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Johnny Cage of Mortal Kombat was influenced by Van-Damme's stardom. Originally Van-Damme was approached to be the character in the game. 1988-1999 is his feature film prime. His films afterwards were straight to video or only released overseas. I highly recommend JCVD (2008) and Expendables 2 (2012).
Van Damme DID actually do the stunt between the two 18-wheelers, it wasn't faked or CGI'd. Not only was it real, they got it in one take. Volvo bragged about puling it off in one take, they were VERY proud of Van Damme for making them look so good with such an epic execution.
He was everywhere in the late 80s to mid 90s. Kickboxer, Lionheart, Death Warrant, Street Fighter(Guile), Timecop, Hard Target, Cyborg, Double Impact, Nowhere to Run, The Quest....seriously EVERYWHERE! 😂
This movie will always make me cry just bc it’s the movie me and my grandfather watched all the time before he passed. Thank yall so much for reacting to this 🙏🏼
That “splits” commercial wasn’t actually fake, there’s a whole behind the scenes on it. The point of it was to demonstrate how accurate the steering was on those trucks :)
Those captions at the end that said it was based on a true story were lies. This movie was the fabrication of the real life Frank Dux, and it was a way for him to promote his marital arts gym and videos. His imagination was inspired by real martial arts tournaments and history at least. This movie is still great because of how badass Jean-Claude Van Damme is.
@@DaemonKeido Don't give him too much credit. The fact people have real martial arts tournaments could just as easily inspired a game like Mortal Kombat.
@@toddtaylor6506 Indeed and he is hardly the sole inspiration for Mortal Kombat, just the part of it being a tournament. We cannot forget Big Trouble In Little China for all the rest of the Weird Shit that MK is best known for.
Yeah, whether the story is true or not, is of little matter. The movie itself is so great, that it just being a movie script, doesn't take away from it's value. Bloodsport is in the "all time best" category of action movies.
Yeap! I remember reading it years after the movie came out on a martial arts magazine, it was sooo disappointing to martial artist that grew up watching this film.
Finally!!!!! Van Damme is the 80s/90s martial arts action hero/cheese every youtube channel needs and im so excited you guys are finally on this now!!! Please do more of his movies !!!!
I whole-heartedly approve of this comment! I've followed Van Damme's career ever since No Retreat No Surrender. I did start to fall away once he started doing more and more straight-to-video movies much later in his career once martial arts movies really took a nose-dive in popularity, but I have started going back to watch them too and I do enjoy some of those movies as well. Dare I say, even some of his later straight-to-video movies (but not all) are even much better than the usual straight-to-video quality stuff.
The line about the brick don't hit back is a call back to Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon. Bruce said that to a fighter in that movie. Also, the actor playing Chung Li, Bolo Yeung, was in that movie.
Lol!! I was just about to post the same thing you did. As soon as Bolo said that I instantly thought about Bruce saying "Boards don't hit back" to O'Hara.
Bolo Yeung uses Bruce Lee quote in his last film “Enter the Dragon” (1973) Bruce Lee said “Boards don’t hit back” and bolo uses it in honor of his friend Bruce Lee
This movie is so good and an absolute classic! Everybody loves JCVD of course, but Chong Li is definetely one of the greatest villains of martial arts movies!
Enter The Dragon is the gold standard for martial arts films as this movie shares many similarities. Van Damme's charisma is evident right away and that sells the whole movie. Definitely need to check out Enter the Dragon. Oh, by the way, Chong Li is in that movie as well lol.
Van damme is like 60 plus yrs old, n is Still in Great shape..n can still do the round house kicks n splits...d man is a Beast...n he was a Great Villian in Expandables 2 ....
It's true events according to Frank Dux, nobody has proof this ever happened and most in the business have called him out to be a total phoney. I am not sure what the movie is called in the U.S but I think its called Lionheart or just Lion, its probably my favourite JCVD movie and of course Kickboxer is also another classic.
His claims don't even make sense. Like the one for most knockouts in a single tournament. In order to face that many people in one tournament would require over 1,000 rounds. In one tournament. There's a video out there that shows how ridiculously stupid his claims are. Stuff that's easily disputable. Like if I said that I was a naval captain in Vietnam despite me also saying that I was born in 1977. It's seriously stuff like that.
@@John_Locke_108 Not to mention that doing the math results in millions of participants in a single tournament, which changed location multiple times over the years. In a relatively recent interview he tried to resolve that point of his lie by saying that it wasn't a direct elimination competition so people fought multiple times over days. Which only means that he doesn't understand how full contact works and does to the body.
@@jeremywagler3426 Lionheart is a COMPLETLY different movie. similar premise but in that he goes AWOL from the foreign legion and ends up in an underground fight circut for rich people
@@jburgs100 They were referring to my suggested movie to watch. Here in the UK its called A.W.O.L but I know that in the U.S it was called something else.
Jackie Chan 100% and not only the old old ones like Drunken Master but Police Story, Armour of God and Who am I? are all classics, specially the behind the scenes are golden
Awesome video guys...this is one of my top favorite nostalgic movies of all time and seeing someone enjoy it for the time as much as I did back in the day is pretty cool...fun times!
JCVD is a dope movie that doesn’t have the martial arts so much, that demonstrates his acting. It comes way later in his filmography but is an absolute must watch.
This is by far the best reaction for Bloodsport Ive seeing, the comments were hilarious, the comment at the end when she said Dux had a better connection with Jackson was epic 😆
Interesting perspective. I thought they commented too much and most of their comments seemed forced as if they thought they needed to say something every few seconds or the people watching would be upset.
35th anniversary was February of this year. Van-Damme's 3rd film and star-making role. Prior films with him were only in supporting roles. After Bloodsport's success, he became known as "The muscles from Brussels". This movie is indeed a classic of the genre. Memorable story, great fight sequences and a guilty pleasure. The original score of Paul Hertzog and the songs performed by Stan Bush are awesome. The only downside of this is the story of Frank Dux as an martial artist proved to be a hoax. The life he lived or the so-called world records he broke as an competitor in the Kumite were unreal. There are 3 'straight to video' sequels. But don't bother with them. The first film is the best.
Daniel Bernhardt continued the role, with Jackson. But they didn't do well at all (not Bernhardt's fault). I watched them just out of principle. They were not HORRIBLE IMO, but they don't compare to this. Daniel, actually, is probably better known as the brother(?) of Vigo's John Wick's-dog-killing son. Wick chokes him to death and snaps his neck with his hands zip strapped.
@@andydorman2119 Daniel was also the "upgraded" agent Neo fights in Matrix Reloaded. Bernhardt also played Siro in the TV series Mortal Kombat Conquest.
@@alucard624 I did not follow the Moral Combat TV Series, it's always interesting to see a person playing many roles like that. He is a pretty good actor. I also just watched him play a bit part in Extraction 2.
