Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball (1997)

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

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.

This is a bit better, then the enjoyable 1st, with great humor, better action scenes, and fantastic chemistry between Dudikoff and Lisa Howard once again!. All the characters are cool, and the story is good, plus Michael Dudikoff is simply amazing in this!. While it has a similar story, i just found this one a little more enjoyable, and all the great humor from the 1st is even better in this installment!, plus the finale is really exciting!. Once again Dudikoff gets a decent script!, and he has some great lines as well, plus while Tony Curtis added class to this he was slumming it badly and looked really bored.The villains are just as cool, and Duidkoff's and Lisa Howard's constant bickering just adds charm to the film, plus it had some pretty good fight scenes as well. Plenty of explosions and great comic timing from the 2 leads to keep one happy, and like the 1st it's well written and made as well,however like the 1st it's extremely predictable, but i did love the western theme opening!. This a bit better then the enjoyable 1st, with great humor, better action scenes and fantastic chemistry between Dudikoff and Lisa Howard once again, and i say it's well worth the watch!. The Direction is good. George Erschbamer does a good job here, with decent camera work, solid angles and keeping the film at a fast pace. The Acting is very good!.Michael Dudikoff is amazing as always, and is amazing here, he is hilarious, very likable, had fantastic chemistry with Lisa Howard, had some good charm, kicked that ass, and really seemed to be enjoying himself(Dudikoff Rules!!!). Lisa Howard is way hot and is excellent once again, and while she did get on my nerves for being a bitch to Dudikoff in the 1st half, i couldn't help but still like her, she has a lot of presence, and her bickering with Dudikoff was always entertaining, i loved her. Tony Curtis is not very good here, he looked very bored and is slumming it clearly, he did add class though. Steve Bacic is good as the other villain and was somewhat menacing. Rest of the cast do fine. Overall well worth the watch!. *** out of 5

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.

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.