Bloodsport
1988 Directed by Newt Arnold
Synopsis
The true story of an American ninja.
Frank Dux has entered the "kumite", an illegal underground martial-arts competition where serious injury and even death are not unknown. Chong Li, a particularly ruthless and vicious fighter is the favorite, but then again Dux has not fought him yet.
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Popular reviews
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Depending on which of the two types of martial arts movie plot you prefer (fighting your way through a tournament to avenge the death/injury of your friend/relative or learning a new martial arts technique from an old master to avenge the death/injury of your friend/relative) then either this or Kickboxer is Van Damme's best film. Although he should have won two best actor Oscars for Double Impact, obviously.
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Van Damme is this cheesy, but Van Dammit it's fun too.
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After watching this for the first time, me and my cousin had a kumite in my grandparent's living room which resulted in him getting a bloody nose and the pair of us getting told off.
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Bolo Yeung's dancing pecs, exploding bricks, amazing theme song, a bemused Forest Whittaker, Van Damme's exceptionally high-waisted trousers.... what's not to love?
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Back in the 1980's your action stars were usually big guys with just as big guns, like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone being the the two main go tos. Then when Bloodsport came out we got Jean-Claude Van Damme who burst onto the scene in a big way. He may not of been as big as the others but it was his martial arts skills that made him a action star.
In Bloodsport Van Damme plays Frank Dux a military man who enters the secret martial arts tournament called The Kumite that only the best, and deadliest, fighters in the world compete. In the tournament it is the norm for fighters to get seriously injuried and sometimes even killed. Once…
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Been a LONG time since I've seen this. The whole tournament break-down is very familiar nowadays through lots of other films, tv, games etc, but along with the Mortal Kombat movie and Kickboxer (which I'd never seen the whole of), this was one of my first real introductions to that structure on film, way back when. Although much of the specific detail of the film I had forgotten, I could still remember bits like the cheesy music, the goofy annoying cop who is in HK to bring JCVD back to the US army, and of course his general air of awesome.
The fight scenes were really well choreographed and the characters entertaining or menacing, depending on which of the two…
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Seeing something like this in the theaters in the days before the interwebs was torture for a young film fan. The epilogue text listing his records showed the fastest punch. WTF? I needed to see more. Of course, I also would have learned that most of his stories were bullshit. He's the poor man's Steven Seagal. There's no denying Van Damme's charisma, but this movie sucks. It's now more enjoyable as a cult movie to be mined for laughs. Check the interwebs. I hear tell there are some funny people on it.
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Entertaining and hilarious as always. This was the kickoff to our 4 film BLOODSPOT marathon, Kumite Day. #DonaldGibb4Ever
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After watching this for the first time, me and my cousin had a kumite in my grandparent's living room which resulted in him getting a bloody nose and the pair of us getting told off.
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This movie is terrible, but it's the special kind of eighties terrible that makes it immensely fun to watch. Recommended to watch with friends, but do not go into it expecting a legitimately decent movie, just an entertainingly bad one.
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This is it. The movie that made Van Damme a star and one of Cannon's best efforts. The writing is terrible, the acting is passable at best, but this movie has a certain kind of heart that just doesn't exist in the movies anymore. It is intangible, for sure, but just watch it once and see if you don't agree. Beyond that, the tone and atmosphere are perfect throughout and it features some vintage sappy eighties songs by Stan Bush. The Hong Kong setting is also used to great effect.
The fighting is fantastic. This movie is afflicted with that strange eighties obsession with homoerotic fight scenes and action stars, what with everyone oiled up and some shots made exclusively…
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Just Van Damme kicking ass!
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otros de los actores unicos haciendo sus peliculas, e visto el 80% de las peliculas de JCVD y cada unas de ellas son buenas, esta es una de mis favoritas
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Back in the 1980's your action stars were usually big guys with just as big guns, like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone being the the two main go tos. Then when Bloodsport came out we got Jean-Claude Van Damme who burst onto the scene in a big way. He may not of been as big as the others but it was his martial arts skills that made him a action star.
In Bloodsport Van Damme plays Frank Dux a military man who enters the secret martial arts tournament called The Kumite that only the best, and deadliest, fighters in the world compete. In the tournament it is the norm for fighters to get seriously injuried and sometimes even killed. Once…
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Bolo Yeung used to scare the shit out of me when I was a kid.