Hardball (Video 1997) Poster

(1997 Video)

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4/10
If you enjoyed the first movie, with its mix of action and humor, you'll find more of the same in this sequel.
tarbosh2200014 May 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Jersey and B.B. (Dudikoff and Howard) are back, bounty huntering it up in this sequel. This time around, crime lord Wald (Curtis) is causing all sorts of trouble for our heroic pair. They must dodge his goons - as well as relationship problems - along the way to bringing in their prize catch. Will they succeed? You might be asking yourself, "Wow, there is a sequel to Bounty Hunters? Why? Was the first one such a success?" At least, that's what we were wondering. Like Cage 2, what we get here is more of the same (if you've seen the first one, you know what to expect) - but some minor differences, like this one seems a bit more talky. They've upped the humor quotient, but somehow it's not as funny as the first film. Many of the same people are back, both in front of and behind the camera, so the same sort of silly vibe is maintained.

Tony Curtis is on hand as the main baddie, but he's not really on screen for very much time. The main asset he brings is his distinctive voice. Curtis was starting to pop up in DTV items around this time, see Center Of The Web for a good example. He didn't quite reach the heights of Cameron Mitchell in this department, but he probably could have.

While even in this installment they managed the prerequisite torture scene, and there is a very cool moment involving Michael Dudikoff with a rocket launcher, there are so many unanswered questions lingering from the first movie. Such as: What happened to the rap career of Deimos' butler? And where is Word, Jersey's sassy neighbor kid? But while those may remain the great mysteries of the universe, what's intact is the chemistry between Dudikoff and Howard, which seems to have improved. Had the series continued (or become a TV show), they could have become the action equivalent to Nick and Nora (William Powell and Myrna Loy) from The Thin Man (1934) and its sequels. But then again, it's probably good this didn't happen, because we felt the Bounty Hunters theme had run out of steam by the end of this movie. Perhaps they should have quit while they were ahead.

If you enjoyed the first movie, with its mix of action and humor, you'll find more of the same in this sequel, which honestly probably didn't have to be made, but Dudikoff and Howard look like they're enjoying themselves, so perhaps you will too.
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Pure Escapism, Very Enjoyable
jimadamgolfer12 July 2003
Okay, I admit that I love low-brow films. I don't want to think about what the Director is trying to do. The story is not to be taken seriously and concerns a male and female bounty hunters being pursued by Tony Curtis's mob buddies. There is a heavy emphasis on explosions and thankfully no car chases.

Watch as Lisa Howard, a 135 pound attractive bounty hunter, out fights the 180 pound guys in hand to hand combat, sometimes taking on two at a time. What makes the scene work is that the fights are shot without using tricked up camera work and special effects as seen in most films today. It looked like a real, not a fake fight.

What I really appreciate is that every spoken word can be understood and every scene is well lighted. There is only brief nudity and virtually no profanity. There isn't much in the way of racial diversity. Above average escapism film.
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1/10
Don't be fooled! This movie is nauseating!
Miss_MiChiMi11 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is not worth the time it takes to put it in the VCR or DVD player! Michael Dudikoff and Lisa Howard are two bounty hunters in love, yet they are total opposites. She is ambitious and organized, while he is laid back and totally scatter brained.

In this movie, bad guys are chasing Jersey Bellini (Dudikoff's character). This opens the door to bad Godfather impressions, ludicrous fight scenes, and Tony Curtis playing the most effeminate looking mob boss I have ever seen! The ending has to be the most...unbelievable scene I have seen in a movie in quite some time. I would believe the Terminator, even the Matrix, has a better chance of possibly being true than this ending! This movie just reeks of cheapness. The script had to have hit someone as being totally ridiculous. Yet, the green light was given for this piece of dung to be made and let loose on on unsuspecting public. I watched this movie with several other people who all agreed that we had been cheated. No one in the group could say anything good about the film except that it was over.
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a superior sequel
MichaelM2411 April 2002
HARDBALL is the sequel to BOUNTY HUNTERS, reuniting Michael Dudikoff and Lisa Howard as the title characters. The first one was simply okay, but I felt this film was a far superior movie. This time around, there's a bigger and better addition of humor. The story isn't necessarily better or worse, but it's the just the overall outcome of the film that makes me find it better than BOUNTY HUNTERS. Dudikoff and Howard make a good buddy cop movie-like team and definitely look like they have a good time working together. The action scenes are a bit better done than they were in the first, and the production values were a little better as well. Tony Curtis has a small role as a mob kingpin and brings some class to an otherwise formula B-movie. But it's really the chemistry between Dudikoff and Howard that makes the movie work, and I wouldn't mind seeing a third film provided it could be at least as good as this one.
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Only just watchable
mr_pivac198511 May 2003
This is not such a bad film, the acting is good the story is good, but sadly the budget is a bit low, but other then that its a good watch. Give it a go, see what ya think, im sure you'll be surprized, i would choose to watch this film over (Gladiator) any day.

7/10
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