How is it that none of your generation's TH-cam reactors have reacted to anything with Chuck Norris? He was one of the top tier American pop culture icons back in the day. I always found his choreography to be a bit "meat and potatoes" simplistic, but he was a genuine household name. Even people who never watched martial arts action movies knew him. Also, he has a special place in my heart because when mt mom got a serious post-op infection after her bypass surgery and was failing to thrive, the first sign that the new treatment they were trying was actually going to save her life was when she had the energy to stay up past 8pm and wanted to watch "Walker, Texas Ranger."
Bloodspot was one of the movies that inspired Mortal Kombat, and it was initially supposed to be Jean-Claude Van Damme the game before development. Jean-Claude inspired the character of Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat. Also, Jean-Claude will voice Johnny Cage in the new MK1 game after so many years of rejecting to be part of MK
I took martial arts for a short time. I was in a KUK SOOL WON class. I was blown away by the power and strength these black belts had. They were seriously ripped and powerful. I was injured during sparring and had to take time off then had some financial set backs so I had to drop the classes. I only made it to yellow belt. In class you were either exercising, or learning moves or jogging in place on the balls of your feet! Pushups were done on your fingertips only! Two hours of intense workout! After each class I was soaked in sweat! I felt amazing! Everyone should try it once! I is fun! You find out what power really is and how to develop it! I saw these people do things that was incredible! The blackbelts came to our school with the grand master once. He is from Korea. These blackbelts did squats on one leg! 50 Squats per leg! I saw this! They had legs like tree trunks! Never mess with a martial arts black belt. Forget the movies. The real thing is something to behold!
You guys just made my day!! I love Van Damme films!! He's one of my favorite in a long line of action packed badass actors of the 80s and 90s lol Also my name is Janice so I get to hear Van Damme say my name in this movie 😍
The music is what I recall from this from when I was a kid watching this on release. I’m rewatching this edit with you now. Looking forward to reminiscing
Man, I loved this movie as a kid. Go watch the first 3 UFC events. They were pretty much like this. There were no judges, time limits or rounds. All fights had to be finished via knockout, submission or the opponent's corner throwing in the towel. Almost no rules. All different fighting styles.
Even decades later, I can still vividly remember Keith Hackney breaking his hand while beating down Emmanuel Yarbrough, a sumo wrestler who probably outweighed him by a good 400+ pounds. Early UFC was wild.
Hell yeah dude, those first few UFCs were awesome before everyone got all meta with their training! All different styles going against each other and blood everywhere! It was a completely different vibe than the homogenized kickboxing/jiu-jitsu show we get now.
@@MadPhyn yup, Hackney was just swinging his whole damn arm like a club! When he dropped him with that palm strike... shit was crazy back in the day! My friend took Tae Kwon Do, one of his teachers was Cal Worsham, who was kicking the shit out of Paul Varleans until Big Paul elbowed him in the back of the head. That one was a bummer. But Cal... crazy fucker went *straight at* a giant of a man ... gave him all he could handle for a few glorious moments.
For Bruce Lee movies, most folks would say to watch “Enter the Dragon, which is a must watch. But I consider “The Chinese Connection” the movie with his best action. The crazy thing about Bruce Lee is that many of his moves had to be slowed down post production because his kicks were so fast, they couldn’t be seen on camera otherwise.
I find it pretty ironic that we could've had a Van Damme fighting game that pre-dated Mortal Kombat (that was rejected) and he even served as the inspiration of or at least helped serve as an initial model for Johnny Cage, but Van Damme ended up starring in a Street Fighter movie, LOL! I wonder if Van Damme intentionally did that Street Fighter movie because of that. I gotta admit, as very cheesy as that Street Fighter movie was, it is a guilty pleasure of mine. Don't judge me, LOL!
@@jermainemartinez8282 That's Interesting. I never knew that. It would've been cool if Van Damme were in the recent Mortal Kombat reboot movie or the upcoming sequel, but he's probably a bit too old to play Johnny Cage now. Oh well At least we get to see Karl Urban as Johnny Cage.
Always fun to see first-time reactions to movies I've seen so many times. Kickboxer, TIme Cop, and Street Fighter are some other Van Damme movies that I like. Drunken Master 2 (The Legend of Drunken Master) is my favorite Jackie Chan movie. I'll also recommend Revenge of the Ninja. There's only 4 Bruce Lee movies in existence so just watch them all lol. The Big Boss (Fists of Fury), Fist of Fury (The Chinese Connection), Way of the Dragon (Return of the Dragon), and Enter the Dragon. And when you're done with those PLEASE watch The Last Dragon!
Just a side note, you say the Volvo truck commercial was fake, it actually wasn't. If I recall they had a safety harness that is edited out just in case but otherwise everything about it was real. You can watch the making of it.
Fun fact about this movie guys. Ed boon, one of the creators of mortal combat, got the idea of mortal kombat from this movie. Jean Claude Van Damme clover is in inspiration big influence of the creation of Johnny cage.
Oh yeah! The movie that set off JVCD's action career. This and Kickboxer are probably his biggest films from that era BUT I really really love his movie Lionhart and Cyborg is also friggin' amazing so DEFINITELY watch at least the 3 I mentioned
Also, if you want to see a kind of spiritual successor/prequel to Bloodsport, then The Quest would be worth watching. A similar storyline, better fighting, and a better overall story. Watching the two movies close in time period to one another really shows off how similar yet different the 2 movies are.
@@LadoTsulukidze There's much more of a difference in story between Bloodsport and Kickboxer than there is between Bloodsport and The Quest. There's only a few similarities and most of them deal with the classic "hero must avenge someone" trope that was even more prevalent in 80s Action Movies. Other than that trope, basically the only similarities are JCVD's fighting style, showing off how limber he is, getting the girl, and JCVD being JCVD.
Great reaction. For more JCVD you should check out "Kickboxer" & "Lionheart". They're probably the most similar to "Bloodsport". "Lionheart" is my personal favorite. And for something a little different, I would suggest "Timecop", "Universal Soldier" (which also stars Dolph Lundgren), "Hard Target" & "Nowhere To Run". BTW in 2008, he released a movie where he plays himself in a fictional story where he stops bad guys in real life. It's just simply called "JCVD". He shows quite a personal side in this one and actually proves that he's a talented actor.
Kickboxer and lionheart, are a must watch for van dame. He also has lots of popular one like Double Impact, Hard Target, Universal Soldier. One similar to this one is The Quest.
Van Dammit he’s back…Kickboxer, Cyborg, Universal Soldier, Lionheart, Timecop, Hard Target, Double Impact, No Where to Run, The Quest. He’s also in The Expendables 3 if y’all haven’t watched any of them i would recommend watching butt watch the unrated or extended versions way better.
