Customer Reviews

Van Damme Four-Feature Film Set (Hard Target / Lionheart / Sudden Death / The Quest)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This set is a must for hardcore Van Damme fans. It contains Hard Target, Lionheart, Sudden Death, and The Quest. This set also replaces another, now out of print, Van Damme quadruple feature. That set contained Hard Target, Street Fighter, The Quest, and Timecop.

So what makes this new set worthwhile? Well, although none of the titles in this set are new to dvd, two of them have better presentations than their standalone versions. First off, The Quest is available in anamorphic widescreen (the standalone version is non-anamorphic). Secondly, and perhaps even more noteworthy, is the inclusion of an anamorphic widescreen version of Sudden Death. Up until now, the only way to see this underrated gem in widescreen was on laserdisc. Every American dvd release of this has had an atrocious pan and scan transfer. In my opinion, these two presentations make the set a must have.

The only disappointing thing about this release is the presentation for Lionheart -- it's the same "full frame" transfer/stereo sound mix Universal has been using for years. This movie really deserves better. Unfortunately, the fact that they've re-mastered pretty much every other Van Damme movie they own besides this one tells me one thing: don't hold your breath waiting for a better version.

Jean Claude Van Damme. The man who can, among a myriad of other things, punch through a car window without the slightest laceration. The man who can take a bullet to the head and recover in a better frame of mind than before. The man who can defeat Kevin Costner for the most bare butt scenes in his films. Truly a god among men, Van Damme has both entertained and repulsed us for over two decades now.

Suffice it to say that I'm a major Van Damme fan, but what I love even more is saving money with these multi-disc sets! The four films here are spread across two single-sided discs, giving you over six hours of Van Damme doing what he does best - white knuckled, adrenaline pumping action! Oh yeah, and they typically have some semblance of a plot thrown in there somewhere.

HARD TARGET is my personal favorite of the films presented here, both because of its excellent premise lifted from the famous short story "The Most Dangerous Game" and its outstanding cast. Aside from Van Damme, we have the legendary Lance Henriksen and the old oats-hawker himself - Wilford Brimley.

Despite the file compression (two films crammed onto each disc), the films are entirely watchable though the picture quality is a bit below what we typically expect from a DVD. The films generally appear as if you're watching them on cable television, as the picture is a bit grainy with the occasional scratch here and there.

Also of special note is that while all the other films are presented in widescreen, LIONHEART is inexplicably presented here in fullscreen. Not a big problem for me, because while I always prefer widescreen, I certainly don't watch Van Damme films for their cinematography. . .

THE QUEST

Jean Claude Van Damme (who also wrote & directed) and Roger Moore (a former James Bond) star in this surprisingly PG-13 action-adventure film. Not as good as the others in this collection, though.

SUDDEN DEATH

Jean Claude Van Damme stars in this action/suspense thriller from director Peter Hyams ("Timecop"). Powers Booth co-stars. Very well written. Arguably the best film in this collection, along with "Hard Target."

LIONHEART

Inexplicably in fullscreen, this hard hitting actioner stars Jean Claude Van Damme.

HARD TARGET

This John Woo directed action thriller stars Jean Claude Van Damme, Arnold Vosloo (who would later play "The Mummy" & "The Mummy Returns") and Lance Henriksen (a police detective in "The Terminator"). Very good action thriller. My only complaints were that about 20 minutes have been cut from the film AND the graphic shot of a snake biting a villain is too damn gruesome, even for me.

