Why was JCVD such a big deal? Because the guy was magic, plain and simple. If you watched Bloodsport at a young age, then you know exactly what I mean.
True mate but it was No retreat no surrender that caught my attention at first and I thought wow I've not seen anyone do kicks and splits to such perfection 👌
God looking, with a well trained body and a unique kicking style and with his a art of Beaty, signature helicopter kick. Something in between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris. Whiter then Bruce Lee and more well rounded then Chuck Norris ( in terms of screen charisma and fighting abilities ) He filled perfect the vacuum after the sudden death of Bruce Lee, as the great white hope ( for Hollywood ) Think Van Damme came in the Golden Age of martial Arts movies, this was 16:59 in the early 80 tis and 90 tis, for his Hollywood career. Young enough to left his kicking prints in the film Cinema. Nobody can take this from him away.
I actually saw Kickboxer first, then Bloodsport, but I know exactly what you mean. The fact that I was 8 watching R18+ movies is testament to the fact that our generation of parents knew what was good, inspirational content for us kids to consume.
JCVD did have a franchise film, Universal Soldier. Now nothing like the Terminator or Rambo franchises, but you just hoped there was another sequel coming. His movies were always so good with the fight choreography, and his kicks were FANTASTIC!!! Love this guy
Out of all the action stars of the 80's and 90's, I can say for me that no one could touch JCVD. Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Lionheart. Classic movies still to this day. He had the looks, the moves, and the charisma that the others just didn't have. He could also be funny. He had it all.
I agree with everything you said but there is one movie that he has done that is overlooked I think and that is Hard Target always loved that one. He looked so cool and the physique with a mullet and absolutely brutal bad guys and cheesy oneliners
@@jojjeoskarsson784 yeah Hard Target is great film, loved that reverse sweep he did when he was fighting the thugs outside the Cafe. Also loved Double impact, I thought Alex looked so cool but LIONHEART was my favourite JCVD film, they just don't make films like that those anymore.
@@mauricebrocklehurst2358 Never understood why double impact or lionheart didnt make much money at the box office if it was bad marketing or didnt get releases at most movie theaters
On my first date with my Mrs I found out she loved Van Damme and had all his films recorded on VHS from back in the 90s. We've been together 12 years now.
I got to meet Bolo Yeung at a convention last year in person, got his autograph, picture, a handshake and even briefly talked to him. He did Bloodsport and Double Impact with Van Damme. I saw them both in the movie theater when I was a kid. Over thirty years later, I got meet Bolo. He’s shorter than I thought but still in good shape for his age. A cool guy. A true legend. 😃
I think with Van Damme he was an athlete and the camera liked him, but he was also actually serious about putting forward an inspirational message to "be good through martial arts" in his movies. That's an old motif in martial arts cinema where the hero is a "good guy", and he continued it. He was basically a good boy. In his private life maybe he liked a bit of sniff and crossed a few lines but they weren't ethical issues. He might be a little jaded now, but I think he genuinely believed in imparting some kind of positive impression to young people. That's quite alien in the cynical world of today, and a world apart from some invincible/special forces image. He was more like a Harrison Ford or Kurt Russell of fun martial arts cinema - an everyman hero.
JCVD was such an inspiration for me as a kid. I loved all his movies. Personally I have a soft spot for his movie The Quest, it was like the true street fighter experience. There is no martial art movie that did that and I’m still waiting for someone to make a martial art epic.
I seen No retreat no Surrender, Bloodsport, Cyborg, Kickboxer, Double Impact, Death warrant, Lionheart, Hard Target, No where to run, Time Cop at the movies most at the old Time square and went back many times to watch it again it was great, I remember a triple feature Bloodsport, Above the Law, Lock up, it was awesome.
@@JoeBuck207 I watch No Retreat at least once a year. it is my favorite Van Damme movie for some reason... I remember seeing the preview for Time Cop at the movie theater, I was like "Holy sh it, that looks awesome!"
Why was Jean Claude such a big deal? I'll tell you why, he took the splits to a whole new level his kicks were out of this world and his screen presence and charisma was top notch 👌
@@Robd07 he's been through the fame life, he's been to the party's he's been on the talk shows, maybe it's just got old and he's decided to quietened down a bit because he's already been there and done it.
You mentioned in one of your videos that JCVD made a movie called The Bouncer and it was good. I took your word for it and watched it today. Fantastic movie which shows when Van Damme gets a good script he can kill it. Thanks for the recommendation. 👍🏼
JCVD was a big part of my childhood i mean i loved alot of his films. The guy was great imo 1 of the best. These are my top 10 JCVD films - 1.BloodSport 2.Kickboxer 3.Lionheart 4.Double Impact 5.Cyborg 6.Hard Target 7.Sudden Death 8.The Quest 9. Death Warrant 10.Universal Soldier
JCVD is one of the best action stars ever he had the Charisma skills and he was the overall total Package. He did some of the best action movies ever 👊👊💪💪🆒🆒
15:20 Nope. That helicopter kick brought EVERYONE back for one reason or another. So did the splits. He is world famous for the splits and that kick more than most anything else.
Great point about the scores. They're crazy important to movies; they're meant to carry the emotion of the scenes, particular scenes with little dialog. JCVD's early flicks had some of the best soundtracks, especially Bloodsport. From like the beginning of the movie nearly every track is a variation of the final theme when he fights Chong Li. Props to Paul Hertzog, it's literally one of my favorite movie soundtracks of all time.
@@VikingSamurai 😳.....🤯.....mind blown. The Bloodsport soundtrack is beyond gold! Bloodsport is one of those movies where the movie and music are in absolute perfection working together to create magic. Like Morricone/Leone did with 'Once upon a time in the west'.....magic.
Growing up in the 80's 90's Van Damme inspired us to keep in shape and train. I really miss the days going to the vidio shop to rent a VHS movie , the choices we had to make were so important, these days you can put a movie on and after 5 minutes get bored and switch to something else. This is why I think these actors were such a big deal because we showed loyalty to there movies.