If you go through a Van Damme binge, you have to eventually watch JCVD (2008). A great character study that mixes Van Damme's life with fiction, a bit like the recent Cage movie.
Loved this reaction guys!... This movie and Kickboxer really planted a seed in me that stays to this day, I watched both when I was a teen back in the 90s and I was so impressed with JCVDs control and precision of his kicks that just like that I got into Taekwondo, that took me to the best shape of my life (mentally and physically) and to this day at 45 I still keep a pretty good shape and all that started because of those 2 movies.
"You not gonna call da cops?!?" has been a running quote among my friends for decades. Young Frank is truly one of the worst actors in history and cracks me up every time I see his performance.
This is something I didn't know. The guy that punched Chong Li at 1st fight of 2nd day (Suan Paredes) acted as Tong Po for next Van Damme movie, Kickboxer. Check it, I swear it's true.
The Volvo commercial is real., he actually did that, no CGI was used. But they did use a safety harness and other supports invisible to the camera to ensure that the actor would not fall down. And they did just one take. The planning of that shot took 5 months.
JCVD, as well as Jet Li, and Jackie Chan were HUGE inspirations as a kid for me to get into martial arts (and many others). If it wasn't for them, I might not have ever picked it up. All proficient martial artists and legends/pioneers of MA films, for sure. Van Damme more with American film (he's from Belgium, but acted in mostly American productions), and Li/Chan more with Chinese film. Later on in all of their careers, they became big enough to do entirely Hollywood productions (JCVD with movies like The Expendables, Li with movies like The One, and Chan with movies like Rush Hour). This movie, in particular, was HUGE for me, and I would watch it repeatedly as a youngun. Might feel like a bit of a time capsule in 2023, but I'm excited y'all are going on this journey! Better late than never, I always say. 😁 Since you did this JCVD reaction, might I suggest a Li film? "Fist of Legend" -- highly underrated Chinese film (and I suggest subtitles; the dubbing is bad by today's standards), but easily one of Li's best as far as action and story. Kacee: "I love martial arts films! I love the vibes of them. Does that make sense to anybody? There's vibes!" Yes! I know exactly what you mean! 😆♥ Edit: Almost forgot, first Bruce Lee movie HAS to be Enter the Dragon. In my opinion, it's his magnum opus.
OOOOHHH DAMME! OH YES. Cannon Films. Bloodsport was Van Damme's first lead role, followed by Cyborg, also from Cannon Films. Don't pay attention to the "facts" at the end there. The guy the movie is supposedly based on is considered a 'liar'. Really if this was real, nobody would speak about it anyway, if it was what it was.
The fighter who suffers the grotesquely broken leg is portrayed by Michael Qissi, a childhood friend of JCVD. He appears in several JCVD movies, usually as a menacing adversary. He portrays "Tiger" Tong PO in the Kickboxer series.
I still suggest if you two haven't watched it yet to see Jet Li's Fearless. It's based on a true story, the acting is top notch, and the fights are awesome. It's easily Jet Li's best movie from an acting standpoint, and is one of the best if not the best in terms of story. Once Upon a Time in China has some better fights, but not by much. I would definitely consider it a must watch. You will not be disappointed.
FYI, 'Kumite' is a Japanese term meaning 'meeting hands', in the context of testing skill. A sparring competition, basically. It doesn't mean 'deathmatch' or anything like that.
Absolutely love this movie lol it's got typical 80's cringe but that's what makes it so good, I watched this non-stop growing up after my Grandad first introduced me to martial arts movies with Enter The Dragon, been hooked ever since. Also, Paco is my favourite fighter, he would have destroyed Dux's rib cage with those muay thai kicks if they’d have had that rally for real lol
Chung li, (master bolo yeung) was a great actor of choice who took a line from Bruce Lee, from enter the dragon. Van Damm and bolo are still great friends after all this time.
The "muscles from brussels" is here! Other Van Damme classics he's best known for are Universal Soldier, AWOL, Kick Boxer, Time Cop and Street Fighter (based off the game).
Im 34 years old and I watched all his films growing up this dude was one of the best action guys in the late 90s-2000s Blood sport Kick Boxer Lion Heart Sudden Death Double Impact Universal Solider nowhere to run double team street fighter hard target like Seriously pick any of these movies if you enjoy him
This is Van Damme's best film and my favorite from him, so timeless and based on the true story of Frank Dux, who was a great martial artist. Thank you for reacting to this gem from the past. Kickboxer and Double Impact tie for second. Sudden Death is another good one. Nice reaction. More films starring Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, and Michelle Yeoh would be nice. I suggest for Jackie: Snake In The Eagle's Shadow, Rumble In The Bronx, First Strike, Police Story, Mr. Nice Guy, Operation Condor, Legend Of Drunken Master, Heart Of Dragon, Thunderbolt, Twin Dragons. Enter The Dragon should be your first Bruce Lee film.
this was 100% not based on an actual true story. Frank Dux has been debunked as a fraud a long long ago. He was a total fake and there are several verified sources that discredit all of this. Still best JVD movie
@@euj0. I remember being young and believed this was true, even the insane “facts” written at the end. But I still laughed my as$ off when out found out the truth of con-man Frank Dux. Hey, he even fooled Van-Damme for a little while. There’s a great episode about Dux and other well known martial arts conmen on Joe Rogan’s show. It’s a few years old but it’s hilarious.
Never heard anyone call Janice out as the true villain in this story but you're so right. Chong Li was obviously supposed to be the villain but he's just another fighter trying to win the kumite
That Volvo truck commercial was absolutely NOT faked. There were safety measures in place that you don't see, but that was real. Three days of rehearsals, and they nailed it in one take.
Frank Dux is a LEGENDARY bullshitter on par with the egomaniac Steven Segal, and this movie is basically a self-insert fanfic with no internal consistency, but it is still fun due to it's sheer charm. It takes itself seriously, but with JUST enough silliness to not be pretentious. Arnie played invulnerable supermen, Stallone played unfeasibly ripped everymen, but JCVD always had a goofy innocence to his roles. He wasn't afraid to cry, or be hurt, or lose in order to come back for the big finish at the end. Stallone was probably the strongest actor (Rambo First Blood, Rocky and Copland all feature amazing performances) but JCVD had charm. And of all the action stars at the time, he was the one who could genuinely could walk the walk, having an impressive record in national-level full-contact Karate and Kickboxing competition from an early age. Watching his movements here, you can see the proficiency and cleanness - he studied dance and ballet too, and it shows. I'm not his biggest fan, and he did some stupid things (a huge cocaine dependency that bankrupted him for example) but I'm glad he makes successful movies.
Oh, not forgetting that although the choreography is poor by modern standards, this features an impressive variety of martial arts styles that were relatively unknown at the time. In the 80's would an American audience have seen Capoeira, Sumo or animal style Kung Fu?
