exceptions, Kino’s encode handles the material flawlessly. Rarely does the imagery look anything less than filmic. The print shows some dust, minor as it is. Restoration takes care of most (keyword: most) scratches or other faults though. Part of the fun of this movie is just how evil our villains are. Lance Henriksen is great in everything he does and his Fouchon is next-level diabolical - and hilarious. He’s a man who clearly loves what he does and takes that “work” seriously, but at the same time has the utmost contempt for his clients willfully killing them if and when necessary. When they need to start hunting Boudreaux, instead of just letting loose his lethal right-hand man Pik (the always awesome Arnold Vosloo), he instead gives select former clients the chance to pay him an exorbitant fee for the opportunity to kill the uber-mulleted Van Damme knowing full well most are likely to die. He's evil and also a bit of a grifter. Our hero and villain share very little screentime together but it’s a classic dynamic both actors play well. Kino is currently recalling this disc over an issue in the front soundstage; the channels are notably reversed, apparent anytime a vehicle passes by.

The pure 4K scan pushes a constant flow of detail, the texture sublime, precise, and consistent. Close-ups match the wide shots in fidelity. Definition gives Hard Target new life on home video. It’s gorgeous, and looks new rather than a rescue from the ’90s. After a string of action masterpieces—which included A Better Tomorrow (1986), The Killer (1989), and Hard Boiled (1992)—made him a critical darling and the international representative of Hong Kong’s heroic bloodshed genre of cinema, it was inevitable that director John Woo would receive offers from Hollywood. Hard Target (1993) would be Woo’s first American film and, in spite of its well-chronicled production issues, it’s an action classic and one of star Jean-Claude Van Damme’s best—even if it’s not the undiluted John Woo actioner it might have been, had the studio, its leading man, and the MPAA not meddled in what ultimately became Hard Target’s final cut. barring the audio issues, those without DV would have likely absolutely loved revisiting this action classic in 4K Mr. Odessa on Don’t miss Goodie Emporium’s New Release update! RUN AND KILL is being released by Team Error 4444. It’s available for pre ord…

Conclusion

The only extra on the UHD is an audio commentary featuring ‘action film historians' Brandon Bently and Mike Leeder. The start off by noting the similarities to The Most Dangerous Game as well as Cannon Film's Avenging Force, how they both came to know John Woo's cinema, the MPAA's issues with the film and its violence and the differences between the R-rated cut and the unrated cut included here, John Woo's earlier workprint cut that runs two hours plus, the film's score, the stunt work featured in the picture and, of course, plenty of details about Van Damme's career and work in this picture. They also cover the contributions of the other cast and crew members, the film's trailer, the reaction to the film when it came out and how it blended Hong Kong style 'heroic bloodshed' movies with more traditional American action films and quite a bit more. It's an interesting talk and one worth listening to.

Almost thirty years on, and Hard Target remains a veritable action classic and one of the best movies of Jean-Claude Van Damme's career. In Hard Target, a woman (Yancy Butler) hires a drifter (Jean-Claude Van Damme) as her guide through New Orleans in search of her missing father. In the process, they discover a deadly game of cat and mouse behind his disappearance. The film also stars Lance Henriksen, Arnold Vosloo, Bob Murawski and Wilford Brimley.Woo may not have made his best film here, but it was easily one of his best US outings, crafting a bona fide action classic Then we come to the most colorfully fun character of the movie - Uncle Douvee played by the late great Wilford Brimley. “Sip, but don’t spill. Kill the grass.” became a running joke with me and my Dad for years. I would have loved to have been a fly in the room for that casting decision. “Who do we get to play Van Damme’s cajun uncle?”“Hmmm… the diabetic Quaker Oats guy?”“Brilliant!” While Hard Target isn’t my favorite 90’s Van-Damme film (I prefer Time Cop and Sudden Death), it is still a fun time and I highly recommend the 4K upgrade for fans. The upcoming release will include New interviews with John Woo, Lance Henriksen and Yancy Butler, as well as the Unrated Director’s Cut and U.S. Theatrical Cut of the film.