I miss the days of video stores also: when Friday rolled around it was video rental time. LOL.Or Saturday afternoon.The 90s were a grand time for movies,tv shows and music.
Greetings Viking, another great podcast! Van Damme brings back great memories for me! I;m talking about the 'Blockbuster' days of course! Lol! I loved those Friday nights (it was ALWAYS a Friday!) when a bunch of us lads would raid the Blockbuster video stores for the latest action movies, a Van Damme movie would be amongst them! We would buy copious amounts of KFC, cokes & spend Friday evening right up to early Saturday morning gorging on KFC and action movies! Great days bro! Love & respect, from the UK brother.
Hear me out on this and I would love to get your thoughts. What made Rocky and Bloodsport lighting in a bottle is music. Don’t get me wrong, the passion, the action is unmatched but music what lingered on after the movie and as soon as we hear “Fight to Survive” or “Gonna Fly Now” it takes me right back to the movie scenes from those movies. To answer your question about the Quest, I think had they had a killer music score it would have elevated the fight scenes significantly, it certainly did with Lionheart. Update: I wrote this and then you guys started talking about the score. So on point!
"Same matter cannot occupy the same space. Huh I'm still kicking I must be on Broadway." (Max Walker - JCVD) Ironically Timecop was the very first Van Damme movie I ever saw in a darkened Cinema Theatre.
JCVD has such a good heart. He loves his supporters and has always acknowledged how blessed he is to be in his position. He has truly inspired so many of us... FUN JCVD FACT ** The commercial he did with Volvo Semi trucks the splits he did while the trucks were moving.. in 1 take. ... The man is a perfectionist.
Van Damme was the first action star, since Bruce Lee, that brought muscles and athleticism to the silver screen in a way that you could only previously observe by watching cartoons like Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends or ThunderCats, etc. It was like watching a live action superhero! I remember having conversations with other kids where we described Van Damme as the Bruce Lee of the 80s, only better. Between his flexibility and the ballet training, he had an uncommon grace about his movements that made him very interesting to watch, with a dexterity that no one had seen before, as depicted in the gym scene in Bloodsport where he was kicking the speed bag with his feet using spin kicks! SPIN KICKS, REALLY? LIKE WHAT?! That was next level in American action cinema!!! This expression on the screen is what caused me to rank him even higher than Schwarzenegger and Stallone. Jean Claude made everyone else look like a mamas boy. He had an unusual name, unusually great flexibility and athleticism, combined with one of the best physiques ever, magnetic charisma and all these factors made him a Pop Culture King! It was almost unbelievable that someone like him actually existed and could bring all of those different elements together to create such a great package!
@@legionnaires 😂 Yeah, when Jean Claude was drunk! I wouldn't want that story out if I were Zito. 🤣 JC had a good 40-50 pounds on Lee - He would've sent Lee to the grave he's in now if the Triads already hadn't!
I feel you Viking, I remember some kids calling Rocky the trainer from seeing the Creed movies. It's like man all that Rocky went through over the years and these kids completely missed it and just think of him as Creed's trainer lol.
i saw every Van Damme movie in theaters after Lionheart. Lionheart was my first theatrical Van Damme movie and is my favorite. Those movies were a wonderful bonding experience with my dad. I'll forever be grateful for that. I was also disappointed in The Quest when I saw it back in 1996. It felt rushed and the fights were too short. I appreciate it a little more this day in age.
you've said it David. passion cannot be bought and VD was a big deal because he was performing and entertaining with passion. initially he hadn't done Bloodsport for the money, the money. pure heart and soul were poured into Bloodsport at the time it struggled. Qissi was a big factor too. i'm sure that from your perspective it is different because you come from the filmmaking background. i love this interview because nothing beats the definition of passion.
@@VikingSamurai and Bloodsport is still magical, i just watched it again about three weeks ago, and oh boy i've enjoyed it 🤩 it is simplicity at its best which brings butterflys to my stomach. your platform rocks, it is both broad and specific, and i love this interaction with you and all other content creators. 🥋👊
@@johnnyguitar6639he did, didn't he and it is not completely "actually" when you know the background. this is something worthwhile to discuss. everything went downhill after he divorced his first wife. i'm not sure what the deal is causing hin to take drugs compared to all other martial artists actors who did not. he wanted to get paid more than Jim Carrey, he was exposed to beautiful women with big cleavage. there are interviews of him where he has shared his dark path during that time. one of his interviews revealing that he was like "a kid going to a candy store". i was disappointed when finding out all these unfortunate events, but there were words saying that his second wife was the cause of it all, then took all his acts together and went back to his first wife. in all honesty, he is a human being with flaws as well, and that is okay. his life is fascinating and i can relate to him in many ways. drugs though, no. i prefer to pay more attention to his achievements and his human side as opposed to "his wanting more $$" on this scale of money. in fact, it was his passion that propelled him to stardom, that is the whole point of my first comment.
Van Damme was one of my first heroes, I saw Lionheart when I was probably 6 and I aimed to be this strong, handsome, agile, muscular man that I watched in that movies. I think it's hard to find a hero that match those qualities on these days. Fuck it, I'm just gonna say it: Superhero movies are lame!!
VS. Dude, your content is off the charts. I am older martial artist that trains in Shotokan/Shorin R. JVD is the most legit martial artist. The guy has a fighting record, his movies are timeless, and yes I miss the stuff of 1980/1990s. Hell, just give me something to watch today as compared back then. Keep pushing for decent martial art films
I was too young to see his early movies in theatres such as Bloodsport, Kickboxer and Double Impact, but so glad I got to see TimeCop, Streetfighter, Sudden Death, The Quest, Double Team and Legionnaire in the Cinema. I remember the theatre being pretty empty for Legionnaire which was sad and was his last movie of his to make it to cinema in the 90's. Years later I watched JCVD and Expendables 2 and I was so happy to get out again to watch his movies on the big screen.
