After all the horror of the past few weeks (don’t worry I am talking about horrormovies, not actual horror) I decided it was time to give my nightmare plagued mind a rest, and watch a good old fashioned action movie. Last month the movie Hard Target 2 was released, a movie I have yet to watch, but is a follow up to the Jean Claude van Damme action classic of 1993. Hard Target 2 sadly is without mr. Van Damme, but does have a worthy substitute in the form of Scott Adkins. A review of that one will follow sometime this week, if I have the time to watch it. But let’s stick to this one first.

In Hard Target Natascha Binder, played by Yancy Butler, has travelled to New Orleans in search of her father. She is shocked to find out that he has been living on the streets the past few years and is now even more determined to find him. She gets help in the form of Chance Boudreaux (Van Damme) a drifter who knows the streets of New Orleans. It is not long before they discover that Natascha’s father is dead. At first it is believed to have been an accident, but when Chance digs deeper, it appears that he has been murdered. When they get close to the trail of the persons who are responsible, they find out that they are a bunch of ruthless killers who hunt people for sport. And then the hunt is on as both Natascha and Chance become their next prey. But those men will soon find out why Boudreaux is such a hard target…..

When I saw that this movie already dates back to 1993, I almost could not believe it. I must really be getting old now. Anyway, this movie is considered by many to be the best movie that Van Damme has ever made. It is a true classic and was aptly directed by legendary Hong Kong director John Woo. The movie contains some truly amazing action sequences, most notably a very cool high speed motorcycle chase. Lance Hendriksen, who plays the stonecold hunter Fouchon, is on a roll here. His cold determination, and at times completely over the top outbursts, are a joy to watch. A young Arnold Vosloo also plays very well as Fouchon’s second in command. If you are an action lover there is probably very little that you won’t like in this film. Sure the ending, with Boudreaux fighting alone against twenty men, is a little bit far fetched. But that is usually the case in movies such as these. I was pretty amazed that after 23 years this movie has now gotten a sequel. Ofcourse I already know that Hard Target 2, will not even come close to this one. But still, I at least hope the movie will be entertaining enough. Even it turns out to be nothing but a waste of time, we will always have the original to enjoy.

I give Hard Target a 8 out of 10 score.