Product Details

• Actors: Wesley Snipes, Jackie Quinones, Cybill Shepherd, James Hiroyuki Liao, Luis Guzmán
• Directors: Mario Van Peebles
• Writers: Mario Van Peebles, Larry Brand
• Producers: Brad Wyman, Donald Kushner, G. Marq Roswell, Karen Williams, Larry Brand
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Portuguese (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Mandarin Chinese, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: October 17, 2006
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000HEVZ80
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,602 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Hard Luck (Widescreen Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Wesley Snipes (Blade) is 'Lucky,' an infamous ex-con whose road to redemption is about to take some very unlucky turns. Against his own better judgment he agrees to celebrate a gangster's birthday, which turns out to be a setup that catapults Lucky back into a frenzied game of cat and mouse between him and a band of dirty cops. In no time, Lucky steals millions of dollars, kidnaps a hot-tempered pole dancer, and finds himself on an explosive and bizarre collision course with the police, the hitmen and a pair of sadistic serial killers!

Filmmaker Mario Van Peebles (Baadasssss!) and three-time Golden Globe® Award winner Cybill Shepherd join the cast in this pulpy, fast-paced action-thriller about three seemingly disparate stories which converge in an explosive climax that will push everybody's luck to the limits.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars what are these people talking about?, April 19, 2007

By 

N. Chandran "vpcnk" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hard Luck (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)

yeah, it is not the greatest thriller i have ever seen - but it does a respectable job of keeping the viewer engrossed.

the plot is not as confusing as it is made out to be - pretty straight forward imo - except for some complexity as to who is involved in the drug deal setup - but that's only a side plot which does not have too much of a bearing on the main plot.

snipes has not lost it yet and is still the cool action cat, his latino partner shows potential and will shine brighter in the movies to come and cybil sheperd in a memorable role as a psychotic torturer.

and mario van peebles has an eye for color - striking sets, scenes and photography.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay but passable, June 16, 2007

By 

BernardZ (Melbourne, vic Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hard Luck (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)

The story itself is weak and in parts, it does come together. While watching I thought it is just a copy of "pulp fiction" complete with psycho.

The acting is okay. Snipes is about the best and at least his character has some character.

The filming is good.

If you have an hour or two to kill it is okay.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another good'un from Wesley & Others, August 12, 2008

By 

Siriam (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hard Luck (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)

I must admit any time I see a Wesley Snipes movie on DVD I am a buyer, simply because the guy has great screen presence (I still see him as the best black actor in the general Clint Eastwood/Bruce Willis type roles zone) and usually (with admittedly a few notable exceptions) he avoids appearing in too many turkeys!

Snipes as usual does not disappoint in this 2006 offering, with a well balanced acting role of "Lucky", a gangster ("hell I probably killed more blacks than the Klu Klux Klan!") trying to go straight despite life's hardships, as shown in an amazing opening sequence using the New Orleans floods as a backdrop, with overall the right balance between acting and action (think the earlier "The Art of War").

This film also has several additional features to recommend it, being:

The reuniting with Mario van Peebles from "New Jack City" who in the director seat, co writer and pushy "good" cop acting roles creates a neat follow on movie with Wesley.
Well structured interlocking stories of the pushy cop and struggling reformed gangster under 1. running parallel with an odd couple of Cybill Shepherd (in full on embittered "crazy mama" role) and her martial arts toy boy (James Liao) who kidnap and torture people in their upstate farm; a group of "dirty cops" who having failed in a sting targeting Wesley that went wrong need to recover their stolen money; and a loser boxer and his girlfriend who get kidnapped by the odd couple (the deleted scenes included in the DVD serve to reinstate the intended build up of this specific story which was clearly cut for general release purposes).
Several great other supporting actors and roles including especially Jacquelyn Quinones as a volatile Hispanic pole dancer Wesley has to "kidnap" to escape the sting and who brings an earthy reality to the role that brings it alive, plus a memorable over the top special appearance by Luis Guzman as a hoodlum porn film producer.
An effective soundtrack by Tree Adams that maybe because I listened to the movie on stereo headphones seemed to underpin the story line a lot better than most other soundtracks (a comment also made by Van Peebles in his "Behind the scenes" interview included)
A great feel for location and image through the cinematography and art direction between upstate countryside and lower NYC.

I came pretty close to considering a "5 stars" given all the above but fear the level of deriving from others (especially several shades of Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction") plus the Hollywood ending defeated that accolade!