Hard Target is a 1993 action film that marked the US directorial debut of acclaimed Hong Kong director John Woo, who brought his Asian style of action to Western cinema. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Boudreaux, a former US Force Recon Marine who has fallen upon hard times and who is hired by a woman to find her father who had gone missing in New Orleans. In the course of their search, the two discover a deadly game where homeless veterans are used as high-priced prey for hunters. The screenplay was written by Chuck Pfarrer, a former Navy SEAL turned screenwriter. Hard Target 2, a DTV sequel starring Scott Adkins was released in 2016.
The following weapons were used in the film Hard Target:
No John Woo movie would be complete without the presence of Beretta 92FS pistols, and Hard Target features this gun heavily. Aside from the fact that nearly all of Emil Fouchon's gunmen carry 92FS's as their sidearms, this gun is also used often by Chance Boardeaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) throughout the film. Chance first uses a 92FS when taking it from Detective Marie Mitchell (Kasi Lemmons) during the first big shootout. Chance later uses a pair of 92FS's (one blued, one Inox) during the final shootout in the Mardi Gras Graveyard in the climax, often fitted with 20-round magazines.
There are a number of crazy ways that Chance fires his 92FS's in the movie - leaping through the air onto the trunk of a car, standing up on the seat of a motorcycle, swinging across the warehouse on a rope, etc. In one particularly crazy scene during the Mardi Gras Graveyard shootout, he gets a 92FS with a 20-round magazine away from a motorcycle gunman, but doesn't have time to grip it properly because there's another gunman coming from behind him. So he simply fires the gun upside down.
During the shootout in the Mardi Gras Graveyard, Natasha (Yancy Butler) takes a Beretta 92FS Inox from one of Fouchon's men and uses it to kill another thug who calls her a "bitch" (this appears to be a nod to a similar scene in John Woo's 1992 film Hard Boiled). She then tosses the gun to Chance, who dual-wields the pistol with a regular blued 92FS (and usually with a 20-round magazine inserted).
Van Cleef (Arnold Vosloo) carries a Glock 19 as his sidearm throughout the movie. It is seen mostly at the end, when he and Chance confront each other face-to-face.
Emil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen) prominently uses a Thompson Center Arms Contender single-shot pistol as his weapon of choice throughout the movie, chambered to fire the .45-70 cartridges seen hanging on the loops of his belt. The gun is routinely shown blowing things up whenever it's fired, surely an exaggeration of the Contender's power in real life. Another goof concerns the fact the weapon is never fitted with any sights, which would make aiming it accurately very hard indeed. This same model gun was previously used by Philip Kwok as Mad Dog in John Woo's earlier movie Hard Boiled.
Most of Fouchon's men carry Heckler & Koch MP5A3 submachine guns, particularly his motorcycle gunmen (AKA Hounds), who carry their MP5s in large holsters mounted on the sides of their Honda XL600Rs.
When Chance steals one of the motorcycles, he takes an MP5 out of the holster and uses it to shoot at another motorcycle gunman. The MP5 used by Chance in this scene clearly has a 4-position trigger group on its lower receiver, which would make it an MP5A5 rather than an MP5A3. In fact, he seems to be firing the gun on the 3-round burst setting, something only possible with the 4-position trigger group.
Some of Fouchon's gunmen also use Heckler & Koch MP5Ks fitted with suppressors during the hunts. Van Cleef is seen using one of these weapons when he and the other gunmen kill Roper.
During the second hunt, in which Ismal Zenan (Joe Warfield) pays Fouchon to kill Elijah Roper (Willie C. Carpenter), Zenan is given a Colt CAR-15-type assault rifle which clearly has an A2-style receiver, so it is most likely a Model 725. The gun is heavily tricked out, with a scope, suppressor, brass catcher, and laser sight (I'm not sure what brands any of them are). Notably, despite being suppressed, the weapon's gunshots are unsuppressed throughout the scene. Roper manages to get the drop on Zenan, knocking him out and taking his rifle. He fires the weapon at Zenan and then at Fouchon and his men, but foolishly fires on full-auto for too long, emptying the magazine and thus spending his entire potential advantage.
A similar gun is later used in a drive-by shooting by one of Fouchon's thugs, though his has only the suppressor (no scope, laser sight, or brass catcher).
Fouchon's men use some Colt XM177E2 carbines, including several with M203 grenade launchers. Van Cleef uses a heavily tricked-out XM177E2 fitted with an M203, brass catcher, and a large scope when shooting at Chance from a helicopter.