My big bros used to watch martial arts movies in late 80s and early 90s.. and of course I got my share of them :) We had this in VHS and I've seen it many times. The combat looked much better back then :)
One thing Jean Claude Van Damme isn't given much credit for is fighting Universal executives to hire legendary action director John Woo to direct Hard Target. Woo had made some extraordinary Hong Kong shoot 'em ups like Hard Boiled and The Killer, both starring Chow Yun Fat that elevated Chow to superstar status in Asia. Van Damme also had a hand in bringing other famed Hong Kong directors and talent to America, like Tsui Hark (Knock Off) and Ringo Lam (Maximum Risk), none that lasted as long as Woo. Bloodsport threw JCVD into the spotlight and begun his career as a man's man action star next to Arnold and Stallone.
Hollywood let Woo do his thing on Hard Target, that's more due to Sam Raimi as a producer. But after that, they wasted him. Broken Arrow and Face Off were good..but gimme Killer, Hard Boiled, or A Better Tomorrow any day.
@@JnEricsonx - Finally, someone who speaks English. True words. Studios started to hound Woo after that, trying to Americanize his directing process that exhausted him and thus making him leave back to Hong Kong to continue his career. In the states they gave Woo 30 some days to make his movies whereas the Hong Kong studios gave him upward of 90 days of shooting and you can see the difference. The tea shop and warehouse shoot outs in Hard Boiled are the best ever committed to film.
As a guy who grew up watching JCVD films, the fact that Kacee didn't even knew who he was, made me feel so old. He did so many good films in the 90's and I think you should make a playlist of them: Kickboxer, Universal Soldier, Sudden Death, Lionheart, Death Warrant, Timecop, Hard Target, Cyborg, Double Impact, etc. Trust me, you won't regret and will be a great journey.
I'm glad you like martial arts movies as well, it was obvious from your reaction, so I have to suggest two underrated masterpieces from this genre that I guarantee you'll like, one of which features Jean Claude Van Damme in his first role ever, playing the villain back then. 1. No Retreat, No Surrender (1985) 2. Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978)
Jean Claude Van Damme is a guilty pleasure. His movies are basically all the same, but I enjoy most of them. They remind me of, and this is a fun silly suggestion, Michael Dudikoff's "American Ninja." That is a classic and silly martial arts movie. Frank Dux is also the hilarious "real life inspiration" of Bloodsport. For an enjoyable rabbit hole, you can look into Frank Dux videos. Like, he literally claims he deserted his post in the military, went to a kumite and had no problems afterward. It's a crazy story.
If you liked Bloodsport, then his movie 'Kickboxer' is an absolute must. Ps Bloodsport 4K was recently released (looks great too!) in steelbook / non-steelbook format, with a full colour booklet and 2+ hours of extras! I'm hoping Kickboxer gets the similar treatment!
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Johnny Cage of Mortal Kombat was influenced by Van-Damme's stardom.
Originally Van-Damme was approached to be the character in the game.
1988-1999 is his feature film prime.
His films afterwards were straight to video or only released overseas.
I highly recommend JCVD (2008) and Expendables 2 (2012).
Watch "The Night Comes for Us " and "Headshot" there all staring Iko Uwais from The Raid movies 💡👍
One of my favorite movies
no this movie is not based on true events, frank dux is a consumate liar
@DosCavazos You should really watch The One. It's an earlier Jet Li movie with an awesome concept.
The actor playing Chong Li(villian) is a legend himself. You can find him back in the early 70s in Chinese Hercules or BRUCE LEEs Enter the Dragon.
Also Van Damn best friend
Also had a few cameos in Sammos movies... fought Brandon Lee in legacy of rage.
and his name is Bolo Yeung
And he once picked up Jackie Chan to swing around as a weapon against Bruce.
@@daemonredfield3211 Never heard that one. Cool!
Van Damme DID actually do the stunt between the two 18-wheelers, it wasn't faked or CGI'd. Not only was it real, they got it in one take. Volvo bragged about puling it off in one take, they were VERY proud of Van Damme for making them look so good with such an epic execution.
He was everywhere in the late 80s to mid 90s. Kickboxer, Lionheart, Death Warrant, Street Fighter(Guile), Timecop, Hard Target, Cyborg, Double Impact, Nowhere to Run, The Quest....seriously EVERYWHERE! 😂
and then returns for Expendables 2, as the main bad guy....
how could you leave out Universal Soldier with Dolph Lundgren
@@steamro11r You're right! 🤦♂️
If you can suspend your disbelief of all the laws of physics broken, then Time Cop is a grab popcorn and just have fun movie.
I had to google "Lionheart" - apparently, it was released under at least five different titles, I recognized "Full Contact" as the one I saw.
This movie will always make me cry just bc it’s the movie me and my grandfather watched all the time before he passed. Thank yall so much for reacting to this 🙏🏼
Kickboxer and Double Impact are must sees Van damme movies.
Universal Soldier 1992 as well
And Cyborg!!!
Definitely Kickboxer!!!👍👍👍
What's guilty about the pleasure this movie gives you?
Lionheart!!!!
That “splits” commercial wasn’t actually fake, there’s a whole behind the scenes on it. The point of it was to demonstrate how accurate the steering was on those trucks :)
Thank you so much for saying so. I definitely started scrolling through the comments to make sure at least someone pointed out its legitimacy.
Those captions at the end that said it was based on a true story were lies. This movie was the fabrication of the real life Frank Dux, and it was a way for him to promote his marital arts gym and videos. His imagination was inspired by real martial arts tournaments and history at least. This movie is still great because of how badass Jean-Claude Van Damme is.
This movie helped create the concept of Mortal Kombat so we should be appreciative that the fucker lied so well it created a good movie.
@@DaemonKeido Don't give him too much credit. The fact people have real martial arts tournaments could just as easily inspired a game like Mortal Kombat.
@@toddtaylor6506 Indeed and he is hardly the sole inspiration for Mortal Kombat, just the part of it being a tournament. We cannot forget Big Trouble In Little China for all the rest of the Weird Shit that MK is best known for.
Yeah, whether the story is true or not, is of little matter. The movie itself is so great, that it just being a movie script, doesn't take away from it's value. Bloodsport is in the "all time best" category of action movies.
Yeap! I remember reading it years after the movie came out on a martial arts magazine, it was sooo disappointing to martial artist that grew up watching this film.
As a 15 year old kid back in the day this movie rocked. Fast forward to my present 50-year-old self & this movie still rocks. :)
To this day, the most iconic movie line of all time - OK USA!!!
Finally!!!!! Van Damme is the 80s/90s martial arts action hero/cheese every youtube channel needs and im so excited you guys are finally on this now!!! Please do more of his movies !!!!
