Hard goals

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Movie
German title Hard goals
Original title Hard target
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1993
length 95 minutes
Age rating FSK 18
Rod
Director John Woo
script Chuck Pastor
production Sean Daniel
James Jack's
Chuck Parson
music Graeme Revell
camera Russell Carpenter
cut Bob Murawski
occupation

Hard Targets is an American action film directed by John Woo from 1993. The main role is played by Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme .

action

Young Natasha roams the streets of New Orleans in search of her father Douglas Binder. Since these are not without danger for a young woman, she is advised to look for someone to accompany her in her search and to take care of her. When she is attacked by some petty criminals, the unemployed sailor Chance Boudreaux comes to her aid. He agrees to accompany her for two days in exchange for the sum of $ 217 with which he wants to pay his debts. Shortly thereafter, Natasha learns of the death of her father, who has recently lived on the street and was allegedly killed in a fire. However, through their own research, the two find out that Douglas Binder has fallen for a group of manhunters led by the wealthy Emil Fouchon, who lures homeless people with cash and the prospect of a better life to use as a living target for their hunting games . Now Chance and Natasha themselves are targeted.

Chance kills a handful of manhunters and flees with Natasha to his uncle Douvee, with whose help they defeat Fouchon and the rest of his men. In a warehouse there is finally a showdown in which Chance, Douvee and Natasha kill all manhunters, including Fouchon's closest colleague Pik van Cleef. Fouchon stabs Douvee in the chest with an arrow and takes Natasha hostage, but Chance manages to stick a grenade in Fouchon's pants. Fouchon fails to defuse the grenade in time and dies in the subsequent explosion. Chance, Natasha and Douvee leave the warehouse.

Trivia

  • The Hong Kong director John Woo made his US directorial debut here.
  • The budget for the film was about $ 18,000,000.
  • The film grossed $ 74,189,677 at the box office worldwide.
  • The film had to be submitted to the MPAA a total of seven times in order to receive the R rating as an age rating . Previous cut versions only received an NC-17 rating due to the depictions of violence.
  • The German theatrical version corresponded to this R-rated version and was approved by the FSK in 1993 for ages 18+.
  • The VHS version from CIC Videoverleih Frankfurt also corresponds to the R-rated version and was indexed (BAnz. No. 224 of November 30, 1994).
  • All editions of the German purchase DVD contain the unrated version ( English for unaudited ). This was not shortened or censored for MPAA approval. In this version, numerous scenes of violence are shown more explicitly than in the theatrical version, and some shots are filmed from a different angle. A few short sentences are left as the original soundtrack in the unrated version.
  • The German DVD was not checked by the FSK, but only legally by the SPIO / JK .
  • In contrast to almost all other releases worldwide, the US DVD only contains the R-rated version censored for the cinema.
  • In September 2016 the indexing of the film was prematurely lifted and the US Unrated version was released uncut by the FSK for ages 18 and over.
  • In 2016, Hard Target 2 was directed by Roel Reiné . Scott Adkins played the leading role .

Reviews

James Berardinelli wrote on ReelViews that the film could hardly stand up to an assessment according to “typical” criteria. The plot is “the height of absurdity”, the development of the characters “poor” and the acting “clearly exaggerated”. Still, Hard Goals will satisfy those who approach the film with the right expectations. Berardinelli praised the “overwhelming” choreography of the action sequences.

“An action film that is only interested in the presentation of sophisticated types of killing and the latest handguns, which is inhuman in its unreflective 'use' of marginalized social groups and glorifies violence through its undisguised call for vigilante justice. Set up as an elaborate video game against the background of an absurd manhood madness, the superficially fast-paced film eludes any content-related discourse. "

- Lexicon of international film

“One of the best Van Damme films of all time. The spectacular combat interludes and the hair-raising story make a terrific mix. Lance Henriksen, known from several alien films, and Arnold Vosloo, known from ' The Mummy ', deliver a brilliant performance as unscrupulous manhunters. Ted Raimi's cameo as a man on the street is also great. "

- zelluloid.de

“Action magician Woo disappoints with one-dimensional characters and a dumb story, Van Damme just does what you expect of him. Conclusion: Brute, hollow action inferno. "

- cinema.de

“Never before has Jean-Claude Van Damme been staged as effectively as by cult director John Woo. On his Hollywood debut, a kind of remake of ' Graf Zaroff - Genie des Evil ', he pulled out all the stops of his ability. Woo serves up an action spectacle whose speed is second to none. "

- kino.de

literature

  • Film report by Thomas Gaschler in: Peter Bommas, Franz Dobler (Ed.): Down in Louisiana , ISBN 3-928452-04-5
  • Thomas Gaschler & Ralph Umard: Woo . Verlag Belleville, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-933510-48-1 .
  • Thomas Gaschler & Eckhard Vollmar: Dark Stars . Belleville, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-923646-50-X .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for hard targets . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , August 2009 (PDF; test number: 70 602-c V).
  2. ↑ Box office / business for Hard Goals (1993)
  3. Jump up ↑ Hard Aims (1993) - Box Office Mojo
  4. ↑ http://www.schnittberichte.com/schnittbericht.php?ID=4909
  5. ↑ schnittberichte.com, accessed on September 29, 2016
  6. ^ Review by James Berardinelli
  7. ↑ Hard goals. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed September 28, 2018 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  8. ↑ Peter Zimmermann: Hard goals. In: Zelluloid.de. April 16, 2012, archived from the original on July 1, 2016 ; accessed on September 28, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Hard goals on cinema.de
  10. ↑ Hard goals on kino.de

Web links