10 Things You Didn’t Know About Hard Target
Kino Lorber’s release of 1993’s Hard Target is now available and mere hours after it ended up at my door I found myself watching the John Woo/Jean-Claude Van Damme collaboration in all its 4K Ultra HD glory.
Kino Lorber went the extra mile with their Hard Target Blu-ray and included numerous special features including informative interviews with Lance Henriksen, Yancy Butler and John Woo himself. And if that wasn’t enough there was a commentary track with action film historians, Brandon Bentley and Mike Leeder, who enhanced my viewing experience with their entertaining musings and knowledge.
Now I am about to drop some of the knowledge I picked up from the special features as I present, 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Hard Target…
#1. The writer of Hard Target, Chuck Pfarrer, played Douglas Binder. Douglas is the man at the start of the movie who is being hunted. We we eventually learn that Douglas is the father of Yancy Butler’s character, Natasha “Nat” Binder. Chuck Pfarrer also wrote 1990’s Navy SEALS, which is fitting since Chuck himself is a former Navy SEAL commander.
#2. Jean-Claude Van Damme was not the original choice to play Chance Boudreau. One of the early casting ideas for Chance was none other than Kurt Russell, possibly due to his mullet experience. Speaking of mullets…
#3. One of the thugs who attempts to assault Nat after she leaves the diner was Jean-Claude Van Damme’s stunt double, Mark Stefanich. Which explains why that thug had the exact same mullet as Chance Boudreaux. Stefanich was also a former Navy SEAL.
#4. Lance Henriksen requested that his character, Emil Fouchon, carry the single shot Thompson Center Arms Contender. It was also Henriksen’s idea to have the men being hunted wear the money belt, making it more believable as to why they agreed to participate in this most dangerous game in the first place.
#5. There was a love scene between Chance and Nat that was filmed but did not make the final cut of the movie.
#6. Yancy Butler’s fear of snakes is the reason a mechanical rattlesnake was used in the movie instead of actual snakes. But it was not a wasted trip for snake wrangler, Jim Brocket. Brockett played the guy who was the victim of Chance’s rattlesnake trap.
#7. Another scene that did not make the final cut saw Chance and Uncle Douvee (Wilford Brimley) celebrate their happy reunion by singing and dancing… and suddenly there is no deleted scene I want to see more.
#8. Speaking of Wilford Brimley, apparently there was a “fart machine” on set and nobody loved pranking the cast and crew with it more than good ol’ Wilford.
#9. Yancy Butler and Jean-Claude Van Damme ended up in the hospital after an accident during the scene where they are on the motorcycle… Van Damme lost control of the bike on a sharp turn and it was his quick thinking that actually prevented the accident from being much worse for Yancy.
#10. The final battle between Chance and Emil was supposed to end after Emil shoots his last shot and Chance nails him with the big flying kick… but after test audience’s did not respond well to the finale, reshoots were done and the fight was extended.
BONUS: Mike Leeder shared a story concerning the 2016 sequel, Hard Target 2, which Mike was a part of early on in its development. The original script had Chance Boudreaux returning, but teased that Chance had morphed into a character like Emil Fouchon from the original. Mike also pointed out that Chance would still have the mullet, albeit a gray mullet.
