Product: Hard to Kill [VHS] (1990)
Rating: 3.0
Hard 2 Die/Kill Hard to
Wow, what a difference growing up makes. When I was a kid I thought that Hard to Kill was pretty hardcore. Upon watching it as an adult I realize now that it's really quite tame. With the exception of some occasional swearing there's virtually nothing here to rate the movie higher than PG-13. If the fight scenes hadn't been so poorly choreographed I suppose the R-rating might have been justified.This was the first Seagal movie I ever saw (and Seagal's second movie, coming two years after Above the Law - just enough time for those new hair plugs to grow) and I was entertained as a child, less so now. Seagal plays the ludicrously-named Mason Storm (if there is a subtext to that naming then it's lost on me) a cop who is gunned down by crooked collegues on Oscar night in 1983 for spying on evil politician Vernon Trent (William Sadler, looking like a wimpy Neil Patrick Harris which is quite odd since he was buff and tanned in Die Hard 2 that very same summer). His wife and partner are also killed in the attack. Seven years pass and Storm wakes up in sunny 1990, where he is looked after by glamorous nurse Andy Stewart (Kelly LeBrock, who is gorgeous to look at but has acting skills that make Seagal, her then husband, look good). Storm hides away at a farmstead retreat and repairs his broken body through acupuncture and rigorous training in preparation for tearing the bad guys a new one. It happens eventually, as Storm lurks around the Senator's mansion while various character yell 'DIE' at each other, and it's all massively unspectacular.Forget the fact that logic and common sense are thrown out here, that's a given considering the sub-genre, but my main gripe with Hard to Kill (originally titled Seven Year Storm, which sounds so much cooler) is that it suffers from really bad TV- movie casting when it comes to the supporting characters. Many of the nameless goon bad guys are played by stuntmen too, they don't have any dialogue and only exist for Seagal to slap about (he rarely kills any of these schlubs). Exactly how many crooked cops are there on Trent's pay roll? The fight scenes themselves are shot and cut with little competence and the rest of the action is so pedestrian and dull you'll resist the urge to nod off. The late Bruce Malmouth wasn't a particularly strong director and it really shows. Hard to Kill takes the cold 1970s revenge thriller (a sub-genre usually filled-out with gritty Charles Bronson vehicles) and brightens it up with a colorful, and sometimes tawdry, 1990s aesthetic. If you want a decent early Seagal movie then I suggest Marked for Death instead. It's far more vibrant, action-packed, and just plain crazy than this high-school effort.The one brilliant thing about Hard to Kill is the wonderful score by David Michael Frank. It REALLY carries the film and gives it more emotion and punch that it actually deserves. It's such a shame that only 15 minutes of this score have been released commercially as there's so much good stuff in there. The rest...is strictly workmanlike without ever being engaging. Interesting though how porn actress Akia Athenia Garrido chose the stage name Mason Storm for her career.Warner presents the Blu Ray in 1.78:1 1080p with DTS HD-MA sound. Both are a huge step up from the DVD but the bland TV-style photography and poor production values will never look amazing. An old trailer is the only extra. It appears there's no REAL Seagal love on Blu Ray. All of his movies get the most basic release.