This quadruple feature Van Damme "fight pack" is presented by Universal pictures and features four action flicks(from best downward),Time Cop,The Quest,Hard Target and Street Fighter.Instead of the dreaded double sided disc for these films Universal,thankfully,has placed two films on each disc.All of the films have been transferred nicely,are clear and crisp and they are presented in widescreen format.No extras are available.
"Hard Target"(released Aug/93)concerns the story of a sadistic businessman by the name of Emil Fouchon(Lance Henriksen) and his associate Pik Van Cleaf(Arnold Vosloo).They have been in many locales worldwide where they offer to set up actual hunting expeditions...for humans.They pay off coroners so no questions are asked and hire a local stooge to suss out the people they need;preferably with NO family,usually street people.This time the subject they last hunted HAD a family and now the daughter,Natasha Binder(Yancy Butler),has come looking for her father,a down and out ex vet.She enlists the help of a local unemployed ex vet Chance Boudreaux(Van Damme).At first he isn't interested as he has a job lined up,but when that falls through he agrees to help.Through alot of twist and turns the mystery the two start to uncover gets more bizarre and dangerous until they finally find the truth;and it isn't pretty.Fouchon does everything he can to stop Natasha and Chance and in the finale inside a warehouse filled with Mardi Gras floats and masks,Fouchon finally gets his comeuppance.
A nice story that falls a little flat in execution,but with a solid supporting cast.Henrikson and Vosloo give out some great menacing vibes.I give it a solid three stars.
"Time Cop" concerns the story of Max Walker(Van Damme),a security man who's wife has been killed in an explosion as he leaves for work.One day he is offered a job in a newly created corps of personnel assigned to police time.This is appropriate as he eventually finds his wife's death was not as a result of a robbery but a hit for him.It seems a Senator McComb(Ron Silver)who is on the board over seeing the time police is seeking election as president.To finance his campaign he has enlisted the help of others to go back in time to steal money,such as a gold bullion shipment during the civil war or to make money out of the stock market crash of /29.Walker catches on to his scheme and goes back to stop his various time infractions.At the same time McComb realizes the threat Walker poses(the killing of his wife)and does everything he can to stop him.In the final showdown Walker manages to push McComb into himself,from an earlier time period,and kills him.He then goes back to the day of his wife's murder and manages to save her and his other self.Walker returns through the time portal and to his new life with his wife and a young boy he never had before.
A nice and very intriguing Sci Fi concept and Ron Silver cuts a mean and sadistic figure as Sen.McComb.I give this 3 1/2-4 stars.
"The Quest"(released April/96)is the story of Chris Dubois seen as an old man at the outset.He relates his story in a dissolve to his past in NYC of 1925.Being a deserted child from the streets himself he looks after a coterie of street kids with his job as a street performer;with mime make up walking on stilts.One day he and his charges rob a local thug of some substantial money and the thug comes a calling for it.He is forced to run from him and the police.He stows away on a ship which turns out to be a pirate ship.When they reach the south pacific the ship is attacked and boarded by an English mercenary by the name of Lord Dobbs(Roger Moore).Lord Dobbs in turns sells him to local tribesmen on an island off of Siam(Thailand)who teach him the ways of Muay Thai fighting.When he is ready they enter him in a fight and this is where he again meets Lord Dobbs.Impressed with his skills Dobbs buys him back and enrolls him in a tournament of the best fighters from around the world.Each fighter has a style unique to their training and the country they represent,such as Mongolia,Japan,Germany,Scotland,etc.Dubois faces down all his opponents and just before he fights the last contender,Dobbs tries to make off with the tournament prize;a solid gold dragon.He is caught and sentenced to death.Dubois offers to settle for his freedom instead of the prize.This is accepted and after a harrowing battle,Dubois emerges victorious.
An intriguing plot and story line but which fails to keep a good enough pace consistently throughout.Roger Moore as Dobbs does nice work and the cinematography is excellent.3 1/2 stars.
"Street Fighter"(released Dec/94) concerns the story of the AN(Allied nations)security forces led by Colonel Guile(Van Damme).His United Nations-like forces,complete with blue berets,are up against a local war lord and arms dealer Sagat(Wes Studi)and a crazed man,one self appointed General Bison(Raul Julia)from Shadaloo, who if he doesn't get his billions of dollars worth of ransom,will kill hostages he has taken and hold the AN accountable.Guile enlists the help of two friends Ryu(Byron Mann)and Ken Masters(Damian Chapa)and,working separately,a lady by the name of Chun-Li(Ming-Na Wen),to infiltrate Bison's lair.Through Sagat's domain then into Bison's territory the three manage to throw things off kilter enough so Col.Guile can launch a head on attack at their under ground lair deep in the jungle.The ultimate showdown between Guile and Bison comes and goes and Bison and his hideout are destroyed...or are they?
Based on the old video game Street Fighter 2(which I played alot),the movie is terribly weak in plot.Even though it never takes itself seriously the jokes are more than juvenile.Raul Julia unfortunately was still getting over the effects of food poisoning and looks terribly gaunt in this film.In October of /94 we lost talented Raul when he succumbed to a brain hemorrhage at age 54.The film has a dedication to Raul at the end of the film and it's a shame this was his last film role.I give it 2 1/2 stars.
In conclusion I think this two disc set is a great and cheap way to obtain some of Van Damme's better action films.It's a no extra package of course and "Street Fighter" is the clunker of the pack,but overall you should be pleased with what you see.

