Hard Justice

**SPOILERS** Very similar to the Jean-Claude-Van Damme 1990 prison hell raiser "Death Warrent". The film "Hard Justice" has ATF agent Nick Adams go undercover in a state penitentiary to uncover the murder of his friend and fellow ATF undercover agent Larry. Who was murdered when he got wind of a major gun smuggling ring working out of the prison.

At the start of the movie Nick, with very little help from the ATF, is involved in a shoot-out with a number of hoods belonging to a local L.A Asian street gang. Nick was not able to prevent, when he kicked up his gun that he was forced to drop, the murder of a young woman by gang leader Jimmy Wong. who he was holding the woman hostage. Sick and depressed over the woman's death Nick dropped out of sight until the tragic news of Larry's murder hit him.

Determined to find Larry's killer, or killers, Nick has himself put behind bars as a convicted criminal. Not just to track down Larry's killers but find out what he uncovered. That later lead to Larry's murder. Nick finds that the very officials in both the prison and his own law enforcement government agency, the ATF, were not only behind Larry's death but are running a major gun smuggling ring right out of the state penitentiary!

With Warden Pike in charge who together with his captain of the guards Riggs the two are working with convicts Lee & Chow ,two top Asian street gang members. The two convicts are using the prison basement to store enough guns to equip an entire US Marine battalion. Nick's cover is blown as soon as he enter the "clink" by someone very high up in the ATF. Knowing that's he's an undercover cop, or ATF agent, Nick is a marked man with no one to help him in or outside of prison and has to battle it out with the scores of vengeful and homicidal prisoners who are out to murder him.

The film "Hard Justice" is saved by it's almost non-stop action scenes, that ends with an amazing helicopter chase and fight sequence on and over the streets of L.A. That makes you forget just how ridicules it's plot really is, especially the connection between the AFT prison Warden Pike and the Asian street gang. With Charles Napier giving the best acting performance in the movie as the corrupt and, what later turns out to be, crazed Warden Pikes. Pikes who was a POW in Vietnam never seemed to have gotten over his psychosis of being in prison. When he came back to the states, after being released by the Viet Cong, Pikes could only feel at home in a lock-up; but this time as the the guy in charge not the one behind bars.

David Bradley as ATF agent Nick Adams was, as expected, very good in his fight action scenes but his acting, that you wouldn't expected much of, was a lot better then you would have expected it to be. What I couldn't figure out about Nick was why he had a fresh head wound over his left eye all throughout the movie, who's story took place well over a week in movie time. Without it ever healing or even being dressed and covered with a band-aid?

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.

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.

A tremendous action movie that I have ever seen. It was the first expression that I uttered after watching it twice on the local TV in my country, Indonesia. A combination between a constant shooting and a great fighting choreography played well by David Bradley. He was good here besides "American Samurai". His skill in martial art was performed above average. He succeeded to make the fighting scenes nice to watch. Not only punching and kicking like what most of martial artists show in their movies. David Bradley could utilize all the martial arts techniques such as punching, throwing, locking and kicking. More stylistic and riveting than Van Damme's or Seagal's. Yes, I know that some scenes were inspired by John Woo's movies but that's okay as long as they were not taken entirely..Nevertheless, this is truly a slam-bang action movie!! Very Recommended for action fans.