All the netflix and on demand crap you nowadays have nothing comes close to renting a JCVD movie in the 80's on a weekend and the excitement of rewinding the tape and pressing play and just watching the opening credits and waiting for the first scene and being so excited to watch these bad ass guys as a kid and looking up to these guys and the next day bragging about it with your friends and talking in detail about the whole movie and the awesome kicks and punches.
David's comment about being "Married to these movies" is true and why I made my wife endure a 30 minute taxi ride through Belgium after travelling from Australia just to take an image of Me with the JC statue in Brussells. I stupidly didn't go to the Rocky statue when I was in New Jersey and was so close, but one day I will cross that off the list along with the Arnold statue I only just found out exists. If Russia makes a Seagal statue in tribute to the "Greatest Russian action star" Lord Seagal himself, I would even have to make a trip there to endure the cold in order to have lived the life the 80s kid I will forever be to the maximum.
My mum would always say how good looking Van Damme was, glutes comments usually. My Aunty enjoys yoga and has always admired his flexibility. Add to this the martial arts, ballet and acting. He has presence on screen and his kicks are a thing of beauty. The balance and precision is incredible as previously talked about in other videos. Have seen his films easily more than any others growing up. Van Damme is the man, love the channel brother ❤👌
Why he was JCVD was a big deal? Because he had the talent, the charisma, and the touch. The moment JCVD made his mark in No Retreat No Surrender stealing the thunder from everyone. It was the start of many things to come and then Bloodsport took him to another level where his star begin to rise into greatness being a true inspiration to anyone growing up.
Why is Jean a big deal ? Hes a good actor , he has screen pressence, talks cool ,has cool hair , cool fighting style, cool accent , his movies are bad ass and has the iconic ahhhhhh
I’m 34, the van damme movies I was blessed to see in theaters were, TimeCop, DoubleTeam, Universal SolderReturns, and TheQuest……my favorite can damme film was probably HardTarget, also BloodSport, and KickBoxer…..it’s honestly action films 101…filmmakerS MUST do their homework and get real again!
Van Damme was gifted. But he trained every day and was able to show the entire world his beautiful kicks and excellent muscles ☝️ Sometimes some people are born with a gift and they demonstrate it for all to see. Van Damme had beautiful kicks, and Mike Tyson had deadly punches. Both of them trained and mastered the gifts they were given at birth though
The man that in away at the time took kickboxing to the next level one of my biggest influences for mastering it as well as well studying all ways thanks to the quest and blood sport and always why johnny cage exists
Jean Van Damme is in my top 3 favorite martial artist of all time. When I was a kid in the 80's I thought I was Van Damme even thou I was black, but I would always try to do the splits just like Van Damme. I used to get into fights in Junior high school in the early 90's when some people would say JCD was fake, and I shut them down with my argument. Good interview Viking Samurai.
He made karate look beautiful, gave it curves. Probably down to the ballet background. The extra flexibility made him stand out. He also has a great kiai.
Van Damme was my idol growing up. He was the coolest person I had ever seen on screen. He had it all. The looks. The body. The martial arts. The coolness. I loved Arnie and Stallone but Van Damme was very believable in every role he took. Like if he wanted to he could kick your head clean off! There will be nothing like Van Damme again.
Great video, Viking!🙌 Definitely Jean-Claude was destined to be one the greatest action stars of all times. Great charisma, a very unique personality, great shape, the best kicks and he was improving his acting skills with every movie. He is one of the main inspirations for people like us to train martial arts and work out and try to be the best we can ✊💪🥋✌️👍
Spot on assessment guys. the mid 80s early 90s was a magical time in action films . I'm so glad I grew up during this . I to believe the old school action films are coming back we seen this with John wick and the extraction films . also the action films of old had heart and character music ,behind them films that was crucial and iconic and made these films endure that modern film are missing .
Another great interview VS , and congratulations on your movie Last Kumite, I'm looking forward to seeing it! Wish I met you around 15 years ago (I was a wanna be filmmaker for 8 years or so back then) , we would have been on the EXACT page as far as directing styles and choreography etc. As a life long martial artist (I'm 48 and I started tae kwon do at 7, later on karate, kickboxing, muay thai, little bit aikido, etc last 3 years obsessed with jujitsu) JCVD was the biggest influence/obsession of mine as a teenager. I can probably recite the screenplay to Bloodsport word for word lol For me my first martial arts idol was Sho Kosugi, but I remember seeing No Retreat No Surrender in the theatre and being blown away by JCVD. Anyway I'm rambling, just wanted to drop some praise can't wait for the next video.
Van Damme has all you need: he is talented, he has very good muscles, his martial art's skills are so consummate! And most important thing that he can do is to show people that all the action on his movie are real! When i first time saw "Blood sport", "Kickboxer", i thought that Van Damme is the strongest fighter on the planet!)
The charisma and screen presence combined with the athleticism and martial arts prowess,there's been no one like him since,almost every guy I know around my age idolized him,I wouldn't say he's a cult action star,that's more Chuck Norris' lane,i mean there's probably people who know him from the Coors light commercials😂
In Algeria he's still incredibly popular......no actor is even comparable to him....and we even have a local Van Damme becoming a star doing Splits every now and then and he's very popular also in social media.......
Jean claude has the perfect b8dy shape fighting shape elegance in his movement...nobody was better than him in this time...he was the 1000% perfect martial arts package ...so 6e got the idol for everyone in this time not only for martial artist , also 4 female ...ath8etes...also for 4 me of course..BEST WISHES all limitbreakers...BEST greetz si...BEST..BEST..BEST
I got to meet Sly Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Carl Weathers, Ralph Macchio, Martin Kove, Mark Damascus, Bolo Yeong and lots of other action stars at conventions. I’m about 6 ft tall and I was shocked at how I was taller than most of them. They helped get me through the 80s and 90s. 😃
The only one who wants to diminish Van Damme is Dragon Wilson, with that world champion talk, who cares about that? Van Damme was much more charismatic and skilful on screen, the rest doesn't interest me, who was champion or not, nobody cares.