I whole-heartedly approve of this comment! I've followed Van Damme's career ever since No Retreat No Surrender. I did start to fall away once he started doing more and more straight-to-video movies much later in his career once martial arts movies really took a nose-dive in popularity, but I have started going back to watch them too and I do enjoy some of those movies as well. Dare I say, even some of his later straight-to-video movies (but not all) are even much better than the usual straight-to-video quality stuff.
Right! We want more Van Damne. Lionheart, Kickboxer, Hard Target, double Impact, Timecop, The Quest
Cyborg!
Did you say cheese?? This shit is pretty serious, the death scenes alone have to be rated R
And Bolo Yeung who played Chong Li is famous in his own right. Friends with Bruce Lee. This is one of my favorite movies.👍
Janice, the real villain of the film. 🤣
I absolutely love that take on this movie.
The line about the brick don't hit back is a call back to Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon. Bruce said that to a fighter in that movie. Also, the actor playing Chung Li, Bolo Yeung, was in that movie.
Lol!! I was just about to post the same thing you did. As soon as Bolo said that I instantly thought about Bruce saying "Boards don't hit back" to O'Hara.
Ah yes, very true.
dont spoil it
And Bolo Yeung isn't his real name. Look it up on Enter the Dragon. You don't know more than me.
@@jasonbourne5142 His name is not in a language that I understand. I bow down to your massive hubris. He's credited as Bolo. So, let's run with that.
Bolo Yeung uses Bruce Lee quote in his last film “Enter the Dragon” (1973) Bruce Lee said “Boards don’t hit back” and bolo uses it in honor of his friend Bruce Lee
This movie is so good and an absolute classic! Everybody loves JCVD of course, but Chong Li is definetely one of the greatest villains of martial arts movies!
Bolo Yeung had a great hong Kong career, where he was literally billed as "Chinese Hercules"
@@vincegamerUse to be in movies with Bruce Lee. Enter the Dragon.
If only he was taller he would have made an awesome incredible hulk!
@@hamhockbeans yes, but he was a side character there. He had his own starring roles
Enter The Dragon is the gold standard for martial arts films as this movie shares many similarities. Van Damme's charisma is evident right away and that sells the whole movie. Definitely need to check out Enter the Dragon. Oh, by the way, Chong Li is in that movie as well lol.
Frank Dux turned out to be a fraud, but it doesn't take away from the movie at all💯
I Agree Cause I Know It's True
The biggest fraud
True m8 crackin film
But dux was a bullshitter 🤣
i dunno there is billy mitchell out there too @@JD-df3zl
Frank Dux is a stolen Valor piece of crap liar. At least Van Damme fought and trained in Belgium. He's cool. I'm a Marine and Dux is a fraud.
Van damme is like 60 plus yrs old, n is Still in Great shape..n can still do the round house kicks n splits...d man is a Beast...n he was a Great Villian in Expandables 2 ....
This movie served as the inspiration for both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. The character of Johnny Cage was based off of Van Damn, himself
You mean frank dukes my guy
Nah, it was based off VD since he was legit an actor and so is Johnny
Street Fighter was made before this movie. It was actually inspired by "Enter The Dragon".
@@artem45 You're not one of these people who don't know Dux's story is complete bullshit, are you?
@@artem45 Sorry to tell you this, but Frank Dux is pretty much the world's biggest bullshit artist 😂
“He’s the R-Rated Mister Miyagi!”
Your banter made this so fun. 😂
When I was a kid my brother and I would rent this and Kickboxer on VHS all the time.
It's true events according to Frank Dux, nobody has proof this ever happened and most in the business have called him out to be a total phoney.
I am not sure what the movie is called in the U.S but I think its called Lionheart or just Lion, its probably my favourite JCVD movie and of course Kickboxer is also another classic.
It is called Lionheart in the US.
His claims don't even make sense. Like the one for most knockouts in a single tournament. In order to face that many people in one tournament would require over 1,000 rounds. In one tournament.
There's a video out there that shows how ridiculously stupid his claims are. Stuff that's easily disputable. Like if I said that I was a naval captain in Vietnam despite me also saying that I was born in 1977. It's seriously stuff like that.
@@John_Locke_108 Not to mention that doing the math results in millions of participants in a single tournament, which changed location multiple times over the years.
In a relatively recent interview he tried to resolve that point of his lie by saying that it wasn't a direct elimination competition so people fought multiple times over days. Which only means that he doesn't understand how full contact works and does to the body.
@@jeremywagler3426 Lionheart is a COMPLETLY different movie. similar premise but in that he goes AWOL from the foreign legion and ends up in an underground fight circut for rich people
@@jburgs100 They were referring to my suggested movie to watch. Here in the UK its called A.W.O.L but I know that in the U.S it was called something else.
this movie was one of the major inspirations for the Mortal Kombat series.
Love your reactions guys!!! Lionheart and Universal Soldier are definetly two JCVD movies that have a good story and good action in them
UNIVERSAL SOLDIER! What a classic. Good old cheese.
@@juanpabloloayza5921 NOW THAT'S THE SPIRIT SOLDIER!
Another good Van Dam movie is The Quest, similar setup but way better budget.
Also Timecop. Love that movie.
Jackie Chan 100% and not only the old old ones like Drunken Master but Police Story, Armour of God and Who am I? are all classics, specially the behind the scenes are golden
His signature move is the spinning roundhouse, splits in midair, looks fantastic
Awesome video guys...this is one of my top favorite nostalgic movies of all time and seeing someone enjoy it for the time as much as I did back in the day is pretty cool...fun times!
JCVD is a dope movie that doesn’t have the martial arts so much, that demonstrates his acting. It comes way later in his filmography but is an absolute must watch.
This is by far the best reaction for Bloodsport Ive seeing, the comments were hilarious, the comment at the end when she said Dux had a better connection with Jackson was epic 😆
Interesting perspective. I thought they commented too much and most of their comments seemed forced as if they thought they needed to say something every few seconds or the people watching would be upset.
35th anniversary was February of this year.
Van-Damme's 3rd film and star-making role.
Prior films with him were only in supporting roles.
After Bloodsport's success, he became known as "The muscles from Brussels".
This movie is indeed a classic of the genre.
Memorable story, great fight sequences and a guilty pleasure.
The original score of Paul Hertzog and the songs performed by Stan Bush are awesome.
The only downside of this is the story of Frank Dux as an martial artist proved to be a hoax.
The life he lived or the so-called world records he broke as an competitor in the Kumite were unreal.
There are 3 'straight to video' sequels.
But don't bother with them.
The first film is the best.
Daniel Bernhardt continued the role, with Jackson. But they didn't do well at all (not Bernhardt's fault). I watched them just out of principle. They were not HORRIBLE IMO, but they don't compare to this. Daniel, actually, is probably better known as the brother(?) of Vigo's John Wick's-dog-killing son. Wick chokes him to death and snaps his neck with his hands zip strapped.
