First of all: as a principle I prefer subtitling to dubbing for Asian movies, but when the subtitles are as bad as they are with my (Universe) version of this movie (bad = illiterate, moving too fast, and completely unreadable against white backgrounds), even the cheesiest dubbing voices would be an improvement! The first 50 minutes of "Hard To Kill" are pretty much a chore to sit through, with almost no martial arts action, just a few boring gunfights, and a "comic relief" local cop who acts like a total buffoon (to the point of wearing a bra!), even after his partner gets killed in the line of fire. Things perk up when Yukari Oshima finally appears, and it is an almost sensual pleasure to see this woman move - her kicks are impressively fast and precise, and she seems to have great gymnastic abilities. The film still remains routine and cheap, but Yukari's and Robin Shou's fight scenes save it from being a total waste. (**)