I saw a Belgian documentary about his life (coup sur coup) and they expose an interesting fact about him. JCVD was very soft while behing very muscular which is very rare and unusual. Normally, when your muscles grows, the bones will shrink (that's the effect of behing big), which is the opposite of behing souple (the muscles lengthen). And Sheldon Lettich said on the documentary that they were looking for somehone who could do all the fights movements on screen and JCVD was able to do it (without stantman). Combining all of this with his pretty face, and you have all the recipe.
You got me with your comment on watching "The Quest" at the theater in the mid 90s. When my best buddy and I got out of the cinema afterwards, I was like: What was that?? He replied : I never saw a movie that didn't impress me at all - until today. That's the only thing that's worse than a really bad movie! - It was the first picture where he had more control over the content, story line, casting etc. I guess he should have stuck with what he was best at : the acting. Also his conflicts with Frank Dux started at the same time, even before the movie came out. Probably this had an impact on the product.
There are some funny comments to me, about Van Damme, aside from opinions. The obvious is that Van Damme was in excellent shape and was a dedicated martial artist, with the best kicking form that I've seen, also he had off the charts flexibility, which is why that would be emphasized in his movies to showcase that. To me, that was his it factor. Because (imo) no he wasn't the best actor, but he had those other qualities that pushed him right on into the top of the martial arts/action genre.
Good video clicked like . The music thing was really interesting I remember watching a documentary on that exact subject and they said the music was written for individual characters and help tell the story where today its just thrown in there with no thought . Anyways I wont write a novel here lol I enjoyed the video V K .
Love your podcast brother and I hope you get to talk to van damme one day. Would love to hear your thoughts on some underated Van Damme films such as in hell Universal Soldier: Regeneration wake of death etc
Let’s be honest. Without Van Damme, Arnold, Sly, Chuck, Seagal, Willis and other tough guys, there wouldn’t of been an action genre as we grew up with in the 80s and beyond.
There won't nor should there be. The only thing anyone has that's their own is their own originality. Of course everyone is influenced by a handful of people in their lives.
Van Damme is special his movies especially in the late 80’s and 90’s have heart and soul with great fight choreography, budget, soundtrack and cheesy one liners !! Unfortunately we don’t get many action karate movies like this anymore . Can you please do a top 50 JCVD filmography?? I am guessing Derailed will be 50 .
My brother and I love Van Damme. He looks like our uncle David and we are big fans! Our favorite. If you don’t know Van Damme I don’t want to know you..
I like the real stuff too. I would rather watch American Ninja 2 where a non martial artist throws a punch 8" away from a face and it was captured that way, and the guy's head goes the wrong way - than this green screen crap.
Blood sport influenced the Mortal Kombat video game. Thats interesting perspective that JCVD never did sequel in his prime, he could of easily made a franchise from time cop.
Why was JCVD such a big deal? Because the guy was magic, plain and simple. If you watched Bloodsport at a young age, then you know exactly what I mean.
💯💯
True mate but it was No retreat no surrender that caught my attention at first and I thought wow I've not seen anyone do kicks and splits to such perfection 👌
God looking,
with a well trained body and a unique kicking style and with his a art of Beaty, signature helicopter kick.
Something in between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.
Whiter then Bruce Lee and more well rounded then Chuck Norris ( in terms of screen charisma and fighting abilities )
He filled perfect the vacuum after the sudden death of Bruce Lee, as the great white hope ( for Hollywood )
Think Van Damme came in the Golden Age of martial Arts movies, this was 16:59 in the early 80 tis and 90 tis, for his Hollywood career.
Young enough to left his kicking prints in the film Cinema.
Nobody can take this from him away.
I actually saw Kickboxer first, then Bloodsport, but I know exactly what you mean.
The fact that I was 8 watching R18+ movies is testament to the fact that our generation of parents knew what was good, inspirational content for us kids to consume.
VD is a mix of Lee, Schwarzenegger (accent and muscles/bodybuilding), and Norris.
He was even more special to me as a french candian. I was so stunned and happy when he spoke french in Lionheart! "Elle est tres jolie ta bicyclette!"
JCVD did have a franchise film, Universal Soldier. Now nothing like the Terminator or Rambo franchises, but you just hoped there was another sequel coming. His movies were always so good with the fight choreography, and his kicks were FANTASTIC!!! Love this guy
Out of all the action stars of the 80's and 90's, I can say for me that no one could touch JCVD. Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Lionheart. Classic movies still to this day. He had the looks, the moves, and the charisma that the others just didn't have. He could also be funny. He had it all.
I agree with everything you said but there is one movie that he has done that is overlooked I think and that is Hard Target always loved that one. He looked so cool and the physique with a mullet and absolutely brutal bad guys and cheesy oneliners
@@jojjeoskarsson784 Loved Hard Target. Double Impact I think was really well done also.
@@jojjeoskarsson784 yeah Hard Target is great film, loved that reverse sweep he did when he was fighting the thugs outside the Cafe.
Also loved Double impact, I thought Alex looked so cool but LIONHEART was my favourite JCVD film, they just don't make films like that those anymore.
@@mauricebrocklehurst2358 Never understood why double impact or lionheart didnt make much money at the box office if it was bad marketing or didnt get releases at most movie theaters
Because he brought fitness looks to the movies,great martial arts skils and style.
That Lionheart ending always makes me emotional, and a big part of that is because of the soundtrack!!
On my first date with my Mrs I found out she loved Van Damme and had all his films recorded on VHS from back in the 90s. We've been together 12 years now.
Keeper!!!!
Congrats on 12 yrs together. Any kids ???