All 4 movies are fantastic, I do love them and thank you amazon.com, thats why I love shopping through you amazon.com

Van Damme Four-Set Hard Target/ Lionheart/Sudden Death The Quest
I am a fan on this movies! I enjoy owning them all!

I bought this set for my father for his birthday. The movies come two to a dvd and both are on the front side of the disc. When the dvd turns on, you choose between which film that you would like to see. I appreciate this concept as my father who is a senior citizen can't always read the markings for dvd's that are reversible. He usually ends up watching the wrong movie that way... The movies were both in good condition and he has no trouble watching them...

This DVD set seems to be a test-bed for Universal Pictures, since all four of the included movies (Hard Target, Lionheart, Sudden Death, and The Quest) have NEVER seen a Blu-ray release. So, regardless of what I have to say -- if you want to be able to buy any of these movies in Blu-ray in the future, then buy this set. Period. You can't beat the price, and especially since most other individual DVD print runs of these movies no longer exist. Now that I said that, let's see what we actually get.

HARD TARGET. The first American film directed by John Woo, but still contains his trademark style action choreography and inventive style of violence. Has some great performances from Lance Henriksen and Arnold Vosloo. If you ever want to see a "Director's Cut" of this film which has been rumored over the years, then you need to buy and support this film collection. Maybe Universal will listen finally.
SUDDEN DEATH. (first time in anamorphic widescreen) A very good action/thriller from director Peter Hyams (who also did the well-received Timecop), and co-stars Powers Booth. Defiantly worth the price of the collection as well.
THE QUEST. (first time in anamorphic widescreen)Jean Claude Van Damme (directs for the first and last time) and Roger Moore (James Bond for 12 years) star in this rather simple "martial arts tournament" plot that really never captures the audience like Bloodspoot did, but there are a number of decent fights.
LIONHEART is the weakest film in the bunch, not offering much in the way of action or memorable sequences. Its also the same "Full Frame" version with a stereo mix that you'll see everywhere else. Chances are that you haven't seen it in awhile, so it's still worth watching at least once.

The one major downside is the overall video compression (two films crammed onto one DVD9 disc), and since at least one film on each disc is over 90min, that means they needed to compress the data to make it fit on a single DVD layer. The films are still watchable, and the anamorphic helps, but the picture quality is defiantly slightly degraded compared to a standard DVD release. Still, other than that, its hard to complain since you can't find these movies on DVD individually in stores anymore. I know we all hate buying multiple releases, but if we support this "collection" then I really do feel that Universal may see fit in spending the money on a Blu-Ray master for these films. I wouldn't even mind if they were also in a "collection" like this one. (wink, wink)

Van Damme has some great flics and these are four of them. He has a unique way of fighting and it's great.