History Film / HardTarget

The first film that JohnWoo made in Hollywood after leaving Hong Kong, '''''Hard Target''''' starts off with a homeless man fleeing attackers on motorcycles, before being shot down just before he escapes across a river. Cut to three weeks later, when Natasha Binder (played by Yancy Butler) is looking for her father deep in the heart of New Orleans. Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme... sorry, "Chance" Boudreaux, saves her from a gang. Natasha, after being told that the police won't be able to find her father, hires Chance to protect her as she investigates. Soon, the pair find out about a secret "hunting" ring, led by BigBad Emil Fouchon (Creator/LanceHenriksen) and ProfessionalKiller Pik Van Cleaf (Arnold Vosloo) and must turn the tables on the hunters.

It received a DirectToVideo sequel in 2016 starring Creator/ScottAdkins.

* GhostCity: After the early scene where Chance is eating at the local diner, everyone in New Orleans who isn't integral to the plot seemingly vanishes, leaving (literally) no-one else around, even during broad daylight. The villains [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy use this to their advantage]], gunning down and killing people in the middle of the day.

The movie is chock-full of John Woo's signature style, especially in the action scenes. Slo-mo, motorcycles exploding, and pigeons abound as Van Damme kicks and shoots dozens of {{mooks}}. All while sporting a mullet. And being aided by Creator/Wilford Brimley. Needless to say, there are some who consider it SoBadItsGood, completely awful, genuinely awesome, or somewhere in between all three.

The movie is chock-full of John Woo's signature style, especially in the action scenes. Slo-mo, motorcycles exploding, and pigeons abound as Van Damme kicks and shoots dozens of {{mooks}}. All while sporting a mullet. And being aided by Wilford Brimley. Needless to say, there are some who consider it SoBadItsGood, completely awful, genuinely awesome, or somewhere in between all three.

* CombatPragmatist: In one scene that borders on {{parody}}, Chance tells Natasha to close her eyes and not move. Assuming he is going to kiss her, she complies. Chance leans in and...grabs the [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes giant poisonous snake]] hovering behind her head. He then disables said snake with a [[RefugeInAudacity punch to the face]] (!) and strings it up in a tree, to serve as a trap for the villains who are tracking them. If you guessed that the snake wakes up [[ContrivedCoincidence exactly as the villains are passing by]] and ends up attached to a normal mook's face, then AWinnerIsYou.

* GhostCity: After the early scene where Chance is eating at the local diner, everyone in New Orleans who isn't one of Fouchon's henchman seemingly vanishes, leaving no-one around, even during broad daylight.

* GunFu: Multiple times, Chance gives combatants a roundhouse ''after'' emptying half a magazine into their center mass, point-blank range.

* OutOfTheInferno: Used lots of times. It's a JohnWoo movie. Duh.

* {{Overcrank}}: Heavily Invoked, even for a John Woo film. Pretty much ''every'' action shot (and many a non-action shot) in the film is either: Shot in slow-motion; followed up by a slow-motion replay; followed up by a multi-camera snap replay from different angles, or all three.

* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Subverted, in a rare [[TruthInTelevision nod to reality]]. While the shotguns used are the usual, super-powerful movie versions, Chance's shotgun is rendered useless by the HostageSituation at the film's end.

* StuffBlowingUp: In '''''spades.'''''

* BottomlessMagazines: Surprisingly downplayed for a John Woo movie. Chance and the bad guys reload quite a bit. Chance in particular is constantly scavenging extra magazines off of dead baddies once he gets a gun. The trope is still present in that many of the guns shoot more rounds than what their magazines can hold, but one of the guns Chance acquires has an extended magazine, justifying this to a degree.

* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Near the end, Fouchon orders Van Cleaf to pursue Chance by helicopter and make sure he reaches the warehouse. Van Cleaf says he can easily kill him from the air, but Fouchon insists that Chance make it to the warehouse, so he can kill him from the ground.

* BadAssGrandpa: Wilford Brimley, believe it or not, playing Van Damme's Uncle Douvet.
* BadAssLongcoat: Applies to both Chance, and Emil Fouchon (the BigBad).
* TheBigBad: Emil Fouchon, who runs the hunting ring.
* TheBigEasy
* BottomlessMagazines: One of the guns Chance acquires has an extended magazine, justifying this to a degree.
* ButtMonkey: Randall Poe, full stop.

* DisturbedDoves

* ParentalSubstitute: Uncle Douvet to Chance.

