Hard to Kill is a 1990 Action Thriller film directed by Bruce Malmuth, starring Steven Seagal (as Mason Storm), Kelly LeBrock (as Andy Stewart), William Sadler (as Vernon Trent) and Frederick Coffin (as Kevin O'Malley).
Mason Storm is a Los Angeles police detective who uncovers a high-level web of political corruption and murder. When he finds out too much, corrupt cops of his own force raid his house, killing his wife and critically wounding Storm himself. O'Malley, his friend and one of the few honest cops on the force, manages to fake Storm's death so that the bad guys do not finish the job, and Storm is left comatose. Reawakening from his coma 7 years later, Storm goes on a rampage against the people who ruined his life.
Tropes used in this film:
- And This Is for...: When Storm stabs Axel in his neck with a pool stick and kicks him down to his death saying this:Storm: That's for my wife. Fuck you and die.
- Artistic License – Biology:
- Storm's awakening from a seven-year-long coma had him as being alert and able to speak within a matter of minutes, although in reality, the process could take many months or years. And let's not forget his quickly relearned ability to walk, run and fight...
- Also, he receives a shotgun blasts to the shoulder, which if it didn't outright kill him, in reality would cause permanent disability to the arm, if not a complete severance or an eventual amputation of it due to the nerve damage and/or blood loss. Here, he's only left with a barely noticeable scar.
- Bad Guys Play Pool: Storm interrupts the bad guys after they just started playing.
- Bigger Is Better in Bed: Implied by Andy when she takes a peeks at the comatose Mason under the sheets.Andy: "You've got so much to live for" *lifts his sheets and wriggling her eyebrows suggestively* Please wake up."
- Big "NO!":
- Happens when Storm sees his wife being murdered before his eyes.
- Also done by Vernon when Storm is about to pull the trigger on the shotgun pointing at his balls, missing on purpose.
- Catchphrase: Senator Trent's "you can take that to the bank". His use of the phrase during his public appearances tips Mason off to the fact that Trent was the shadowy figure from his corruption footage.
- Convenient Coma: Part of the premise is that Mason falls into a coma after being fatally shot and wakes up for his Roaring Rampage of Revenge 7 years later.
- Cowboy Cop: Before his coma, Storm had no problem beating the crap out of a bunch of robbers (though it should be noted they literally shot the store clerk to death in front of him and weren't very subtle about their intent to kill him next). Averted after his coma, since he's been believed to be dead for years and no longer has any real authority.
- Cruel Mercy: After roughing up the villain anyway, Mason tells him "Death is far too merciful a fate for you. So what I'm going to do is put you in prison. A nice petite white boy like you in a federal penitentiary... now let me just put it this way: I don't think you'll be able to remain anal-retentive for very long."
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Outside of the attack leaves him in a coma, Storm wins every fight with Seagal's usual sadistic ease.
- Death by Falling Over: Hulland sure did die pretty easily after being briefly choked with his own tie and then dropped on the floor, didn't he?
- Dirty Cop: Most of Mason's co-workers are under Senator Trent's payroll.
- Double Entendre: Nurse Andy asks a comatose Mason if he wants some pussy... then shows him a kitten.
- Dude, She's Like in a Coma: Andy is very affectionate with Mason while he's in coma. One of the other nurses even jokes about him being her boyfriend.
- Faking the Dead: When O'Malley learns that Mason didn't die on the operating table, he ensures that rest of the world believes that he did.
- Gender-Blender Name: Andy, Mason's new Love Interest after he wakes up from the coma.
- Groin Attack: Mason pretends to shoot Trent in the balls, but deliberately misses and quips that they must be smaller than he thought. Then he knees him in the groin anyway.
- HA HA HA—No: After the robber blasts the store merchant with his shotgun:Robber: [laughs manically then gets serious] Now you only got half a mind.
- Heroic Sacrifice: When the bad guys get to O'Malley and Sonny before Storm does, O'Malley holds them off so that Sonny can run away, despite being outgunned and caught in the open. O'Malley dies seconds later.
- Hospital Hottie: Andy, the nurse taking care of Mason during his coma. She becomes his Love Interest after he wakes up.
- Internal Affairs: O'Malley, who as a friend of Mason, is portrayed positively.
- Interrupted Intimacy: Mason and his wife Felicia are attacked by the Dirty Cops while in bed.
- Invincible Hero: As usual for a Seagal movie. Even getting hit twice with a shotgun at close range only manages to put him in a coma — and even that is pretty much the only damage any of the bad guys manage to do in the entire movie before Seagal destroys them.
- Modesty Bed Sheet: Felicia covers herself with on when the Dirty Cops barge in her in naked in bed. It preserves her modesty, but it doesn't protect her from their bullets.
- Ms. Fanservice: Andy, played by Kelly LeBrock, who was also married to Steven Seagal at the time, could also qualify her as a Mrs. Fanservice. Seagal did alright himself for the time, by the way.
- Neck Snap: During a fight with one of the guys that's responsible for killing his wife, Storm finishes him off with a neck snap with the public watching.
- Prepare to Die: A variant. Storm kills Captain Hulland, but not before writing "Anticipation of death is worse than death itself" on his toilet for him to see.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Mason Storm was assumed dead after an attempt on his life by hitmen. And then, seven years later...
- Second Love: Andy is this to Mason, his murdered wife Felicia being the first.
- Sickbed Smuggling: Played with: Andy is a nurse herself who sneaks in a small kitten to a comatose Storm (with the joke being "Would you like a little pussy today?")
- Signature Line: Delivered by Mason to a television appearance of Trent. "I'm gonna take you to the bank, Senator Trent. To the blood bank."
- Sleazy Politician: Senator Vernon Trent, the man who put the hit on Mason, his partner, and his family.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Storm wakes up and is ready to embark on a bloody campaign of revenge! Except he just got out of a seven-year coma and his muscles have severely atrophied, meaning he has to first spend extended time regaining his strength and learning how to stuff as basic as walk again. Granted, he recovers extremely quickly in time for the finale but it's still notable compared to other action films where characters can awaken from comas with barely any side effects at all.
- Toplessness from the Back: Felicia is shot topless from the back when making love with her husband.
- Training Montage: Mason's training after waking up from the coma.
- Would Hurt a Child: The dirty cops have no problem about trying to kill Mason's son, Sonny.
