Hard to Kill

Last updated
Hard to Kill
Hard To Kill.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Bruce Malmuth
Written bySteven McKay
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Matthew F. Leonetti
Edited by John F. Link
Music by David Michael Frank
Production
company
Lee Rich Productions
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • February 9, 1990 (1990-02-09)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$11.5 million [1]
Box office$59.3 million [2]

Hard to Kill is a 1990 American vigilante action-thriller film directed by Bruce Malmuth, starring Steven Seagal, Kelly LeBrock, William Sadler and Frederick Coffin. Seagal's second film after Above the Law , he portrays Mason Storm, a detective who falls into a coma after being shot during a home invasion that killed his wife. Reawakening seven years later, Storm embarks on a journey to avenge the death of his wife, and expose the corruption of Senator Vernon Trent, the man who ordered the murder of his family. The film was released on February 9, 1990, and grossed $59 million.

Contents

Plot

In 1983, Mason Storm (Steven Seagal), a Los Angeles police internal affairs detective investigates a mob meeting that takes place by a pier. He records a shadowy figure who assures the mob they can rely on his political support. Mason is spotted, but escapes. Unaware that he is monitored by corrupt cops, Mason informs his partner, Becker, and his friend Lt. O’Malley that he has evidence of corruption.

Mason hides the videotape in his house. When he goes upstairs, a hit squad composed of corrupt policemen, including Jack Axel and Max Quentero, break in and proceed to murder Mason's wife and shoot him. Mason's young son, Sonny, escapes out of a window. The corrupt policemen frame Mason, making it look like a murder-suicide. At the same time, assassins kill Mason's partner. Later at the hospital, Mason is first pronounced dead, but is then discovered to be alive, although in a coma. To prevent the assassins from finishing the job, Lieutenant O'Malley tells the medics to keep Mason's status a secret.

Seven years later, Mason wakes from his coma. Andy Stewart (Kelly LeBrock), one of his nurses, makes a phone call, which is intercepted by corrupt police officers. They send Axel to finish the job and kill the nurses to whom Mason might have talked. Mason realizes that he is still in danger, but his muscles have atrophied to where he can barely move. He manages to get to an elevator, and when Andy sees her co-workers killed, she helps Mason escape.

Needing time to recuperate, Andy takes Mason to a friend's house, where Mason uses his knowledge of acupuncture, moxibustion and other meditation techniques to recover his strength. While training, Mason hears a commercial for Senator Vernon Trent and recognizes the voice from the pier. Mason contacts O'Malley, who supplies him with weapons and tells him that his son is still alive. O'Malley adopted Sonny and sent him to a private school so that he would be out of danger. He arranges to meet O'Malley and his now-teenage son at a train station later. After O'Malley leaves, Senator Trent's men find the house and attempt to kill Andy and Mason, but they both manage to escape.

Posing as a real estate agent, Mason recovers the hidden videotape from his old house. O'Malley and Sonny arrive at the train station, but are confronted by some of the Senator's men. Sonny flees with the tape, but O'Malley is killed. When Mason arrives, he sees Sonny running away from Quentero and Nolan. Mason catches up with the men and subdues Nolan by breaking his leg and throwing him in a trash bin. He then beats up Quentero and recognizes him as one of the men who took part in the assault on Mason's home. Mason proceeds to snap Quentero's neck, killing him. After a brief reunion with his son, Mason goes after Senator Trent.

Mason sneaks into the Senator's mansion and manages to eliminate his men one by one. Mason fights with Axel in the billiard room and avenges his wife by jamming a broken pool cue into Axel's neck, killing him. Next, Mason leaves a death taunt to Capt. Hulland, another corrupt cop who betrayed Mason to Trent, and stalks Hulland through the house before cornering the corrupt captain near the fireplace. Mason then strangles Hulland with his necktie and breaks his neck, killing him as well. Mason finally confronts Senator Trent and holds him at gunpoint when the police storm the mansion. However, they reveal that they had already seen the film and knew that Mason was set up. Trent is arrested, and Mason is reunited with Andy and his son as the footage from the videotape is played on the news, showing that Trent making a deal with the underworld mob and coming out of the shadows.

Cast

Reception

Box office

Hard to Kill debuted at number 1 at the U.S. box office with an opening weekend gross of $9.2 million, [3] [4] the biggest 3-day February opening at the time. [5] It eventually grossed $47.4 million in the United States and Canada and $59 million total box office worldwide [3] [6]

Critical response

It holds a 33% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 15 reviews; the average rating is 4.1/10. [7] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. [8] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly rated it a letter grade of D− and called Seagal as generic an actor as the film. [9] In describing the film as "a lively one for its genre", Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Seagal is effective for both his novelty value and his ability to be both literally and figuratively disarming." [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Seagal</span> American actor, martial artist, and filmmaker (born 1952)

Steven Frederic Seagal is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan where he became the first American to teach in an aikido dojo. He later moved to Los Angeles where he continued teaching aikido. In 1988, Seagal made his acting debut in Above the Law, which is regarded as the first American film to feature aikido in fight sequences. He has appeared in over 50 films.