Your inner narrator said, "..and that's when I knew she was the one" 😆
@@powerbadpowerbad One daughter, Ellen. She first watched Bloodsport when she was 2 👍
I got to meet Bolo Yeung at a convention last year in person, got his autograph, picture, a handshake and even briefly talked to him. He did Bloodsport and Double Impact with Van Damme. I saw them both in the movie theater when I was a kid. Over thirty years later, I got meet Bolo. He’s shorter than I thought but still in good shape for his age. A cool guy. A true legend. 😃
Van Dammes gymnastics with his karate prowess, makes his fight scenes extremely engaging.
I think with Van Damme he was an athlete and the camera liked him, but he was also actually serious about putting forward an inspirational message to "be good through martial arts" in his movies. That's an old motif in martial arts cinema where the hero is a "good guy", and he continued it. He was basically a good boy. In his private life maybe he liked a bit of sniff and crossed a few lines but they weren't ethical issues. He might be a little jaded now, but I think he genuinely believed in imparting some kind of positive impression to young people. That's quite alien in the cynical world of today, and a world apart from some invincible/special forces image. He was more like a Harrison Ford or Kurt Russell of fun martial arts cinema - an everyman hero.
Well said. He followed the Bruce Lee route but more charming
JCVD was such an inspiration for me as a kid. I loved all his movies. Personally I have a soft spot for his movie The Quest, it was like the true street fighter experience. There is no martial art movie that did that and I’m still waiting for someone to make a martial art epic.
watching Double Impact in the theatre was mind-blowing for me as a teenager..
I seen No retreat no Surrender, Bloodsport, Cyborg, Kickboxer, Double Impact, Death warrant, Lionheart, Hard Target, No where to run, Time Cop at the movies most at the old Time square and went back many times to watch it again it was great, I remember a triple feature Bloodsport, Above the Law, Lock up, it was awesome.
@@JoeBuck207 I watch No Retreat at least once a year. it is my favorite Van Damme movie for some reason... I remember seeing the preview for Time Cop at the movie theater, I was like "Holy sh it, that looks awesome!"
@@strikingmachine2975 Time Cop was his biggest box office hit, 100 million dollars at the Box office.
Why was Jean Claude such a big deal? I'll tell you why, he took the splits to a whole new level his kicks were out of this world and his screen presence and charisma was top notch 👌
I agree. When he smiled..that was enough to kill the ladies! Today hes not so much open or like that
@@Robd07 yeah people change with age, it's too bad we have to get old.
@@mauricebrocklehurst2358 must have been all that cocaine! If i had his fame id be out there more public with fans on socia media
@@Robd07 he's been through the fame life, he's been to the party's he's been on the talk shows, maybe it's just got old and he's decided to quietened down a bit because he's already been there and done it.
You mentioned in one of your videos that JCVD made a movie called The Bouncer and it was good. I took your word for it and watched it today. Fantastic movie which shows when Van Damme gets a good script he can kill it. Thanks for the recommendation. 👍🏼
Definitely one of his best in a long time!
54 here and was lucky to see all he's movie that came out to theater
The KICKS!
That and he's still in shape making fitness videos for his age range now.
Dude is classy.
JCVD was a big part of my childhood i mean i loved alot of his films. The guy was great imo 1 of the best. These are my top 10 JCVD films -
1.BloodSport
2.Kickboxer
3.Lionheart
4.Double Impact
5.Cyborg
6.Hard Target
7.Sudden Death
8.The Quest
9. Death Warrant
10.Universal Soldier
JCVD is one of the best action stars ever he had the Charisma skills and he was the overall total Package. He did some of the best action movies ever 👊👊💪💪🆒🆒
I remember driving to go see Maximum Risk at the theater when it first came out, meeting my friend there. We are getting old.
I saw that in the theater too.. as far as old, you're only as old as you feel, I'm still in my athletic prime so I feel young lol
@@VikingSamurai I tell people I am young gen X, caught the last year of it.
Lol
15:20 Nope. That helicopter kick brought EVERYONE back for one reason or another. So did the splits. He is world famous for the splits and that kick more than most anything else.
I thank my lucky stars i was born in 82 and got to see these movies, JVCD for life my fav ever and always would be… 💪💪💪
Dude ! Kickboxer and Bloodsport changed my life along the same lines that the Rocky series did!
VAN DAMME RULED MAN! I Was 11 when I discovered him in 1990 with AWOL (Lion Heart AKA Leon) and never looked back!
Great point about the scores. They're crazy important to movies; they're meant to carry the emotion of the scenes, particular scenes with little dialog. JCVD's early flicks had some of the best soundtracks, especially Bloodsport. From like the beginning of the movie nearly every track is a variation of the final theme when he fights Chong Li. Props to Paul Hertzog, it's literally one of my favorite movie soundtracks of all time.
Paul Hertzog is back in The Last Kumite, I've heard the score already!
@@VikingSamuraithe last kumite is out?
@@VikingSamurai 😳.....🤯.....mind blown.
The Bloodsport soundtrack is beyond gold! Bloodsport is one of those movies where the movie and music are in absolute perfection working together to create magic. Like Morricone/Leone did with 'Once upon a time in the west'.....magic.
@@nofd1977 No, I heard the score b/c I worked on the movie and the executive producer let me listen to it. The film will be out in Spring of 2024.
A last art in today's movies, the music
Growing up in the 80's 90's Van Damme inspired us to keep in shape and train. I really miss the days going to the vidio shop to rent a VHS movie , the choices we had to make were so important, these days you can put a movie on and after 5 minutes get bored and switch to something else. This is why I think these actors were such a big deal because we showed loyalty to there movies.
Ya, that's also a really good point regarding the environment and the A.D D. Going on nowadays.
I listen to Bloodsport's soundtrack while on workout and DAMME!!! It's such an inspiring feeling training like your movie heroes.
I miss the days of video stores also: when Friday rolled around it was video rental time. LOL.Or Saturday afternoon.The 90s were a grand time for movies,tv shows and music.
@@williamo.najera5030never thought of that oh shit
Greetings Viking, another great podcast! Van Damme brings back great memories for me! I;m talking about the 'Blockbuster' days of course! Lol! I loved those Friday nights (it was ALWAYS a Friday!) when a bunch of us lads would raid the Blockbuster video stores for the latest action movies, a Van Damme movie would be amongst them!
