Hard Justice

You know you've got a bad film when you hear that the soundtrack is performed completely on a single cheap programmable synthesizer, without any melody or sense of rhythm.

It's hard to see how anyone could take this film seriously, even while giving it a bad review. This film is way beneath 'bad'.

The continuity of this film is outrageously butchered. In one fight scene, we the hero (wearing bluejeans and undershirt) turn a corner with two revolvers in his hand; he doubles back, only now he has two semi-automatics in his hands; he turns another corner and now he has an automatic rifle in his hands; he chases down a hallway and comes out (suddenly dressed in standard army fatigue jacket)with a shotgun; after which he exits the building with yet another automatic rifle. Or here's one for the books - a bus slams into a car at high speed; the car goes flying, thrown by a gigantic explosion - cut to the bus which is completely unscathed from the same explosion? The narrative continuity suffers from an equally numbing sense of unreality; the bad guys really want to kill the hero - obviously - but every time they knock him out or otherwise get him in a vulnerable position, they suddenly decide they want him "to live to see this!" Huh? One of the funnier moments of the film is when the hero is released from isolation because his lawyer has come to see him; then the bad guy decides he's not going to let the two meet after all; and this despite the fact that the the villain, the hero and his lawyer all know what's going on anyway, so the hero writes a note to the lawyer and next we see the note being passed to the lawyer by another prisoner, even though we never see the hero give it to him. (This lawyer, BTW, has complete access to the Offices of the ATF in California, including its confidential computer files.) Huh? Well, but it's a mindless action movie - so how're the action scenes? Not bad, surprisingly; unfortunately they happen to be stoled from about a dozen Hong Kong films made five or ten years previously. The opening scene, a shoot-out in a junker garage, actually has shots the composition of which are stolen directly from "Hard Boiled" - so clearly so that it's a wonder John Woo didn't sue for plagiarism.

Other Hong Kong films stolen from include "Prison on Fire", "Island on Fire", "Burning Paradise", "Police Story" I, II, and III (aka "Supercop"). I thought I recognized a couple Sammo Hung clips here as well. In other words, the actions scenes are exciting only to the extent that they are successful duplications of action scenes from other films.

There's nothing one can do with this film unless one shoots smack and just needs a lot of visual stimuli that needn't be make any sense.

Very funny film, for all the wrong reasons.

David Bradley is on a lower level than Seagal or Van Damme. Just like Sasha Mitchell, Michael Dudikoff and Mike Norris. He's not too bad an actor, but he can't make it to the big leagues.

"Hard Justice" is without a doubt David Bradley's best movie. The plot is: Nick Adams (Bradley) goes undercover in a prison to root out his best friend's killer. He realizes that not only is the prison corrupt, his arch enemy Jimmy Wong is back to even the score. The plot is basically a rip-off of the Van Damme movie "Death Warrant", but it makes up for that in the action sequences. The opening is fantastic, with almost non-stop action. The climax is also well-executed. But the middle, where Adams is in the prison does lag a little.

Charles Napier is great as the evil warden. The fight choreography does show off Bradley's martial arts ability, thankfully the filmmakers didn't over-edit the scenes. Overall, this is the Bradley movie to see.

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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.

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.

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.