<i>Above the Law</i> (1988 film) 1988 action film by Andrew Davis

Above the Law, also known as Nico: Above the Law, or simply Nico, is a 1988 American crime action thriller film co-written, co-produced and directed by Andrew Davis. It marked the film debut of Steven Seagal, who also produced the film alongside Davis, and stars Seagal alongside Pam Grier, Sharon Stone, Ron Dean and Henry Silva. Seagal plays Nico Toscani, an ex-CIA agent, Aikido specialist and a Chicago policeman who discovers a conspiracy upon investigating the mysterious shipment of military explosives seized from a narcotics dealer.

<i>Marked for Death</i> 1990 action film directed by Dwight H. Little

Marked for Death is a 1990 American action film directed by Dwight H. Little. The film stars Steven Seagal as John Hatcher, a former DEA troubleshooter who returns to his Illinois hometown to find it taken over by a posse of vicious Jamaican drug dealers led by Screwface. Using a combination of fear and Obeah, a Jamaican syncretic religion of West African and Caribbean origin similar to Haitian vodou and Santería, Screwface rules the drug trade in Lincoln Heights.

<i>Under Siege</i> 1992 film by Andrew Davis

Under Siege is a 1992 action thriller film directed by Andrew Davis from a screenplay by J. F. Lawton. It stars Steven Seagal, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey, and Erika Eleniak. Seagal plays Casey Ryback, a former Navy SEAL, who must fend off a group of mercenaries after they commandeer the U.S. Navy battleship Missouri.

<i>Out for Justice</i> 1991 film directed by John Flynn

Out for Justice is a 1991 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by John Flynn and co-produced by and starring Steven Seagal as Gino Felino, a veteran police detective who sets out to avenge his partner Bobby's murder by killing Richie, the trigger-happy, drug-addicted mafioso culprit. The film was released theatrically on April 12, 1991.

<i>The Glimmer Man</i> 1996 American film

The Glimmer Man is a 1996 American buddy-cop action comedy film directed by John Gray and produced by Steven Seagal. The film stars Seagal, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Bob Gunton, and Brian Cox. The film was released in the United States on October 4, 1996.

<i>Exit Wounds</i> 2001 film by Andrzej Bartkowiak

Exit Wounds is a 2001 American action film directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, produced by Joel Silver, and starring Steven Seagal, DMX, Isaiah Washington, Anthony Anderson, Michael Jai White, Bill Duke, Tom Arnold and Jill Hennessy. Seagal plays Orin Boyd, a Detroit police detective notorious for pushing the limits of the law in his quest for justice. The screenplay is based on a novel of the same name by John Westermann.

<i>Half Past Dead</i> 2002 American action movie by Don Michael Paul

Half Past Dead is a 2002 American action film written and directed by Don Michael Paul in his directorial debut. The film was produced by Elie Samaha, Andrew Stevens, and Steven Seagal, who also starred in the lead role. The film co-stars Morris Chestnut, Ja Rule, Tony Plana, Kurupt, and Nia Peeples. It tells the story of a criminal who infiltrates a prison to interrogate a prisoner about the location of a fortune in gold while an undercover FBI agent has to stop him. Distribution and copyrights were held by Columbia Pictures. Half Past Dead was released in the United States on November 15, 2002, by Screen Gems. The film garnered negative reviews from critics, and only grossed $19 million worldwide against its $25 million production budget. Half Past Dead was Steven Seagal's last widely released film before he shifted to several direct-to-video films in many years until 2010.

<i>Beverly Hills Cop</i> 1984 film directed by Martin Brest

Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Martin Brest, with a screenplay by Daniel Petrie Jr., and story by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr. It stars Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit detective who visits Beverly Hills, California, to solve the murder of his best friend. Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Ronny Cox, Lisa Eilbacher, Steven Berkoff, Paul Reiser, and Jonathan Banks appear in supporting roles.

<i>Beverly Hills Cop II</i> 1987 buddy cop film directed by Tony Scott

Beverly Hills Cop II is a 1987 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Tony Scott, written by Larry Ferguson and Warren Skaaren, and starring Eddie Murphy. It is the sequel to the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop and the second installment in the Beverly Hills Cop film series. Murphy returns as Detroit police detective Axel Foley, who reunites with Beverly Hills detectives Billy Rosewood and John Taggart to stop a criminal organization after Captain Andrew Bogomil is shot and seriously wounded.