We would buy copious amounts of KFC, cokes & spend Friday evening right up to early Saturday morning gorging on KFC and action movies! Great days bro! Love & respect, from the UK brother.
Great weekends! Lol
9:45 the jump stunt from rambo 2.. it wasnt a stuntman.. it was stallone doing it, he talks about it on the johhny carson show 1985(its on youtube)
Hear me out on this and I would love to get your thoughts. What made Rocky and Bloodsport lighting in a bottle is music. Don’t get me wrong, the passion, the action is unmatched but music what lingered on after the movie and as soon as we hear “Fight to Survive” or “Gonna Fly Now” it takes me right back to the movie scenes from those movies.
To answer your question about the Quest, I think had they had a killer music score it would have elevated the fight scenes significantly, it certainly did with Lionheart.
Update: I wrote this and then you guys started talking about the score. So on point!
"Same matter cannot occupy the same space. Huh I'm still kicking I must be on Broadway." (Max Walker - JCVD)
Ironically Timecop was the very first Van Damme movie I ever saw in a darkened Cinema Theatre.
I remember in the 90s ,i cant wait to rent Double Impact on a VHS Video cassete on the next Videoshop,i am big Fan 💪🏼
Black Eagle is a movie that JCVD was great in.
JCVD has such a good heart. He loves his supporters and has always acknowledged how blessed he is to be in his position. He has truly inspired so many of us... FUN JCVD FACT ** The commercial he did with Volvo Semi trucks the splits he did while the trucks were moving.. in 1 take. ... The man is a perfectionist.
Van Damme had great chemistry with special martial artist abilities on the big screen.
Jcvd inspired me and so much peaple to start in martial arts, a real legend 🔥🔥🔥
My intro to JCVD was No Retreat N Surrender ! The splits the fluidity of his kicks the fight choreography in that movie made him look great
I remember seeing Universal Soldier, Double Impact and Street Fighter at the theater.
My 2nd favorite action actor after Bruce Lee, and after VD, Arnold & Stallone
Van Damme was the first action star, since Bruce Lee, that brought muscles and athleticism to the silver screen in a way that you could only previously observe by watching cartoons like Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends or ThunderCats, etc. It was like watching a live action superhero!
I remember having conversations with other kids where we described Van Damme as the Bruce Lee of the 80s, only better. Between his flexibility and the ballet training, he had an uncommon grace about his movements that made him very interesting to watch, with a dexterity that no one had seen before, as depicted in the gym scene in Bloodsport where he was kicking the speed bag with his feet using spin kicks! SPIN KICKS, REALLY? LIKE WHAT?! That was next level in American action cinema!!! This expression on the screen is what caused me to rank him even higher than Schwarzenegger and Stallone.
Jean Claude made everyone else look like a mamas boy. He had an unusual name, unusually great flexibility and athleticism, combined with one of the best physiques ever, magnetic charisma and all these factors made him a Pop Culture King! It was almost unbelievable that someone like him actually existed and could bring all of those different elements together to create such a great package!
@@legionnaires
😂 Oh, that's a good one! I've always loved bad comedy 🤣 🤤
@@legionnaires
😂 Yeah, when Jean Claude was drunk! I wouldn't want that story out if I were Zito. 🤣 JC had a good 40-50 pounds on Lee - He would've sent Lee to the grave he's in now if the Triads already hadn't!
I feel you Viking, I remember some kids calling Rocky the trainer from seeing the Creed movies. It's like man all that Rocky went through over the years and these kids completely missed it and just think of him as Creed's trainer lol.
Oh hell nah
i saw every Van Damme movie in theaters after Lionheart. Lionheart was my first theatrical Van Damme movie and is my favorite. Those movies were a wonderful bonding experience with my dad. I'll forever be grateful for that. I was also disappointed in The Quest when I saw it back in 1996. It felt rushed and the fights were too short. I appreciate it a little more this day in age.
Wow this is the first time I realized Van Damme refused to do sequels! Such a shame because all of them could have made great sequels.
Errm universal soldier the return
On a date with a cute girl and everything went great until she said that she hates action movies. She drew first blood, not me...
Lol
IN HELL is a damn good one for a "Direct" category. His ground fighting was awesome since we all know him as a "kicker".....
you've said it David.
passion cannot be bought and VD was a big deal because he was performing and entertaining with passion.
initially he hadn't done Bloodsport for the money, the money. pure heart and soul were poured into Bloodsport at the time it struggled.
Qissi was a big factor too.
i'm sure that from your perspective it is different because you come from the filmmaking background.
i love this interview because nothing beats the definition of passion.
Bloodsport was so magical. Thanks so much for the extra support Hung!
@@VikingSamurai and Bloodsport is still magical, i just watched it again about three weeks ago, and oh boy i've enjoyed it 🤩
it is simplicity at its best which brings butterflys to my stomach.
your platform rocks, it is both broad and specific, and i love this interaction with you and all other content creators.
🥋👊
Actually he priced himself out of many movies.
@@johnnyguitar6639he did, didn't he and it is not completely "actually" when you know the background.
this is something worthwhile to discuss.
everything went downhill after he divorced his first wife. i'm not sure what the deal is causing hin to take drugs compared to all other martial artists actors who did not. he wanted to get paid more than Jim Carrey, he was exposed to beautiful women with big cleavage.
there are interviews of him where he has shared his dark path during that time. one of his interviews revealing that he was like "a kid going to a candy store".
i was disappointed when finding out all these unfortunate events, but there were words saying that his second wife was the cause of it all, then took all his acts together and went back to his first wife.
in all honesty, he is a human being with flaws as well, and that is okay. his life is fascinating and i can relate to him in many ways. drugs though, no.
i prefer to pay more attention to his achievements and his human side as opposed to "his wanting more $$" on this scale of money.
in fact, it was his passion that propelled him to stardom, that is the whole point of my first comment.