@@andydorman2119 Daniel was also the "upgraded" agent Neo fights in Matrix Reloaded. Bernhardt also played Siro in the TV series Mortal Kombat Conquest.
@@alucard624 I did not follow the Moral Combat TV Series, it's always interesting to see a person playing many roles like that. He is a pretty good actor. I also just watched him play a bit part in Extraction 2.
Now I have to put BLOODSPORT Soundtrack in my playlist again... Such a banger!!
How is it that none of your generation's TH-cam reactors have reacted to anything with Chuck Norris? He was one of the top tier American pop culture icons back in the day. I always found his choreography to be a bit "meat and potatoes" simplistic, but he was a genuine household name. Even people who never watched martial arts action movies knew him. Also, he has a special place in my heart because when mt mom got a serious post-op infection after her bypass surgery and was failing to thrive, the first sign that the new treatment they were trying was actually going to save her life was when she had the energy to stay up past 8pm and wanted to watch "Walker, Texas Ranger."
1000% Agree !!!
One of my favorite movies of all time, and I loved both of your reactions. I laughed along with you.
Bloodspot was one of the movies that inspired Mortal Kombat, and it was initially supposed to be Jean-Claude Van Damme the game before development. Jean-Claude inspired the character of Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat. Also, Jean-Claude will voice Johnny Cage in the new MK1 game after so many years of rejecting to be part of MK
I took martial arts for a short time. I was in a KUK SOOL WON class. I was blown away by the power and strength these black belts had. They were seriously ripped and powerful. I was injured during sparring and had to take time off then had some financial set backs so I had to drop the classes. I only made it to yellow belt. In class you were either exercising, or learning moves or jogging in place on the balls of your feet! Pushups were done on your fingertips only! Two hours of intense workout! After each class I was soaked in sweat! I felt amazing! Everyone should try it once! I is fun! You find out what power really is and how to develop it! I saw these people do things that was incredible! The blackbelts came to our school with the grand master once. He is from Korea. These blackbelts did squats on one leg! 50 Squats per leg! I saw this! They had legs like tree trunks! Never mess with a martial arts black belt. Forget the movies. The real thing is something to behold!
You guys just made my day!! I love Van Damme films!! He's one of my favorite in a long line of action packed badass actors of the 80s and 90s lol
Also my name is Janice so I get to hear Van Damme say my name in this movie 😍
The music is what I recall from this from when I was a kid watching this on release. I’m rewatching this edit with you now. Looking forward to reminiscing
Man, I loved this movie as a kid.
Go watch the first 3 UFC events.
They were pretty much like this.
There were no judges, time limits or rounds. All fights had to be finished via knockout, submission or the opponent's corner throwing in the towel.
Almost no rules.
All different fighting styles.
Even decades later, I can still vividly remember Keith Hackney breaking his hand while beating down Emmanuel Yarbrough, a sumo wrestler who probably outweighed him by a good 400+ pounds. Early UFC was wild.
@@brand8246 It was amazing! I wonder how Hackney would have done if he didn't break his hand.
Hell yeah dude, those first few UFCs were awesome before everyone got all meta with their training!
All different styles going against each other and blood everywhere! It was a completely different vibe than the homogenized kickboxing/jiu-jitsu show we get now.
@@MadPhyn yup, Hackney was just swinging his whole damn arm like a club! When he dropped him with that palm strike... shit was crazy back in the day! My friend took Tae Kwon Do, one of his teachers was Cal Worsham, who was kicking the shit out of Paul Varleans until Big Paul elbowed him in the back of the head. That one was a bummer. But Cal... crazy fucker went *straight at* a giant of a man ... gave him all he could handle for a few glorious moments.
For Bruce Lee movies, most folks would say to watch “Enter the Dragon, which is a must watch. But I consider “The Chinese Connection” the movie with his best action.
The crazy thing about Bruce Lee is that many of his moves had to be slowed down post production because his kicks were so fast, they couldn’t be seen on camera otherwise.
Jean Claude Van Damm is The real life Johnny Cage
I find it pretty ironic that we could've had a Van Damme fighting game that pre-dated Mortal Kombat (that was rejected) and he even served as the inspiration of or at least helped serve as an initial model for Johnny Cage, but Van Damme ended up starring in a Street Fighter movie, LOL! I wonder if Van Damme intentionally did that Street Fighter movie because of that. I gotta admit, as very cheesy as that Street Fighter movie was, it is a guilty pleasure of mine. Don't judge me, LOL!
@@hanziggy6862 nothing wrong with that. I'm just glad he is gonna be in the new MK1 game with Johnny Cage having a Van Damm skin.
@@jermainemartinez8282 That's Interesting. I never knew that. It would've been cool if Van Damme were in the recent Mortal Kombat reboot movie or the upcoming sequel, but he's probably a bit too old to play Johnny Cage now. Oh well At least we get to see Karl Urban as Johnny Cage.
Always fun to see first-time reactions to movies I've seen so many times. Kickboxer, TIme Cop, and Street Fighter are some other Van Damme movies that I like. Drunken Master 2 (The Legend of Drunken Master) is my favorite Jackie Chan movie. I'll also recommend Revenge of the Ninja. There's only 4 Bruce Lee movies in existence so just watch them all lol. The Big Boss (Fists of Fury), Fist of Fury (The Chinese Connection), Way of the Dragon (Return of the Dragon), and Enter the Dragon. And when you're done with those PLEASE watch The Last Dragon!
I’m so glad you’re watching this! Great old movie of his.
Guys, thank you for genuine and awesome reaction video. This is my favorite childhood movie
Just a side note, you say the Volvo truck commercial was fake, it actually wasn't. If I recall they had a safety harness that is edited out just in case but otherwise everything about it was real. You can watch the making of it.
Came here to say this very thing
Also same
Fun fact about this movie guys. Ed boon, one of the creators of mortal combat, got the idea of mortal kombat from this movie. Jean Claude Van Damme clover is in inspiration big influence of the creation of Johnny cage.
Oh yeah! The movie that set off JVCD's action career. This and Kickboxer are probably his biggest films from that era BUT I really really love his movie Lionhart and Cyborg is also friggin' amazing so DEFINITELY watch at least the 3 I mentioned
Don't forget timecop
Bloodsport is those movies that raised me growing up. Such a classic!
Also, if you want to see a kind of spiritual successor/prequel to Bloodsport, then The Quest would be worth watching. A similar storyline, better fighting, and a better overall story. Watching the two movies close in time period to one another really shows off how similar yet different the 2 movies are.
Also kickboxer is kind of almost same exact story
@@LadoTsulukidze There's much more of a difference in story between Bloodsport and Kickboxer than there is between Bloodsport and The Quest.
