John Woo's first US effort is pretty good — for a Jean-Claude Van Damme film. The Muscles from Brussels plays a Cajun drifter named Chance, who becomes a target for rich hunters who hunt humans for sport (a la "The Most Dangerous Game"). He gets drawn into the mess when token female Yancy Butler hires him to find her missing dad. Lance Henrikson is the cool bad guy who runs the whole show and Arnold Vosloo is his equally charismatic right-hand man. Also starring Quaker Oats guy Wilford Brimley as Chance's uncle, who makes moonshine and looks damn ridiculous riding a horse. Kicks and explosions ensue, as does a healthy helping of slow motion.

Over-the-top action fans rejoice! Hard Target contains enough silly and stylized action to amuse John Woo fans, though the overall quality of the product could never be compared to Hard Boiled. A lot of Woo is lost in his American transition: the slow-mo action and cheesy romanticism is intact, but his celebrated themes of brotherhood and honor are missing. Then again, this is a Van Damme film, so who really cares? If anything, we should just be happy that the Universal Soldier doesn't make the film worse than it is. If you leave your brain (and high hopes) at the door, Hard Target possesses enough amusing action to make it a suitably dumb time at the movies. True, the rest of the film is dicey, and John Woo's slow-mo romanticism earns more giggles than awe. Strangely, I found myself entertained. (Kozo 1993/1996)