The Hard Corps starts as notorious killer, gangster, drug dealer & general all round villain Terrell Singletery (Viv Leacock) is released from prison after only serving eighteen months of an eight year sentence because of his hot-shot lawyer. No sooner has Terrell left prison & he is arranging the murder of the man who put him there, namely ex-heavyweight boxing champion Wayne Barclay (Razaaq Adoti). His sister Tamara (Vivica A. Fox) & business associate Kendall Mullins (Peter Bryant) decide to hire Clarence Bowden (Julian Christopher) as a bodyguard to protect Wayne who in turn hires ex-army dude Phillippe Sauvage (Jean Claude Van Damme) to help him. During an attempt on Wayne's life Clarence is shot & killed which upsets & angers Phillippe who then decides to protect Wayne himself & find those who killed his friend...
Co-written & directed by Sheldon Lettich this was the fourth time he & JCVD teamed up to make a film after Lionheart (1990), Double Impact (1991) & The Order (2001) although one has to say that out of the films they made together The Hard Corps is by far the worst & for me is probably the worst JCVD film I have seen. For a start the story is terrible, it's not involving in any way & is a bit of a chore to sit through. The script is standard direct-to-video/DVD stuff with a lightweight story, clichéd character's, limited ambition & lots of boring dialogue. I usually quite like JCVD but The Hard Corps is as bad as the rubbish Steven Seagal has been making lately, there's barely any fights or decent action scenes which is odd since JCVD is a martial arts expert & surely he & his skill's are the films best asset so why ignore it? The story plods along at a fairly sedate & boring pace & I just wasn't interested in anything that was going on, there's a really predictable plot twist at the end too which just confirms how clichéd & by-the-numbers it really is across it's near two hour duration.
The action scenes here are well below par, JCVD has two fights both of which are poor & there's various dull shoot-outs & not a single car chase or explosion in sight. Disappointing. There's an amazing car at the start which Terrell is picked up in, most would need a stepladder just to get into the thing. The violence is tame & there's no nudity either. Apparently rap star DMX was hired to play the villain Terrell but went to prison so couldn't actually make the film, DMX was subsequently quoted in a magazine saying 'I'd rather have gone to prison anyway' & after watching The Hard Corps I sort of shared that sentiment.
With a supposed budget of about $12,000,000 I don't see where the money went, although set in the US this was shot in Bucharest in Romania & in Vancouver in Canada. The acting is strictly average & no-one seems to have much heart in the film.
The Hard Corps is probably the worst JCVD film I have seen & I have seen quite a few, light on action, light on originality & a dull forgettable story makes this one worth skipping.
Co-written & directed by Sheldon Lettich this was the fourth time he & JCVD teamed up to make a film after Lionheart (1990), Double Impact (1991) & The Order (2001) although one has to say that out of the films they made together The Hard Corps is by far the worst & for me is probably the worst JCVD film I have seen. For a start the story is terrible, it's not involving in any way & is a bit of a chore to sit through. The script is standard direct-to-video/DVD stuff with a lightweight story, clichéd character's, limited ambition & lots of boring dialogue. I usually quite like JCVD but The Hard Corps is as bad as the rubbish Steven Seagal has been making lately, there's barely any fights or decent action scenes which is odd since JCVD is a martial arts expert & surely he & his skill's are the films best asset so why ignore it? The story plods along at a fairly sedate & boring pace & I just wasn't interested in anything that was going on, there's a really predictable plot twist at the end too which just confirms how clichéd & by-the-numbers it really is across it's near two hour duration.
The action scenes here are well below par, JCVD has two fights both of which are poor & there's various dull shoot-outs & not a single car chase or explosion in sight. Disappointing. There's an amazing car at the start which Terrell is picked up in, most would need a stepladder just to get into the thing. The violence is tame & there's no nudity either. Apparently rap star DMX was hired to play the villain Terrell but went to prison so couldn't actually make the film, DMX was subsequently quoted in a magazine saying 'I'd rather have gone to prison anyway' & after watching The Hard Corps I sort of shared that sentiment.
With a supposed budget of about $12,000,000 I don't see where the money went, although set in the US this was shot in Bucharest in Romania & in Vancouver in Canada. The acting is strictly average & no-one seems to have much heart in the film.
The Hard Corps is probably the worst JCVD film I have seen & I have seen quite a few, light on action, light on originality & a dull forgettable story makes this one worth skipping.