disgusting, overrated, pointless

Awesome Movie

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

(Originally reviewed:07/03/2017) John Badham's The Hard Way would be tagged as formulaic at first glance but what the film really was, was a film that had formula but introduced a breath of fresh air, a cop picture where Woods has to look after movie star 'Nick Lang' (Michael J. Fox) during his research of the real life portrayal of a cop, but instead of play it basic, he takes him on his own personal vendetta, one that requires the stopping of a killer who continuously murders people and considers Woods's character a role model. Maybe you've seen it before in a different context but never this way and be aware this picture was released in 1991, so I'm quite sure this was something different at the time and I doubt anyone could challenge Woods's performance, as he was the most badass, out of his mind with a vengeance cop since Lethal Weapon's Martin Riggs played by Gibson and I of course mean in reference to the first two films which I consider some of the best examples in the genre.The film is mostly entertaining from start to finish, with the exception of a joke where the villain 'The Party Crasher played fairly well by Stephen Lang play's back a short television interview where Woods's character raving about how he's nothing and so forth and knowing he'll be watching, but within this sequence the quote "from me to you" is played back a dozen time's and it gets tiresome, once would have been sufficient; one other thing I didn't care for was a poorly staged action sequence in a cinema that was messy and all over the place with no real style or choreography; but other than that the picture is very enjoyable with crisp one liner's, some cool chases and action scenes and an adequate screenplay from Lem Dobbs and Michael Kozoll. I wanted a highly entertaining picture with some lively performances and strong comedic chemistry between Woods and Michael J. Fox, and that's exactly what I got, and the last sequence is extremely satisfying. The Hard Way is a competently made, entertaining as hell action picture.

I tried a frog dog once. It wasn't from a place that sold them as such though, I bought the hot dog and fries separately and then mixed them and added the ketchup and mustard just like Moss did. OK, but messy. The scene where they're eating the frog dogs (with little frog croaking sounds being heard) must've taken numerous takes for them to have gotten it right without making the biggest mess. When I ate mine, it took me 17 takes to get it right, just kidding (those who seen the movie got that). I actually didn't care too much for Nick Lang (Michael J Fox) at the start of the film with him acting so bratty and spoiled at his Hollywood mansion to where it was hard to watch him. He then makes a quick transition to little suck up when he latches himself on to Moss (James Woods) at the New York police station. Part of me understands Moss' annoyance. I like the scene with Moss protesting his having to be with Lang ("not if you tied my tongue to your tailpipe and drove me 80 miles an hour naked across a field of broken glass!!"). And for some reason Moss' boss thinks Lang is the greatest (it almost looked like for a moment Moss' boss was gonna side with Moss with the "cheese ball" comment, but then quickly jumped back to loving Lang). I like when Moss sarcastically says "yes sir!" when he sees that his boss is going as far as to wearing a Nick Lang t shirt. The party crasher is a nice touch for the killer that Moss is after, a villain who does his killings at nightclubs and who likes challenges so much that he'll invite the police first to watch his next killing, and then he'll still end up getting away. Moss doesn't want to be taken off the party crasher case, especially to deal with an annoying a** kisser who is practically in love with him. I like the scene where Moss is crying to a (possible accomplice to the crasher) gun dealer about how he wants to get rid of Lang, and I liked the smart*** comments he made to the dealer's fat body guard ("you may wanna try skipping a meal sometimes, somewhere there's a small country going hungry"). I also liked the setup that Moss and his buddies from the station created in order to try to get rid of Lang (since Lang so badly wanted to know what it felt like to have killed an innocent bystander thought to have been a criminal, and then when Lang samples the feeling he quickly changed his mind about wanting it). Lang was just such a wannabe punk badass to where he was so ready to jump into crazy situations without even half reflecting what they really meant. All just to get a role in a movie that didn't have a g*****m roman numeral in the title. Just the way Lang looked at the whole thing like an exciting game (just look at the look on Lang's face the first time he pulls a badge out in front of some bad guys and says "NYPD", like a kid in a candy store). I liked the potential girlfriend of Moss (Annabelle Sciorra) who at one point actually believes Lang is a better cop than Moss (good thing she never saw his rubber gun. Lol). Also amusing is a scene in Moss' apartment when Lang, grossly against Moss' will, goes to stay with him (who initially says over the idea of Lang staying with him "maybe when my ***hole learns to chew gum"). Lang sees his billboard across the street, then is told by Moss "good, you'll be sleeping close to the one you love". The way Lang is so attached to and so fond of Moss, to where he tells him things like "I've counted, you have 17 different facial expressions" and "you're the greatest, you're a heavyweight, you're the "Yoda" among cops". I mean would you want someone you never previously met gluing themselves on to you and telling you those things? Even if they were doing it for a movie role? I still like some of Moss' lines, such as his comments to a reporter about the party crasher, "when his luck runs out, I'm gonna be on him like a bum on a bologna sandwich". And Moss'l to Lang "we live this job. It's something we are, not something we do. Whenever we pull someone over, we know we may have to kill someone, or be killed ourselves". Moss' lieutenant position on the force though never shows any signs of him ever doing any traffic duty and pulling anyone over. Still it was a good, interesting movie overall.

Oh, its not very good, but its also not so bad. Yes, entertaining, no not really funny or exciting though and its billed as an action/comedy. The movie is full of skilled actors and Michael J. Fox, that formula has worked in the past, hey maybe it even worked this time around but don't ask me, or I guess you are kinda asking hence the review. John Badham is not a good director, he tells stories poorly. With the movie The Hard Way, Badham is given a story that has no life, he tells a crap story and he tells that crap story for crap. Every joke is telegraphed long before it plays out, no characters are ever in any real danger, and no words spoken are very memorable. Hey, The Hard Way is better than Lethal Weapon 3, or The Last Action Hero, or Red Dawn both original and the remake. That's gotta count for something right?

Very entertaining movie, M.J. Fox is great, very good actor, he makes the movie very funny and sympathetic. Also a good scenario for a comedy movie but there are also lots of action scenes and some good quotes that makes you laugh. There is only one scene that annoying is the one M.J. Fox act as Wood's girlfriend and wants from him to say something. Wood's acting was terrible in here and time passed very slow for me but in the other parts of the movie he was good enough. Final of the movie was also very good and thrilling. I gave seven out of ten.