Review: The first film I ever saw that had Charles Bronson in it was like many "Death Wish" which was a
fantastic revenge film. Now over the past few years I have been seeking out other films he has starred in, now when it comes to "Hard Times" I actually never heard of this one. This is another film that I have came across that I am glad I found it at the age I am now because I can appreciate the film more now than ever before. Now on with the autopsy!
Hard Times is actually a simple film that follows Chaney (Charles Bronson) who is a drifter that stumbles upon an underground fight and decides to become a fighter to make some money. He starts off with a bang and knocks the first man out with a single punch which makes him instantly a desirable fighter that fast talking promoter Speed (James Coburn) who takes him under his wing. That is basically what the plot of the film is with some really intense and rough fight scenes. Now the only problem I have is that I don't know what to classify this film as. It has more of a drama feel with the occasional humor. For example there is a scene where they go out to this one guys place and Chaney beats the guys best fighter and they get bullied out of the money they won, but then it goes to a somewhat humorous scene where they go to a bar where that guy is at and owns and collect their money and Chaney is kinda funny how he does it. Watch the film and you'll get what I mean.
The three main actors in Hard Times was very well selected and each of them work well together. The actors that I am talking about are Charles Bronson who always plays his characters greatly even in his cheesier films like Death Wish 4, James Coburn who I lived in his "Flint" films and he does a fantastic job as the fast talking promoter, and last but not least of the three is Strother Martin who plays as Poe is great as the in between guy who balances out the film. The rest of the cast is great as well, but these three stood out to me the most and that could be because of their personalities on screen. Also this ranks up there as one of my favorite performances from Charles Bronson!
Overall this was a very good film that is well played out and is simply entertaining. The presentation on this release is in my eyes flawless. The picture quality is excellent and clear. The picture quality is what I have came to expect for the releases from Twilight Time releases. The audio is great as well and works well on their your surround sound system and even just through your TV as well. The special features on this release are an isolated score track and the original theatrical trailer.
-Daniel "Damnation" Lee
Director: Walter Hill
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Blu-Ray Release Year: 2013
Theatrical Release Year: 1975
Time Length: 94 mins.
Company: Twilight Time
Website:
www.screenarchives.com
ADDITIONAL SCREENSHOTS:
Review: The first film I ever saw that had Charles Bronson in it was like many "Death Wish" which was a 