Van Damme was one of my first heroes, I saw Lionheart when I was probably 6 and I aimed to be this strong, handsome, agile, muscular man that I watched in that movies. I think it's hard to find a hero that match those qualities on these days. Fuck it, I'm just gonna say it: Superhero movies are lame!!
VS. Dude, your content is off the charts. I am older martial artist that trains in Shotokan/Shorin R. JVD is the most legit martial artist. The guy has a fighting record, his movies are timeless, and yes I miss the stuff of 1980/1990s. Hell, just give me something to watch today as compared back then. Keep pushing for decent martial art films
I went to see Double Impact 3 times at the cinema. It was epic! The way that film was directed, it looked so good at the cinema.
I was too young to see his early movies in theatres such as Bloodsport, Kickboxer and Double Impact, but so glad I got to see TimeCop, Streetfighter, Sudden Death, The Quest, Double Team and Legionnaire in the Cinema. I remember the theatre being pretty empty for Legionnaire which was sad and was his last movie of his to make it to cinema in the 90's. Years later I watched JCVD and Expendables 2 and I was so happy to get out again to watch his movies on the big screen.
How dare she interrupt a Time Cop viewing like that😡
One word. Charisma.
All the netflix and on demand crap you nowadays have nothing comes close to renting a JCVD movie in the 80's on a weekend and the excitement of rewinding the tape and pressing play and just watching the opening credits and waiting for the first scene and being so excited to watch these bad ass guys as a kid and looking up to these guys and the next day bragging about it with your friends and talking in detail about the whole movie and the awesome kicks and punches.
Van Damme built the house!!
David's comment about being "Married to these movies" is true and why I made my wife endure a 30 minute taxi ride through Belgium after travelling from Australia just to take an image of Me with the JC statue in Brussells.
I stupidly didn't go to the Rocky statue when I was in New Jersey and was so close, but one day I will cross that off the list along with the Arnold statue I only just found out exists.
If Russia makes a Seagal statue in tribute to the "Greatest Russian action star" Lord Seagal himself, I would even have to make a trip there to endure the cold in order to have lived the life the 80s kid I will forever be to the maximum.
He had "it." Whatever "it" is, he had it in spades.
My mum would always say how good looking Van Damme was, glutes comments usually. My Aunty enjoys yoga and has always admired his flexibility. Add to this the martial arts, ballet and acting.
He has presence on screen and his kicks are a thing of beauty. The balance and precision is incredible as previously talked about in other videos. Have seen his films easily more than any others growing up. Van Damme is the man, love the channel brother ❤👌
I liked the wife/marriage analogy (Bloodsport) lol
Why he was JCVD was a big deal? Because he had the talent, the charisma, and the touch. The moment JCVD made his mark in No Retreat No Surrender stealing the thunder from everyone. It was the start of many things to come and then Bloodsport took him to another level where his star begin to rise into greatness being a true inspiration to anyone growing up.
Why is Jean a big deal ? Hes a good actor , he has screen pressence, talks cool ,has cool hair , cool fighting style, cool accent , his movies are bad ass and has the iconic ahhhhhh
Call me crazy, and many people do when I say that "Cyborg" is my favorite of Van Damm's movies.
Van damme is a legend he was inspired by bruce and Muhammad Ali rip both all three are legends ❤
I’m 34, the van damme movies I was blessed to see in theaters were, TimeCop, DoubleTeam, Universal SolderReturns, and TheQuest……my favorite can damme film was probably HardTarget, also BloodSport, and KickBoxer…..it’s honestly action films 101…filmmakerS MUST do their homework and get real again!
Van Damme was gifted. But he trained every day and was able to show the entire world his beautiful kicks and excellent muscles ☝️ Sometimes some people are born with a gift and they demonstrate it for all to see. Van Damme had beautiful kicks, and Mike Tyson had deadly punches. Both of them trained and mastered the gifts they were given at birth though
Why was JCVD such a big deal? Because he's AWESOME!
He had spectacular kicks, flexibility, ripped muscles, chrisma, he had it all.
The man that in away at the time took kickboxing to the next level one of my biggest influences for mastering it as well as well studying all ways thanks to the quest and blood sport and always why johnny cage exists
Jean Van Damme is in my top 3 favorite martial artist of all time. When I was a kid in the 80's I thought I was Van Damme even thou I was black, but I would always try to do the splits just like Van Damme. I used to get into fights in Junior high school in the early 90's when some people would say JCD was fake, and I shut them down with my argument. Good interview Viking Samurai.
He made karate look beautiful, gave it curves. Probably down to the ballet background. The extra flexibility made him stand out. He also has a great kiai.
“He’s kind of a big deal”
-Ron Burgundy
I saw street fighter, the quest and double impact in theater. I only remember double impact. Lol.
Van Damme was my idol growing up. He was the coolest person I had ever seen on screen. He had it all. The looks. The body. The martial arts. The coolness. I loved Arnie and Stallone but Van Damme was very believable in every role he took. Like if he wanted to he could kick your head clean off! There will be nothing like Van Damme again.
Because he was the real deal. He's the best martial arts actor ever besides bruce Lee.
Donnie Yen is 😂😂😂
@jaymanmanmanman2127 he's right after them. Love jackie 👍
Agre.e fully. 👊
I really miss the 80’s and 90’s martial arts movies.
I love him so much, he very special man, God bless him forever ❤
Great video, Viking!🙌 Definitely Jean-Claude was destined to be one the greatest action stars of all times. Great charisma, a very unique personality, great shape, the best kicks and he was improving his acting skills with every movie. He is one of the main inspirations for people like us to train martial arts and work out and try to be the best we can ✊💪🥋✌️👍
Looks, charisma, martial arts skills...
Spot on assessment guys. the mid 80s early 90s was a magical time in action films . I'm so glad I grew up during this . I to believe the old school action films are coming back we seen this with John wick and the extraction films . also the action films of old had heart and character music ,behind them films that was crucial and iconic and made these films endure that modern film are missing .