There's only a few similarities and most of them deal with the classic "hero must avenge someone" trope that was even more prevalent in 80s Action Movies. Other than that trope, basically the only similarities are JCVD's fighting style, showing off how limber he is, getting the girl, and JCVD being JCVD.
While not a JCVD movie check out Master of the flying guillotine with Jimmy Wang Yu.
One of my favorite movies, since the 90s.
VanDame is also famous for Kickboxer, Double Impact and a lesser degree Time Cop. Gotta love the Johnny Cage move
You guys are super fun - love the commentary and laughs! Thanks for the vid!
Great reaction. For more JCVD you should check out "Kickboxer" & "Lionheart". They're probably the most similar to "Bloodsport". "Lionheart" is my personal favorite. And for something a little different, I would suggest "Timecop", "Universal Soldier" (which also stars Dolph Lundgren), "Hard Target" & "Nowhere To Run". BTW in 2008, he released a movie where he plays himself in a fictional story where he stops bad guys in real life. It's just simply called "JCVD". He shows quite a personal side in this one and actually proves that he's a talented actor.
That Van dam with the trucks commercial was actually real
Kickboxer and lionheart, are a must watch for van dame. He also has lots of popular one like Double Impact, Hard Target, Universal Soldier. One similar to this one is The Quest.
Van Dammit he’s back…Kickboxer, Cyborg, Universal Soldier, Lionheart, Timecop, Hard Target, Double Impact, No Where to Run, The Quest. He’s also in The Expendables 3 if y’all haven’t watched any of them i would recommend watching butt watch the unrated or extended versions way better.
If you go through a Van Damme binge, you have to eventually watch JCVD (2008). A great character study that mixes Van Damme's life with fiction, a bit like the recent Cage movie.
Loved this reaction guys!... This movie and Kickboxer really planted a seed in me that stays to this day, I watched both when I was a teen back in the 90s and I was so impressed with JCVDs control and precision of his kicks that just like that I got into Taekwondo, that took me to the best shape of my life (mentally and physically) and to this day at 45 I still keep a pretty good shape and all that started because of those 2 movies.
"You not gonna call da cops?!?" has been a running quote among my friends for decades. Young Frank is truly one of the worst actors in history and cracks me up every time I see his performance.
Old Frank isn't much better. Fun film because of the fights, but I've seen better acting in middle school productions of Macbeth.
This is something I didn't know. The guy that punched Chong Li at 1st fight of 2nd day (Suan Paredes) acted as Tong Po for next Van Damme movie, Kickboxer. Check it, I swear it's true.
I would suggest the most iconic martial arts movie starring Bruce Lee…”Enter The Dragon!”
The Volvo commercial is real., he actually did that, no CGI was used. But they did use a safety harness and other supports invisible to the camera to ensure that the actor would not fall down. And they did just one take. The planning of that shot took 5 months.
Vibes yes! Due to the fact its all 80's. Pure nostalgia.
JCVD, as well as Jet Li, and Jackie Chan were HUGE inspirations as a kid for me to get into martial arts (and many others). If it wasn't for them, I might not have ever picked it up. All proficient martial artists and legends/pioneers of MA films, for sure. Van Damme more with American film (he's from Belgium, but acted in mostly American productions), and Li/Chan more with Chinese film. Later on in all of their careers, they became big enough to do entirely Hollywood productions (JCVD with movies like The Expendables, Li with movies like The One, and Chan with movies like Rush Hour).
This movie, in particular, was HUGE for me, and I would watch it repeatedly as a youngun. Might feel like a bit of a time capsule in 2023, but I'm excited y'all are going on this journey! Better late than never, I always say. 😁
Since you did this JCVD reaction, might I suggest a Li film? "Fist of Legend" -- highly underrated Chinese film (and I suggest subtitles; the dubbing is bad by today's standards), but easily one of Li's best as far as action and story.
Kacee: "I love martial arts films! I love the vibes of them. Does that make sense to anybody? There's vibes!"
Yes! I know exactly what you mean! 😆♥
Edit: Almost forgot, first Bruce Lee movie HAS to be Enter the Dragon. In my opinion, it's his magnum opus.
If you watch Enter the Dragon next, you'll get the reference from Chong Li saying "Brick don't hit back."
OOOOHHH DAMME! OH YES. Cannon Films. Bloodsport was Van Damme's first lead role, followed by Cyborg, also from Cannon Films. Don't pay attention to the "facts" at the end there. The guy the movie is supposedly based on is considered a 'liar'. Really if this was real, nobody would speak about it anyway, if it was what it was.
Yoo awesome reaction , I'm showing my wife you guy's videos and she is liking them so far.
The fighter who suffers the grotesquely broken leg is portrayed by Michael Qissi, a childhood friend of JCVD. He appears in several JCVD movies, usually as a menacing adversary. He portrays "Tiger" Tong PO in the Kickboxer series.
Yep, Chongli broke TongPo’s shin bone
The best martial arts movie EVER !
I still suggest if you two haven't watched it yet to see Jet Li's Fearless. It's based on a true story, the acting is top notch, and the fights are awesome. It's easily Jet Li's best movie from an acting standpoint, and is one of the best if not the best in terms of story. Once Upon a Time in China has some better fights, but not by much. I would definitely consider it a must watch. You will not be disappointed.
@@Prime300_ They have watched Jet Li before on the Channel.
I agree with recommending Fearless. It’s one of the best martial arts movies.
Then also crouching tiger
And Hero.
@@patinho5589 They've seen both Hero and Crouching Tiger. They're on the Channel if you haven't seen them.
FYI, 'Kumite' is a Japanese term meaning 'meeting hands', in the context of testing skill. A sparring competition, basically. It doesn't mean 'deathmatch' or anything like that.
Absolutely love this movie lol it's got typical 80's cringe but that's what makes it so good, I watched this non-stop growing up after my Grandad first introduced me to martial arts movies with Enter The Dragon, been hooked ever since. Also, Paco is my favourite fighter, he would have destroyed Dux's rib cage with those muay thai kicks if they’d have had that rally for real lol
Always thought Paco Looked like Vlade Divac who used to play for the Lakers.
Great choice, literally one of my favorite movies of all time, I was obsessed with it as a kid.
This is so 80's. Power ballads, training montages, and my first exposure to MMA before UFC was even a thing. Love the reaction guys!
Chung li, (master bolo yeung) was a great actor of choice who took a line from Bruce Lee, from enter the dragon. Van Damm and bolo are still great friends after all this time.
Classic!!!
22:50 Thats where Johnny Cage got the move for Mortal Kombat.
Frank lied about all this!!
The splits in that truck comercial was real actually
The "muscles from brussels" is here! Other Van Damme classics he's best known for are Universal Soldier, AWOL, Kick Boxer, Time Cop and Street Fighter (based off the game).
