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Article: `Hard Target': Van Damme Shame
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- August 20, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The only thing wrong with John Woo's American debut, "Hard
Target," is that it's too American and not enough Woo.
Despite a string of critically acclaimed foreign action films,
including "The Killer" and "Hard Boiled," the Hong Kong-based
director has run into a Hollywood system that wants to like him but
refuses to trust him. At home Woo writes his scripts, controls his
editing, imposes his imagination. Here, he's forced to hire Jean-
Claude Van Damme and it's pretty much downhill from there. Woo, a
master of stylized violence and explosive action, has had to buy into
America's fascination with explosive effects and reaction. Something
gets lost in the transition.
Van Damme's last film, ...