Hard Target Unrated - Jean Woo's Tour de Force | AJP #12

When action filmmaking legend John Woo finally decided to head to Hollywood, he chose Hard Target (1993) as his first English-language project. Then he was paired with another icon of action, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and the two set out to make shoot-em-up perfection. Buoyed by two fantastic supporting performances from Lance Henriksen and Arnold Vosloo, Hard Target was nearly a master stroke of violent filmcraft. That is, until the MPAA stepped in, forcing Woo to edit out a lot of the carnage. Jump ahead to 2022 and Kino Lorber has finally released the unrated international cut, in 4K no less. And we couldn't be more grateful.

We apologize for the tardiness of this episode. Life got in the way, but we're back on track. Since we filmed this a month ago, the Off the QT news is a bit old. Again, sorry about that.

Oh, and this episode features the second installment of Fact/Off, so that's neat. D promised it would be spicier this time, but was he able to keep that promise? Use the Episode Chapters to jump ahead if you can't wait to find out.

Warning: We spoil Hard Target more than a little bit here, but even if you stick around and listen, you'll still want to watch it. Trust us, watch it.

Episode Chapters:

00:05 - Introduction

02:00 - Off the QT: Misleading headlines about Avatar 2's box office returns, Gladiator 2 is a go, Aaron Taylor-Johnson meets with James Bond producers, the Evil Dead Rise trailer

08:03 - Fact/Off: Is our second ever installment spicier than the first?

21:18 - Our main chat about Hard Target begins

23:44 - The conversation kicks into gear with a comprehensive synopsis

34:44 - We dive into this movie and address the best moments

55:33 - We ask ourselves: where does Hard Target rank in JCVD's filmography? Is it a favorite of ours?

1:02:58 - Conclusion

Segments:

Off the QT: A breakdown of the latest movie/TV news and rumors

Fact/Off (working title): A new movie-centric minigame that's similar to The Newlywed Game