The first film that JohnWoo made in Hollywood after leaving Hong Kong, '''''Hard Target''''' starts off with a homeless man fleeing attackers on motorcycles, before being shot down just before he escapes across a river. Cut to three weeks later, when Natasha Binder (played by Yancy Butler) is looking for her father deep in the heart of New Orleans. JeanClaudeVanDamme...sorry, "Chance" Boudreaux, saves her from a gang. Natasha, after being told that the police won't be able to find her father, hires Chance to protect her as she investigates. Soon, the pair find out about a secret "hunting" ring, led by BigBad Emil Fouchon (Creator/LanceHenriksen) and ProfessionalKiller Pik Van Cleaf (Arnold Vosloo) and must turn the tables on the hunters.

The first film that JohnWoo made in Hollywood after leaving Hong Kong, '''''Hard Target''''' starts off with a homeless man fleeing attackers on motorcycles, before being shot down just before he escapes across a river. Cut to three weeks later, when Natasha Binder (played by Yancy Butler) is looking for her father deep in the heart of New Orleans. JeanClaudeVanDamme...sorry, "Chance" Boudreaux, saves her from a gang. Natasha, after being told that the police won't be able to find her father, hires Chance to protect her as she investigates. Soon, the pair find out about a secret "hunting" ring, led by BigBad Emil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen) and ProfessionalKiller Pik Van Cleaf (Arnold Vosloo) and must turn the tables on the hunters.

* ShoutOut: Pik Van Cleaf is named after LeeVanCleef.

* VillainousVidowsPeak: Pik Van Cleaf.

The first film that JohnWoo made in Hollywood after leaving Hong Kong, '''''Hard Target''''' starts off with a homeless man fleeing attackers on motorcycles, before being shot down just before he escapes across a river. Cut to three weeks later, when Natasha Binder (played by Yancy Butler) is looking for her father deep in the heart of New Orleans. JeanClaudeVanDamme...sorry, "Chance" Boudreaux, saves her from a gang. Natasha, after being told that the police won't be able to find her father, hires Chance to protect her as she investigates. Soon, the pair find out about a secret "hunting" ring, led by BigBad Emil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen) and must turn the tables on the hunters.

* BadAssGrandpa: Wilford Brimley, believe it or not, playing Van Damme's uncle.

* DeathByCameo: The homeless veteran who gets killed during the opening action sequence? ([[spoiler: later reavealed to be Douglas Binder, father to Nat Binder)]] Writer and co-producer Chuck Pfarrer.

* TheDragon: Pik is this to Fouchon, the BigBad.
* DisposableVagrant

* ShoutOut: Pik Van Cleef is named after LeeVanCleef.

* VillainousVidowsPeak: Pik Van Cleef.

* BadAssLongHair: Despite its style as a gelled mullet, Chance's hair is this.

* TheArcher: Uncle Douvee.

* DeathByCameo: The homeless veteran who gets killed during the opening action sequence? Writer and co-producer Chuck Pfarrer.

* CigarChomper: Stephen, one of the hunters that Fouchon brings in to hunt Boudreaux.

* CigarChomper: David, one of the hunters that Fouchon brings in to hunt Boudreaux.

* TheDrifter: Chance Boudreaux

* TooDumbToLive:
** Under pressure, most people would probably throw away a grenade instead of trying to unscrew it and remove the fuse.
** Though he has just received a money belt filled with $10,000, the prey in one hunt doesn't consider ''paying'' one of the many bystanders for help.
** In the victim in the beginning of the movie might have made it, had he taken the easier route of falling into the water and swimming.

* [[OohMeAccentsSlipping Ooh Me Accent's Slipping]]: Uncle Douvee shows promise at first, but his French accent degrades quickly, at times almost sounding Indian.

The first film that JohnWoo made in Hollywood after leaving Hong Kong, HardTarget starts off with a homeless man fleeing attackers on motorcycles, before being shot down just before he escapes across a river. Cut to three weeks later, when Natasha Binder(played by Yancy Butler) is looking for her father deep in the heart of New Orleans. JeanClaudeVanDamme...sorry, "Chance" Boudreaux, saves her from a gang. Natasha, after being told that the police won't be able to find her father, hires Chance to protect her as she investigates. Soon, the pair find out about a secret "hunting" ring, led by BigBad Emil Fouchon(Lance Henriksen) and must turn the tables on the hunters.

* [[HeyItsThatGuy Hey, It's That Guy!]]: Emil Fouchon is Bishop (Lance Henriksen) from the {{Alien}} franchise.
** Pik is played by Imhotep from TheMummy franchise.

* ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans

* ReCut: There is a Director's Cut version only available on bootleg. It features more violence (In a JohnWoo movie, [[SarcasmMode what a shock]]), the ear-cutting scene is shown in more grisly detail, and the scene where Fouchon is playing the piano was originally intercut with scenes of animals hunting in Africa. Also, there's a scene of Chance and Natasha confronting their UST that according to scuttlebutt, was dropped when preview audiences complained that they didn't get to see Yancy Butler's tits. One of the ''good'' cuts from this is Fouchon's death. In the DC, his death scene is a lot more conventional and lame.