Hard Target

""Now take your pig stick and your boyfriend, and find a bus to catch.""

The first film that John Woo 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. Jean-Claude Van Damme...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 Big Bad Emil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen) and must turn the tables on the hunters.

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 So Bad It's Good, completely awful, genuinely awesome, or somewhere in between all three.


 * The Archer: Uncle Douvee.
 * Attempted Rape: The thugs who rob Natasha also try to rape her too. Boudreaux intervenes.
 * Badass Grandpa: Wilford Brimley, believe it or not, playing Van Damme's uncle.
 * Badass Longcoat: Applies to both Chance, and Emil Fouchon (the Big Bad).
 * Badass Long Hair: Despite its style as a gelled mullet, Chance's hair is this.
 * The Big Easy
 * Bottomless Magazines: One of the guns Chance acquires has an extended magazine, justifying this to a degree.
 * Cigar Chomper: Stephan, one of the hunters that Fouchon brings in to hunt Boudreaux.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: The unarmed prey vs. a team of hunters with vehicles and firearms.
 * Dramatic Gun Cock
 * The Dragon: Pik is this to Fouchon, the Big Bad.
 * Disposable Vagrant
 * The Drifter: Chance Boudreaux.
 * Evil Is Burning Hot: There's a lot of fire imagery used for the Big Bad.
 * Gangsta Style: A Mook gets dispatched this way, with the gun being held upside-down in the left hand and the trigger being pulled with the forefinger of the right.
 * Groin Attack: Van Damme finishes off  this way. Using a grenade.
 * Guns Akimbo: Duh. It's a John Woo movie.
 * Gun Fu: Multiple times, Chance gives combatants a roundhouse after emptying half a magazine into their center mass, point-blank range.
 * Hand Cannon. The Big Bad's Thompson Center Contender.
 * Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: What most of the plot is centered around.
 * The Killer Becomes the Killed
 * Oh Crap: "Whoops."  *Boom!* 
 * Out of the Inferno: Used lots of times. It's a John Woo movie. Duh.
 * Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Uncle Douvee shows promise at first, but his French accent degrades quickly, at times almost sounding Indian.
 * Shout-Out: Pik Van Cleef is named after Lee Van Cleef.
 * Stuff Blowing Up: In spades.
 * Unflinching Walk: Repeat after me - It's a John Woo movie.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Fouchon gets more aggravated as the hunt for Boudreaux goes on, culminating with Pik's death.
 * Villainous Widow's Peak: Pik Van Cleef.
 * Wicked Cultured: Fouchon, as evident by his intensive piano playing.