Simply Perfect

i must have seen a different film!!

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

THE HARD CORPS is a film I'd like a lot more if it wasn't for the subject matter. It's a film that looks good, seeing Van Damme team up once more with director Sheldon Lettich, with whom he made some cheesy classics back in the day (such as DOUBLE IMPACT), which are still personal favourites of mine. There are some decent action scenes sprinkled around, including a great bit where our hero machine-guns a car and has a fist fight with a younger, fitter opponent, reminding us that he's still got 'it'.But for too much of the running time, the film gets bogged down in the storyline surrounding a black boxer and the man who vows to have him killed. Too many 'gangsta' stereotypes creep into the script, especially at the climax, so that this resembles nothing more than one of those poor Seagal movies.It's not totally without merit, though. Van Damme isn't required to act much here, as in other, recent movies, but he's still fun to watch. The (few) action scenes are fun, and I like Lettich's direction. I just wish that they'd gone for a better script rather than desperately trying to appeal to the young, black, male crowd.

A tired looking Van Damme shows up like an odd man out in this straight-to-DVD hard "core" gangsta revenge action joint, as he plays an Army Vet that's hired as a bodyguard for a former heavy weight boxing champ who's targeted by a man who he put away by not throwing a fight. But now that he is released, he begins receiving threats. There he must whip in shape some wannabe gangsta posse into professional bodyguards willing to take a bullet for their man/woman, while also fighting past war traumatic stress that haunts him and then there's the sister of the heavy weight champ who might just be falling for our man. A steely Van Dame pretty mops around (like he's thrown right in to the deep end), until it reaches its bloody climax of punishing gunfire. You know busting a cap. The camera does get a good workout though, but while there are some masterful martial arts by Van Damme, it's mainly kept as a one-off side-dish. Too often is spends a lot time posing about (the dramas), thinking its hip and cool and this only makes it even more drawn out when it could have been much tighter. It's simple and predictable with its plot devices, but it does entertain when it gets moving. It's too bad that it wasn't all that often. Competent, but dull."That's an order soldier."

The Hard Corps is probably the most boring movie I've ever heard of. You're looking at the movie and saying, hey, this sounds like it's going to be descent. Jean Claude Van Damme, guns, kicks, muscles, all that good stuff. But no, this is garbage. And you're thinking, well, it's a new age movie he played in, give him some slack. But no, it sucks. It sucks dirt from a straw. You want to know why, well, where can I begin? First of a all, the name. The Hard Corps? That is the stupidest name that you could ever come up with! The Hard Corps?! I'm sorry, The Hard Corps?! Okay, now the fight scenes are basically the same as every movie that Van Damme has been doing in the 90's. Brawling, no kicking. Guns, but no originality. That's basically the outline of the whole film. And having Vivica A. Fox in a movie doesn't save it from being the worst direct-to-DVD films of all times. Therefore, The Hard Corps is bad and not worth watching. 3 of out 10.

if you grew up in the eighties and nineties watching van damme and steven seagal's action films, you'll like this. it isn't Miami vice or heat(big budget, pretentious plot, etc) but it is a simple-minded action movie with plenty to offer regarding entertainment and a fair and square good old time.people tend to judge a film before watching it and the hard corps got bashed. van damme and steven seagal, old movie stars that ruled the box office a decade ago, were forgotten by the big studios. today is the era of jason stathan, tony jaa and the likes, all of them well-rounded by cgi special effects and big budgets, but, back then in the era of seagal and van damme, cgi wasn't around and what you saw was the real thing. god, I miss these guys' movies (van damme and seagal) in the theaters.things used to be more fun. it was a joy to watch out for justice, marked for death, bloodsport (every kid back then had to put the name on a huge list on the video store just to rent the tape). films like the hard corps bring the old times back and you'll have a good time watching it. it's about a washed up veteran who fought in Iraqi. he comes back a different, bitter man. as fate would have it, he has a second chance in life as a bodyguard to a tough but good hearted former heavyweight champion. great action sequences, van damme does his own stunts and also has some great fighting scenes, and a straight forward plot that won't change the world of movies, but will give you one helluva good time.