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List Price: $9.95 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 55724
Released: March 30, 1999 |
| Our Price: $3.26 |
| Used Price: $0.21 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 6-MAR-2001
Media Type: DVD
Description of Hudson Hawk:
Bruce Willis's awful, 1991 vanity piece is an abuse of audience goodwill and a waste of a good cast and director (Michael Lehmann of Heathers). The story, cowritten by Willis, concerns a cat burglar pressured into stealing precious art, including some from the Vatican. But the script is just a convenience upon which Willis piles his vaguely boorish brand of hip irony, assuming his audience will stay with him every step of the way. Certain, self-congratulatory scenes induce cringing--Willis and Danny Aiello, for instance, sing "Side by Side" (to brassy accompaniment on the soundtrack) every time they're working a job--but the overall effect is more irritating and baffling. Keep a good thought for Willis (an underrated actor better than the summer junk we usually see him in) by checking out his superior work in Pulp Fiction and his small but memorable role in Billy Bathgate. --Tom Keogh
Hudson Hawk Reviews:
Indulge a Movie Star and This is What Happens 
2009-10-29 - Just like Eddie Murphy, Sylvester Stallone and Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis had a niche. It was specific and well-defined and it's name was "Die Hard Movies." Inside the niche he could do no wrong, but this success started him thinking he could do anything and succeed at anything because he was just so darned talented and charming. And Hollywood tends to indulge its successful stars and that's how we wind up in movie theaters with our mouths agape and thinking "Oh no! It's not a dream; this is real and there's nothing I can do about it." When Bruce Willis needed a friend, someone at the studio to sit him down and say "Bruce, this script is a dog. Only one thing comes from dogs and that's exactly what the movie will be. Back away from this script and take a trip to Maui until your next Die Hard movie." But, sadly, no one did say those things and be that friend to Mr. Willis. And we're stuck with the memory of this piece of dreck.
Unfairly maligned spoof! 
2009-10-20 -
A former Cat-Burgler named Eddie "Hudson Hawk" Hawkings(Bruce Willis) has been reabilated and out of prison, he wants to retire from the business. Two bungling billionaires named Darwin (Richard Grant) and Minerva (Sandra Bernhard) hire him to be in Italy so he can steal three Leonardo DiVinci works so they can restore the gold making machine of DiVinci with the help of former buddy (Danny Aiello) but Vatican Art worker/nun (Andie MacDowell) must try to help him and protect DiVinci's works.
Unfairly maglined but entertaining cult action comedy parody of the cat burgular/Spy genre from director Michael Lehmann and screenplay by Die Hard co-writer Steven De Souza is based on a story from Bruce Willlis. This was an attempt to become another Naked Gun or Pink Panther but failed badly at the box-office with some critical panning. The film became a cult favorite over the years with some fans unlike Bill Cosby's horrible "Leonard part 6". The film co-stars James Coburn, this is a clever and fun caper spoof with some laughs like the "Swinging on a Star" sequence.
This DVD Contains a nice transfer with great extras like audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, Trivia Track and Trailers to this and others.
I'll torture you so slowly, you'll think it's a career
2009-10-01 - Bruce Willis was very popular before he made this film, and he was in the enviable position of being able to make any movie he wanted. Why he chose to make Hudson Hawk is a a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma. Whatcha talkin' 'bout, Willis! Hudson Hawk? What hubris!
The film was met with universal disdain, and the mere mention of it was a very effective Bruce Willis put down (Insert joke here. Punchline: Hudson Hawk). Bruce Willis Backlash was in full swing.
I was expecting Hudson Hawk to be terrible, but instead it seemed to be an elaborate joke that nobody else got but me. Of course, there were lots of bad jokes in Hudson Hawk that people got, but weren't very funny to begin with, but they all contributed to the underlying joke. Hudson Hawk was a send up of the whole action film genre. It seemed like Bruce Willis' ego was on a rampage, but really, he was making fun of himself more than anything. Another actor whose pride wenteth before he fell was David Caruso, and his role as Kit Kat would also have to be taken as proof positive that he doesn't really believe his own hype either. [Hands Hudson Hawk a card that reads: I am Kit Kat. You are not dreaming this.]
Bruce Willis explained the name Hudson Hawk thusly: The hawk is a cold wind. The Hudson is the river that seperates New York and New Jersey. I would be very surprised if Bruce Willis wasn't from New Jersey. With Hudson Hawk he was saying, look at me, world, I am just a guy from New Jersey, and now I am a big action film star! Isn't that ludicrous? Aren't I a curious mixture? Sophisticated, but simultaneously uncouth. I'll order a gourmet Italian meal in Rome, but ask the waiter for ketchup. It might be pretentious of me to want a good cappuccino, but I like cappuccino.