Sort like my wife when we dated, she didn't know who Bruce Lee was until I introduced her to the world of Martial arts movies.
Another great interview VS , and congratulations on your movie Last Kumite, I'm looking forward to seeing it! Wish I met you around 15 years ago (I was a wanna be filmmaker for 8 years or so back then) , we would have been on the EXACT page as far as directing styles and choreography etc. As a life long martial artist (I'm 48 and I started tae kwon do at 7, later on karate, kickboxing, muay thai, little bit aikido, etc last 3 years obsessed with jujitsu) JCVD was the biggest influence/obsession of mine as a teenager. I can probably recite the screenplay to Bloodsport word for word lol For me my first martial arts idol was Sho Kosugi, but I remember seeing No Retreat No Surrender in the theatre and being blown away by JCVD. Anyway I'm rambling, just wanted to drop some praise can't wait for the next video.
Thanks Nathan!
Van Damme has all you need: he is talented, he has very good muscles, his martial art's skills are so consummate! And most important thing that he can do is to show people that all the action on his movie are real! When i first time saw "Blood sport", "Kickboxer", i thought that Van Damme is the strongest fighter on the planet!)
The charisma and screen presence combined with the athleticism and martial arts prowess,there's been no one like him since,almost every guy I know around my age idolized him,I wouldn't say he's a cult action star,that's more Chuck Norris' lane,i mean there's probably people who know him from the Coors light commercials😂
In Algeria he's still incredibly popular......no actor is even comparable to him....and we even have a local Van Damme becoming a star doing Splits every now and then and he's very popular also in social media.......
Jean claude has the perfect b8dy shape fighting shape elegance in his movement...nobody was better than him in this time...he was the 1000% perfect martial arts package ...so 6e got the idol for everyone in this time not only for martial artist , also 4 female ...ath8etes...also for 4 me of course..BEST WISHES all limitbreakers...BEST greetz si...BEST..BEST..BEST
I got to meet Sly Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Carl Weathers, Ralph Macchio, Martin Kove, Mark Damascus, Bolo Yeong and lots of other action stars at conventions. I’m about 6 ft tall and I was shocked at how I was taller than most of them. They helped get me through the 80s and 90s. 😃
The only one who wants to diminish Van Damme is Dragon Wilson, with that world champion talk, who cares about that? Van Damme was much more charismatic and skilful on screen, the rest doesn't interest me, who was champion or not, nobody cares.
I saw a Belgian documentary about his life (coup sur coup) and they expose an interesting fact about him. JCVD was very soft while behing very muscular which is very rare and unusual. Normally, when your muscles grows, the bones will shrink (that's the effect of behing big), which is the opposite of behing souple (the muscles lengthen).
And Sheldon Lettich said on the documentary that they were looking for somehone who could do all the fights movements on screen and JCVD was able to do it (without stantman). Combining all of this with his pretty face, and you have all the recipe.
You got me with your comment on watching
"The Quest" at the theater
in the mid 90s.
When my best buddy and
I got out of the cinema
afterwards, I was like:
What was that??
He replied : I never saw a
movie that didn't impress me
at all - until today. That's
the only thing that's worse than a really bad movie!
- It was the first picture where
he had more control over the
content, story line, casting etc.
I guess he should have stuck
with what he was best at :
the acting.
Also his conflicts with Frank
Dux started at the same time,
even before the movie came
out. Probably this had an impact on the product.
There are some funny comments to me, about Van Damme, aside from opinions. The obvious is that Van Damme was in excellent shape and was a dedicated martial artist, with the best kicking form that I've seen, also he had off the charts flexibility, which is why that would be emphasized in his movies to showcase that. To me, that was his it factor. Because (imo) no he wasn't the best actor, but he had those other qualities that pushed him right on into the top of the martial arts/action genre.
You definitely can't pay for passion, love ur passiom VS!
Yes! Thank you!
JCVD did do sequels. Universal soldier and kickboxer. I think you guys are talking about his universal deal.
Good video clicked like . The music thing was really interesting I remember watching a documentary on that exact subject and they said the music was written for individual characters and help tell the story where today its just thrown in there with no thought . Anyways I wont write a novel here lol I enjoyed the video V K .
I just want to point out jcvd made 1 sequal: Universal soldier.
Love your podcast brother and I hope you get to talk to van damme one day.
Would love to hear your thoughts on some underated Van Damme films such as in hell Universal Soldier: Regeneration wake of death etc
Let’s be honest. Without Van Damme, Arnold, Sly, Chuck, Seagal, Willis and other tough guys, there wouldn’t of been an action genre as we grew up with in the 80s and beyond.
I seen universal soldier, time cop, the quest in the cinemas.
There won't ever be another Van Damme! Viking hope you manage to get an interview with JC in the future 🙏
There won't nor should there be. The only thing anyone has that's their own is their own originality. Of course everyone is influenced by a handful of people in their lives.
Van Damme is special his movies especially in the late 80’s and 90’s have heart and soul with great fight choreography, budget, soundtrack and cheesy one liners !!
Unfortunately we don’t get many action karate movies like this anymore .
Can you please do a top 50 JCVD filmography??
I am guessing Derailed will be 50 .
Derailed will at least be close to number 50 l
He should do soundtrack for the Last Kumite
Who?
@@VikingSamurai 29 talented singer . The guy you just interview
My brother and I love Van Damme. He looks like our uncle David and we are big fans! Our favorite. If you don’t know Van Damme I don’t want to know you..
I like the real stuff too. I would rather watch American Ninja 2 where a non martial artist throws a punch 8" away from a face and it was captured that way, and the guy's head goes the wrong way - than this green screen crap.
The Expendables 2
I Think he had the benefit of making movies back to back. If you look back.Almost no other Martial Arts stars had so many movies in such a short time
Blood sport influenced the Mortal Kombat video game. Thats interesting perspective that JCVD never did sequel in his prime, he could of easily made a franchise from time cop.