Hard Justice

Hard Justice is a typical B-Movie ( NU IMAGE ). On the one hand we have non-stop bloody action scenes, on the other hand a 08/15 storyline. The movie is about a cop, who is sent to prison, certainly undercover, to take out a gang of drug and weapon dealers. In the end nearly the whole prison goes to hell. Many prisoners escape and are mostly shot down by the anti-terror-teams awaiting them, while D. Bradley fights with the head of the dealers on a driving bus. Hard Justice isn't a bad movie. If you only want some action and not a detailed plot, this is the right movie for you.

I discovered this movie by accident, and after watching I have to say that I'm a bit surprised of how unknown it is. I love prison movies as a genre, and when it delivers like this is makes for enjoyable viewing. The plot is pretty standard, a cop goes undercover in a jail to solve a crime. David Bradley is an action man more than an actor, and luckily they understood that and threw him into a lot of cool action scenes. There are fights, a great car chase at the end, and overall more than enough tough and gritty bad-assness to keep action lovers satisfied. A well executed action movie that you shouldn't hesitate to watch if you get the chance.

In the mid-90's, Nu Image had a good thing going with its direct to video action pictures. Movies like "Live Wire: Human Timebomb" were fun and action-crammed with decent budgets and a high guilt factor. By the preview, the following entry "Hard Justice" seemed it would be the peak of this entertainment scene. With fresh, John-Woo inspired director Greg Yaitanes, B-Movie legend Charles Napier and lots of great stunts and explosions, how could it go wrong? Unfortunately, this one is a big misfire with too much emphasis on a weak story rather than on its well-done action sequences.

The opening scene is promising, as narc officer Nick Adams (a forgettable David Bradley) takes down a large-scale drug deal in a seemingly fail-safe warehouse. Wouldn't you know it, there's an overhead window Nick smashes through by means of dropping from a helicopter, guns blaring. He is marginally successful, but consequences lead him to go undercover in a hardcore prison to find out who murdered his ex-partner.

This is where the movie starts to go flat. Writers Nicholas Amendolare and Chris Bold invest way too much in the prison section of the film. The subplots of goings-on in the prison are clearly more interesting to these writers than they are to the poor audience member. The action scenes are stifled by this plot structure, being that they are pushed aside so that a weak, mostly boring plot can be developed. The results are a very mediocre action movie.

One recommendable aspect of the film is the few big action sequences. Yaintes is very skillful in capturing details as to involve the viewer in the action. He has an eye for what looks cool in terms of stunt work, gun play and special effects. With a better script, he could make a very strong action film. Its too bad this is a less than strong debut.

Also, watch for good performance by Yuji Okomoto and the beautiful Benita Andre, who plays Nick's wife Hannah. They do what they can in a limiting script, and their work should be recognized.

Let's be clear, that's a crap destined to TV or video - DVD - audiences, so you already have an idea to what you are dealing with. If you can't sleep, are depressed and want to change your ideas, clean your head, if you want to "kill time",as we say in France, you can watch it. This garbage stuff is obviously inspired by John Woo in terms of action scenes, and in 1993, the great director from Hong Kong was not working in the US since a long time, only HARD TARGET, and the rest of his filmography was only from ASIA: THE KILLER, A BETTER TOMORROW 1 and 2, A BULLET IN THE HEAD. So this junk that we are talking now is destined to specific audiences seeking for fun, only fun.

David Bradley has never been my favorite action hero but I have watched many films of him since I saw him on American Ninja 3. When I have heard that he has a John Woo copycat I jumped in.

It is really funny that two very different movies could be made from Hard Justice. One with John Woo style action and one that is a typical prison actioner like Death Warrant.

I am no fan of Prison movies except Undisputed 2 and I could have lived without the very cut and paste prison movie parts.

However John Woo style gun fights (especially the one at the beginning) is awesome. I wish they could have kept the style throughout the movie.

One thing that bothered me is that stunt people's faces were so obvious so all those "more than necessary" dangerous scenes lost its appeal quick.

If you love Hard-Boiled and The Killer you will love certain parts of this movie. The rest is so-so actioner