An action film from Woo that delivers high doses of testosterone, but it frequents commonplaces and, ultimately, never hits the mark with all the clichés that adorn its plot of violence, gunfights and kicking. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 5/10 | Jan 12, 2025

...the movie improves considerably once it progresses into an increasingly enthralling second half...

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 20, 2022

Don't expect too much from Hard Target, and you won't be disappointed. Shoot-em-up action films have a limited range, but John Woo and company take this one to the limit.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 12, 2022

the second half plays like an all-out action extravaganza, a symphony of bullet-strewn slow motion and hyper-real physicality

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 6, 2022

Wilford Brimley pops up as Uncle Douvee; he's supposed to be Cajun, but he sounds more like Maurice Chevalier shot full of Novocain.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 11, 2021

A watershed moment for action cinema.

| Dec 9, 2021

Van Damme's Martial Arts stunts are second to none and back in the early 1990's he was in tip top shape.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 6, 2021

The most satisfying entry in Van Damme's rise to glory during the early 1990s, smartly using the star's limited vocabulary and limitless flexibility to create one of the finest B-movies of the decade.

| Original Score: A- | Sep 21, 2020

The combo is an incendiary mix: Woo unleashes all barrels in vintage Hong Kong action style while Van Damme delivers not only his martial-arts prowess but some well-developed acting skills as well.

| Sep 3, 2020

With its expert use of dissolves and pans, Hard Target is an arty shot of adrenaline to this overworked genre.

| Original Score: B- | Mar 30, 2020

This is Woo's American debut and it's not as individualistic as his Hong Kong gangster films, but there's also less of his sentimentality and corny humour. The performances are more consistent too.

| Nov 29, 2017

Though it lacks the epic feel and melodramatic sincerity of Woo's Oriental movies, this is nevertheless first-rate action.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 13, 2017

| Original Score: B+ | Sep 7, 2011

Though working on a Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle can be seen as a comedown for Woo, he rises to the occasion to create an often rousing entertainment that is almost inarguably Van Damme's best film to date.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 2, 2008

A disappointing American debut of the Hong Kong cult director John Woo is a decent action vehicle by standards of its star Jean-Claude Van Damme but, hampered by a B script and flat characters, it doesn't bear Woo's auteurist signature and unique vision

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Oct 10, 2006

It's what Hollywood wanted Woo for: bigger, brighter explosions.

| Jun 24, 2006

One of my greatest guilty pleasures.

| May 26, 2006

Hysterically inept attempt at action filmmaking

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Jan 20, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 9, 2005

Should have been so much better.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 16, 2004