Hard Target
Universal was afraid that John Woo's limited English would be a problem on set, so they hired Sam Raimi to oversee the entire shoot and replace Woo if need be.,When Fouchon is going over Chance Boudreaux's military record he says that (Chance) was apart of Marine Force Recon and his file even says U.S. Marines but the picture shown in the file shows him wearing a U.S. Army service uniform.,Natasha Binder: What kind of a name is Chance?
Chance Boudreaux: Well... my momma took one...,A 128 minute workprint of Hard Target also exists, but in a even lesser quality than the 116-minute test screening. It appears to be an assembly cut which was later trimmed down to the 116-minute version. It is mostly the same as the test screening cut, though it includes the following differences:
there is no music score throughout the whole film
many sound effects are missing,Featured in Siskel & Ebert: The Man Without a Face/Wilder Napalm/King of the Hill/Hard Target/And the Band Played On (1993),Opus 57 Appassionata Sonata
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Dr. John Murphy,Now I'm a fan of all Woo films; even the worst of his works, such as "Broken Arrow", are at least 'standard fare' in Hollywood-terms; this, however, does not apply to the few sad TV-attempts he made (The "Once a thief"-cable flick is just dreadful...). "Face/Off" and even the 'funny' "M:I-2" are both action-packed showdowns which demonstrate well what Woo can do. But his first Hollywood-attempt still remains the best of them- at least, to date! "Hard target" was shoot with very little time and then re-edited 7 times (count'em- seven!) to finally pass the censorship (yes, I'd call it that!) and STILL, after assumably at least half (?) the flavour taken out, it's still one tough cookie! Maybe frustrated at the censorship, Woo has later on stayed on the safe R-rated waters in Hollywood, not even trying to top himself (And again, STILL remaining the best bet when it comes to directing some serious action!)

"Hard Target" puts Jean-Claude Van 'Damage' against one of the always trustworthy screen villains, Lance Henriksen, and his pack of urban-commando (all black outfits, combat vests and MP5's) goons, and that's all you need to know! IF you think the going gets a little boring on the way, wait for the final 20 minutes, which will give you an adrenaline rush worth your while!

BTW, if anyone knows where I could get my hands on the 116-minutes (any shorter will not do!) uncut "Director's cut", I'd be happy to buy a copy, preferably DVD (but also VHS will do; we're talking cult classic here!),