I have a great collection of movies which does not include this. You don't watch this for entertainment purpose. Lethargic is what this is! Nothing is exciting here. The acting, except that of Vivica Fox is way down par. The fight scenes are contrived and practically lacks the crispness and snap of action that is seen in Universal Soldier and Hard Target. Such waste!

An Army veteran assembles a team of bodyguards to protect a former boxer. Complications arise when the boxer suspects his sister may be romantically involved with the bodyguard. You've pretty much know what to expect and you've seen this type of plot in other movies over the years for sure but 'The Hard Corps' is a fun and watchable action flick with Jean Claude Van Damme as an Ex-Soldier who fights his own personal demons but also tries to protect this boxer and his family. The action was also pretty good and the acting not bad either. (7.4/10)

I have to admit that around Maximum Risk and Knockoff (late 90's era JCVD), Jean-Claude lost me. I found no enjoyment in either of those films, and while I absolutely loved Double Team (1997), anything after went straight to home video, which usually means low-quality films, and that's just never a good sign. I did try a few of his films here and there, but I could never sit through one completely. They just weren't any good. So I pretty much strayed from him films until 2008's JCVD. But even then, with his career seemingly at a resurgence, nothing that came after that was any good either. In fact, the only thing I actually liked from him in the last 20 years is easily the Amazon show pilot for Van Johnson, where he was just absolutely brilliant. I haven't heard anything new about it yet, but I do hope it gets picked up for a series.Philippe Savauge (JCVD), an army vet suffering from PTSD, is hired as a bodyguard for local boxing champ Wayne Barclay (Razaaq Adoti). When a local drug kingpin, Terrell Singletery (Viv Leacock) is released from a prison stint, he sets his sights on exacting revenge on Barclay from a long-running feud. Savauge soon realizes he has his work cut out for him and things get even more complicated when it seems like Barclay's sister and manager Tamara (Vivica A. Fox) might have a thing for Savauge. The Hard Corpse reunites Van Damme with his Lionheart and Double Impact writer/director Sheldon Lettich, and honestly, that was the only selling point for me to actually make the effort to watch this. Sure it had been many, many years since either of them had a hit, but I went in hopeful. And you know, it wasn't bad. Not at all the kind of film I was expecting, but it wasn't terrible either. It was shockingly able to keep my attention even though it ultimately ended up being the kind of film that I don't necessarily seek out. And after having seen it, it's not a film I will probably ever watch again and won't go down as one of Jean-Claude's better films.There's really not much motivation for you to actually check this out, unless you're a die hard completest of JCVD films. There's really not a lot of action, and you only ever see him use his martial arts skills during one scene in the film. Even then, it comes across so "blah". You'd never know these two (Lettich and Van Damme) were the same team behind some of his earlier classics like Bloodsport, Lionheart and Double Impact (a personal favorite). But still, it's not a bad film. Just not a good or enjoyable one. Sheldon Lettich, while one of the few who spearheaded the whole martial arts/action movement in the late 80's to early 90's has clearly lost his mojo by this film. While he would only ever direct 8 films in his career, this would be his last. What makes the experience more trying is that Van Damme just looks so tired and uninterested here. He literally looks like he couldn't give a damn anymore than he already does and comes across as completely bored and unmotivated. Sad day indeed. Not one of his worst, but you can certainly find a better way to spend an hour and a half of your time. www.robotGEEKSCultCinema.blogspot.com

This is one of Van Damme's most different movies up to date. Why? Because for those who are his crazy fans for "action and adventure" types, it does not fulfill their expectancies. Since my childhood I have been growing up watching his tough and unique action flicks. But still then I will rate this movie above average. Yes, before buying the CD I highly expected of getting entertained. But it did not score as expected. Here Van Damme plays Phillip Sauvage, an American soldier who suffers from stress disorder caused after his operation against Iraq and Afghanistan. But its shown only in the starting time, and later on sometime as sparking off his memory. His role later on turns out as a bodyguard for boxing champion Barclay, whom he even competes in boxing.Anyway The Hard Corps may not be a typical Van Damme movie, but here he proved that the word 'action' can be converted to 'acting skill' by his cool natural and real-like performances. By this he moves one step higher to his acting career. The movie has its maturity, standard and quality. But very disappointing issue is that, the whole focus in the movie mainly goes to Razaaq Adoti (as Wayne Barclay) rather than Van Damme. And this is the minus point of the movie, as it disappoints huge Van Damme fans.Boxing is a common element almost in every Van Damme's flicks and the same is involved here too. He is an ex-American soldier but dares to compete with a world heavyweight boxing champion, Barclay. This is Sheldon Lettich's fifth directorial venture with Van Damme which is another source of attraction. Its so because after watching his previous four hits everyone would certainly pick up the fifth one. And I did it too in my case. Ultimately, its a slow and decelerating movie but still neither a bad nor worthless to watch.