Im 34 years old and I watched all his films growing up this dude was one of the best action guys in the late 90s-2000s
Blood sport
Kick Boxer
Lion Heart
Sudden Death
Double Impact
Universal Solider
nowhere to run
double team
street fighter
hard target
like Seriously pick any of these movies if you enjoy him
This is Van Damme's best film and my favorite from him, so timeless and based on the true story of Frank Dux, who was a great martial artist. Thank you for reacting to this gem from the past. Kickboxer and Double Impact tie for second. Sudden Death is another good one. Nice reaction. More films starring Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, and Michelle Yeoh would be nice. I suggest for Jackie: Snake In The Eagle's Shadow, Rumble In The Bronx, First Strike, Police Story, Mr. Nice Guy, Operation Condor, Legend Of Drunken Master, Heart Of Dragon, Thunderbolt, Twin Dragons. Enter The Dragon should be your first Bruce Lee film.
I had just turned 14 when this movie came out. And thought it was the greatest thing since big trouble I little China, which came out 2 years prior.
this was 100% not based on an actual true story. Frank Dux has been debunked as a fraud a long long ago. He was a total fake and there are several verified sources that discredit all of this. Still best JVD movie
Frank Dux turned out to be a Fraud but still a good movie.
Lmao, this has got to be a troll post. Frank Dux made all this up, and he can't even fight
@@euj0. I remember being young and believed this was true, even the insane “facts” written at the end. But I still laughed my as$ off when out found out the truth of con-man Frank Dux. Hey, he even fooled Van-Damme for a little while. There’s a great episode about Dux and other well known martial arts conmen on Joe Rogan’s show. It’s a few years old but it’s hilarious.
The splits between the 2 semi trucks is actually 100 percent real
Never heard anyone call Janice out as the true villain in this story but you're so right. Chong Li was obviously supposed to be the villain but he's just another fighter trying to win the kumite
That Volvo truck commercial was absolutely NOT faked. There were safety measures in place that you don't see, but that was real. Three days of rehearsals, and they nailed it in one take.
Take “based on true events” with a grain of salt.
A whole truck full of salt.
The two 18 wheeler stunt was actually done for real:)
Van Damme signature moves are the splits and the helicopter kick
Frank Dux is a LEGENDARY bullshitter on par with the egomaniac Steven Segal, and this movie is basically a self-insert fanfic with no internal consistency, but it is still fun due to it's sheer charm. It takes itself seriously, but with JUST enough silliness to not be pretentious.
Arnie played invulnerable supermen, Stallone played unfeasibly ripped everymen, but JCVD always had a goofy innocence to his roles. He wasn't afraid to cry, or be hurt, or lose in order to come back for the big finish at the end. Stallone was probably the strongest actor (Rambo First Blood, Rocky and Copland all feature amazing performances) but JCVD had charm.
And of all the action stars at the time, he was the one who could genuinely could walk the walk, having an impressive record in national-level full-contact Karate and Kickboxing competition from an early age. Watching his movements here, you can see the proficiency and cleanness - he studied dance and ballet too, and it shows. I'm not his biggest fan, and he did some stupid things (a huge cocaine dependency that bankrupted him for example) but I'm glad he makes successful movies.
Oh, not forgetting that although the choreography is poor by modern standards, this features an impressive variety of martial arts styles that were relatively unknown at the time. In the 80's would an American audience have seen Capoeira, Sumo or animal style Kung Fu?
The soundtrack in this movie, among everything else, is pure magic. 👌👌
Bloodsport is my absolute favorite movie of all time. This video popped up on my feed watched and love both of your reactions! New subscriber 🙋♂️
Even though it's NOT a true story as they imply at the end of the movie, it's still a super fun watch!
My big bros used to watch martial arts movies in late 80s and early 90s.. and of course I got my share of them :) We had this in VHS and I've seen it many times. The combat looked much better back then :)
I always liked Kickboxer more. The tree kick training, his bar dance, the glass fist fights. Those will always live in my head lol
When he sliced the brim of his cap and said you didn't flinch, I was like "I didn't have time to flinch".
Great movie, but the fact Frank made all this up is hilarious 😂
One thing Jean Claude Van Damme isn't given much credit for is fighting Universal executives to hire legendary action director John Woo to direct Hard Target. Woo had made some extraordinary Hong Kong shoot 'em ups like Hard Boiled and The Killer, both starring Chow Yun Fat that elevated Chow to superstar status in Asia. Van Damme also had a hand in bringing other famed Hong Kong directors and talent to America, like Tsui Hark (Knock Off) and Ringo Lam (Maximum Risk), none that lasted as long as Woo.
Bloodsport threw JCVD into the spotlight and begun his career as a man's man action star next to Arnold and Stallone.
Hollywood let Woo do his thing on Hard Target, that's more due to Sam Raimi as a producer. But after that, they wasted him. Broken Arrow and Face Off were good..but gimme Killer, Hard Boiled, or A Better Tomorrow any day.
@@JnEricsonx - Finally, someone who speaks English. True words.
Studios started to hound Woo after that, trying to Americanize his directing process that exhausted him and thus making him leave back to Hong Kong to continue his career. In the states they gave Woo 30 some days to make his movies whereas the Hong Kong studios gave him upward of 90 days of shooting and you can see the difference. The tea shop and warehouse shoot outs in Hard Boiled are the best ever committed to film.
@@antoinesandovalYup. Had a legend and didn't let him do as he liked.
As a guy who grew up watching JCVD films, the fact that Kacee didn't even knew who he was, made me feel so old. He did so many good films in the 90's and I think you should make a playlist of them: Kickboxer, Universal Soldier, Sudden Death, Lionheart, Death Warrant, Timecop, Hard Target, Cyborg, Double Impact, etc. Trust me, you won't regret and will be a great journey.
I'm glad you like martial arts movies as well, it was obvious from your reaction, so I have to suggest two underrated masterpieces from this genre that I guarantee you'll like, one of which features Jean Claude Van Damme in his first role ever, playing the villain back then.
1. No Retreat, No Surrender (1985)
2. Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978)
This is the OG Mortal Kombat.
Jean Claude Van Damme is a guilty pleasure. His movies are basically all the same, but I enjoy most of them. They remind me of, and this is a fun silly suggestion, Michael Dudikoff's "American Ninja." That is a classic and silly martial arts movie.
Frank Dux is also the hilarious "real life inspiration" of Bloodsport. For an enjoyable rabbit hole, you can look into Frank Dux videos. Like, he literally claims he deserted his post in the military, went to a kumite and had no problems afterward. It's a crazy story.
Jackie chan's rumble in the Bronx has some of the craziest fight scenes you'll ever see!
If you liked Bloodsport, then his movie 'Kickboxer' is an absolute must. Ps Bloodsport 4K was recently released (looks great too!) in steelbook / non-steelbook format, with a full colour booklet and 2+ hours of extras! I'm hoping Kickboxer gets the similar treatment!