An FN FAL 50.61 Paratrooper version with a side-folding stock is used by at least one of Fouchon's men who fires at Chance from the helicopter. He is hit by Chance's Mossberg 590 Mariner, dropping the weapon (presumably, into the river).
Peterson (Jules Sylvester), one of the hunters brought in by Fouchon in the climax carries a Norinco Type 56-1 assault rifle, the Chinese copy of the AKS-47/AKMS. After Peterson is killed by a rattlesnake hidden by Chance in a tree, Van Cleef takes the Norinco and hands it to Jerome (Tom Lupo) one of the other hunters, who uses it in the finale. Like most of the Type 56s imported into America, this one has an AKM-style slant compensator.
David (Sven-Ole Thorsen), one of the hunters whom Fouchon brings in for the climax, is seen using a .308 (7.62x51mm NATO) version of the Finnish Valmet M78/83 semi-automatic rifle that appears to have been converted to auto for the film. The Valmet is outfitted with a scope and a thumbhole stock, but despite this sniper-type configuration, he only seems to fire the gun on full-auto from the hip.
Uncle Douvee (Wilford Brimley) takes out a dusty 12-gauge Mossberg 590 Mariner, which he says he's been keeping for Chance (Douvee had told Chance that his .30-06 rifle was eaten by a gator). The shotgun is used by Chance while riding on horseback when being chased by Fouchon's men. He is frequently seen cocking this shotgun one-handed. The Mossberg used in the film was listed in a 2018 auction by Heritage Auction.
Pik Van Cleef (Arnold Vosloo), Fouchon's right-hand man, also uses a regular black Mossberg 590 as his weapon of choice for much of the movie. His 590 has a flashlight pump installed, but there is no flashlight in the grip.
An SWD/Cobray Street Sweeper is used by one of Fouchon's gunmen and by Billy Bob (David Efron) at the climax of the movie, fitted with a laser sight. When it's fired, it blows up an entire shed, so it's being portrayed as some type of grenade launcher.
At the end of the film, Chance takes a Winchester Model 1300 shotgun from one of Fouchon's men and uses it to shoot at Fouchon, in one instance scoring a direct hit (which is made futile by Fouchon's body armor) that somehow flings him 10 meters backwards. When Fouchon takes Natasha hostage, she encourages Chance to shoot him, but as Fouchon points out, "If he shoots me, he'll hit you...he's picked the wrong tool for the job." This is a reference to the fact that the spread of a shotgun blast might be too wide to hit only Fouchon. Chance, knowing that Fouchon is right, ejects all remaining shells out of the Winchester and then sets it down.
During the hunt seen in the film's opening, the hunter known as Mr. Lopacki (Robert Apisa) uses a Swivel Machine Works Airrow A-8S Stealth air gun to take down his prey. This is a high power airgun produced by Swivel Machine Works Inc. in various versions since 1989. This same weapon is later used against Chance during the climax, when he narrowly avoids being hit by an arrow fired from this weapon. The Airrow Stealth from this film was listed for sale in a 2018 auction by Heritage Auction.
M203 grenade launchers are mounted on several Colt XM177E2 carbines used by Fouchon's men, including a rifle used by Van Cleef to shoot at Chance. A notable goof is that he fires the M203 twice in a row, without enough time to reload the single-shot launcher.
Many of Fouchon's men use M67 hand grenades, which are tossed at Chance in the climax. Van Cleef carries a bandoleer of these grenades, and when Chance shoots him, he pulls one out, intending to blow himself and Chance up with one of them. But he expires before he can pull the pin, and the M67 falls into Chance's hand. Chance later uses this same grenade to kill Fouchon by dropping it down his pants. Fouchon gets the grenade out of his hands and unscrews the fuse, but he holds it close enough that it still sparks, triggering the grenade to explode.
Like nearly all movies, this is actually a visually modified M69 training version of the M67. The fact that it's painted olive green is a strong clue.
An M79 grenade launcher is seen used by Van Cleef in the beginning to fire a 40mm grenade at Douglas Binder (played by screenwriter Chuck Pfarrer in a cameo).
When Fouchon and his men surround the Mardi Gras Graveyard where Chance is cornered, they open the trunks of their Jeep Cherokees and take out enormous amounts of weaponry being stashed in the back. The following guns are visible in this scene:
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