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Hudson Hawk: Hey, this doesn't taste like cappuccino.
Anna: Oh. I guess I put too much ethyl chloride in it.
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Michael Lehmann, the highly regarded director of Heathers, soiled his reputation on Hudson Hawk. Danny Aiello, James Coburn, and David Caruso -- especially David Caruso -- were also in on the joke of extreme self parody. Andie MacDowell was none too shabby as a nun, Hudson Hawks' love interest. Sandra Bernhard did a super fantastic job as the villainous villainess Minerva Mayflower.
Hudson Hawk is a curious mixture of action film, parody -- and movie musical? Yes, Bruce Willis and Danny Aiello have actually choreographed their art heists to songs in order to synchronize their actions. No, really! I am not joking.
You won't see the likes of Hudson Hawk ever again. A bomb at the box office; almost a career ender for Willis; and a nightmare for the marketing department -- but for the discerning connoisseur of bizarre films: truly a treasure trove.
Other Roles From the Cast of Hudson Hawk to Compare and Contrast
The Ed Wood Collection - A Salute to Incompetence I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998) Sandra Bernhard was Sandy Sands
The Fifth Element (1997) Bruce Willis was Korben Dallas
... aka Le cinquième élément (France)
Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997) Sandra Bernhard was Ann Glover
12 Monkeys (Special Edition) (1995) Bruce Willis was James Cole
Jade (1995) David Caruso was David Corelli
Pulp Fiction (1994) Bruce Willis was Butch Coolidge
Do the Right Thing (1989) Danny Aiello was Salvatore 'Sal' Fragione
sex, lies, and videotape (1989) Andie MacDowell was Ann Bishop Mullany
Heathers (1988) Directed by Michael Lehmann
The Americanization of Emily (1964) James Coburn was Lt. Cmdr. Paul 'Bus' Cummings
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Darwin Mayflower: I'll torture you so slowly, you'll think it's a career.
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'Hud' isn't a total dud 
2009-06-02 - Cat burglar Hudson Hawk (Bruce Willis) is fresh out of prison and ready to go straight. Forces conspire against him when two kinky art dealers known as Darwin and Minerva Mayflower (Richard E. Grant and Sandra Bernhard), and Kraft (James Coburn), a former C.I.A. operative, recruit him for one last job. The crooks want to get their hands on priceless Da Vinci pieces which contain magic crystals capable of turning any substance into gold. Hudson enlists the help of his best friend Tommy Five Tone (Danny Aiello) to pull off the big score. Along the way he falls for an undercover nun (Andie McDowell), and battles both the Mayflowers and Kraft's operatives. Each of the C.I.A. agents is named after a candy bar so Hudson has to outsmart the dopey Butter Finger and the master of disguise Kit Kat (a silent David Caruso). The script is an interesting mixture of dark humour and action thanks to writers Daniel Waters (Heathers) and Steven DeSouza (Die Hard). The action is all slapstick and played for laughs, right down to the sound effects. In other words over the top. It's kind of charming though. It has all the ingredients of a cult film : embarrassing one liners, character names, cameos, absurd villains. Things don't work as well as you wish but it's a movie like no other. Willis, who came up with the story, is having a ball in his star vehicle. He plays down his tough guy persona and revels in mischievous fun like trying to disrobe a nun. The always likable Aiello is great as Five Tone. Him and Hudson choreograph their robberies to old show tunes and plan everything out according to the song's running time. McDowell is great as the "damsel in a dress" and has plenty of goofy moments of her own. Grant is hilarious as Darwin and Sandra Bernhard is well Sandra Bernhard. Coburn gets to show off his martial arts skills that he learned as a student of Bruce Lee's in the climactic showdown with Hudson. This film re teams director Michael Lehman and writer Daniel Waters for the first time since 'Heathers' and odds are if you are a fan of that film or zany cult films you'll enjoy this one.
Absurd, and terrible. I LOVE IT!
2009-04-19 - Watch this movie expecting something absurd, poorly written, and action packed. This movie doesn't even take itself seriously, it's just corny silly fun. It's quotable, and great.
There are plot holes, confusing plot twists, and dumb dialogue, it is obvious they were re-writing while shooting. Despite all this, and for no good reason, I love this film.
If you find yourself loving films other people hate, give it a shot!