<i>Sin City</i> (film) 2005 American crime thriller film

Sin City is a 2005 American neo-noir crime anthology film directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller based on Miller's comic book series of the same name. The film stars an ensemble cast led by Jessica Alba, Benicio del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, and Elijah Wood, and featuring Alexis Bledel, Powers Boothe, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rosario Dawson, Devon Aoki, Carla Gugino, Rutger Hauer, Jaime King, Michael Madsen, Nick Stahl, and Makenzie Vega among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly LeBrock</span> British actress and model (born 1960)

Kelly LeBrock(born March 24, 1960) is American-English actress and model. Her acting debut was in The Woman in Red (1984), alongside Gene Wilder. She also starred in the John Hughes film Weird Science (1985), and in Hard to Kill (1990), opposite her then-husband Steven Seagal.

<i>Street Kings</i> 2008 action thriller film directed by David Ayer

Street Kings is a 2008 American action thriller film directed by David Ayer, and starring Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, Common and The Game. The initial screenplay drafts were written by James Ellroy in the late 1990s under the title The Night Watchman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Boone Junior</span> American actor (born 1955)

Mark Boone Junior is an American character actor, best known for his TV roles as Bobby Munson in Sons of Anarchy (2008–2014) and Patrick "Pat" Brown in Last Man On Earth, and film roles in Christopher Nolan's Memento (2000) and Batman Begins (2005), Die Hard 2 (1990), and 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003).

<i>Renegades</i> (1989 film) 1989 film by Jack Sholder

Renegades is a 1989 American action crime film directed by Jack Sholder and starring Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips and Jami Gertz. It was released on June 2, 1989, by Universal Pictures.

<i>Machete</i> (2010 film) 2010 film by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis

Machete is a 2010 American exploitation action film directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis. The film is an expansion of a fake trailer of the same name published as a part of the promotion of Rodriguez's and Quentin Tarantino's 2007 Grindhouse double-feature. Machete continues the B movie and exploitation style of Grindhouse, and includes some of the footage from the original.

<i>Kill Switch</i> (2008 film) 2008 action film starring Steven Seagal

Kill Switch is a 2008 action film starring Steven Seagal and directed by Jeff F. King. Steven Seagal plays Detective Jacob King, a tough cop with a reputation for violent street-justice methods. King investigates murders in Memphis, Tennessee, perpetrated by a serial killer known as Lazerus. The film is also notable for featuring one of the last roles of Isaac Hayes.

<i>Hear No Evil</i> (1993 film) 1993 American film

Hear No Evil is a 1993 American thriller film directed by Robert Greenwald, starring Marlee Matlin, D. B. Sweeney and Martin Sheen. It was released by 20th Century Fox on March 26, 1993. Matlin and Sheen would later co-star on the television series The West Wing.

<i>Mara Maru</i> 1952 film by Gordon Douglas

Mara Maru is a 1952 American noir action film starring Errol Flynn, Ruth Roman and Raymond Burr. Directed by Gordon Douglas, it was the last movie Flynn made for Warner Bros where he had started out in Hollywood in 1935.

<i>Superfly</i> (2018 film) Film by Director X

Superfly is a 2018 American action crime thriller film and a remake of the 1972 blaxploitation film Super Fly. The film was directed by Director X, written by Alex Tse and stars Trevor Jackson, Jason Mitchell, Michael K. Williams, Lex Scott Davis, and Jennifer Morrison. Rapper Future produced alongside Joel Silver, as well as writing the film's original songs.

References

  1. ↑ "AFI|Catalog".
  2. ↑ "Hard to Kill ()".
  3. 1 2 "Hard to Kill". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  4. ↑ Broeske, Pat H. (1990-02-13). "WEEKEND BOX OFFICE 'Kill' Opens Big; 'Cannons,' 'Stanley' Fade". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2010-11-28.
  5. ↑ McBride, Joseph (February 13, 1990). "'Hard' Heads B.O. With $9.2 Mil". Daily Variety . p. 1.
  6. ↑ "Hard to Kill ()". www.jpbox-office.com. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  7. ↑ "Hard to Kill (1990)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  8. ↑ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ "Hard to Kill". Entertainment Weekly . 1990-02-23. Archived from the original on 2010-12-17. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  10. ↑ Maslin, Janet (1990-02-10). "Review/Film; Out of a Coma, Still Dapper and Disarming". The New York Times . Retrieved 2010-12-14.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.