Kickboxer
1989 Directed by Mark DiSalle, David Worth
Synopsis
An Ancient Sport Becomes A Deadly Game.
If your enemy refusesito be humbled... Destroy him. Accompanied by his brother Kurt (Van Damme), American kickboxing champion Eric Sloane (Dennis Alexio), arrives in Thailand to defeat the Eastern warriors at their own sport. His opponent: ruthless fighter and Thai champion, Tong Po. Tong not only defeats Eric, he paralyzes him for life. Crazed with anger, Kurt vows revenge. After a crash cours
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A long time ago in a council flat on the south coast of England, 7 floors up, a young man clad only in white karate pants and white t-shirt practises his side kicks against the bedroom wall. A sand bag has been haphazardly screwed to the wall and the occasional thud of each kick striking the canvas pouch reverberates along the corridor. Luckily no one else is home, except for his pet gerbils. The pair of black Egyptian gerbils housed in their glass tank are wary and refuse to leave the comfort of their den, as the floorboards flex and creak a little too easily. The young fighters’ sidekicks continue to dig deep into the target. A young man inspired…
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I once met a guy who told me he didn't like Kickboxer. I wasn't sure whether to roundhouse kick him in the face or tell him that his tampon string was showing. I settled for kneeing him repeatedly in the ribs while shrieking incomprehensibly into his face.
Kickboxer tells the story of a US kickboxing champion who decides to compete in Thailand. He refuses to read the rules to Thai kickboxing, citing awesomeness as his reason, and is paralysed in his first Muay Thai bout by maniac and spine-elbower Tong Po. Then Jean Claude Van Damme kicks everyone in the face for 80 minutes. -
What can I say? If you like watching JCVD kick people in the face, whilst wearing short shorts, set against the soundtrack of awesomely eighties dated power ballads, then this is the film for you.
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The soundtrack is something else and the whole experience feels like visiting a lost relic of civilization. This is a time capsule film for distant future intelligence to examine under a microscope, if they feel so inclined to analyze the 80s in a nutshell.
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Kickboxer brings obvious comparisons to Bloodsport and in that respect it is not as good, at least to my tastes. That said, Kickboxer is a respectable martial arts Van Damme film. As with Bloodsport the writing is bad, the plot is thin, and the acting is atrocious but do you watch Kickboxer for Shakespearean performances or Kafka writing? No, you watch it for the Kickboxing and inevitable training sequences - this film delivers both. I think the main issue is that people don't seem to understand that films need to be judged on different scales. If I gave The Fireman's Ball or A Short Film About Killing four or five stars then yes, Kickboxer would get a half star on…
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Van Damme has some impressive dance moves.
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Kickboxer brings obvious comparisons to Bloodsport and in that respect it is not as good, at least to my tastes. That said, Kickboxer is a respectable martial arts Van Damme film. As with Bloodsport the writing is bad, the plot is thin, and the acting is atrocious but do you watch Kickboxer for Shakespearean performances or Kafka writing? No, you watch it for the Kickboxing and inevitable training sequences - this film delivers both. I think the main issue is that people don't seem to understand that films need to be judged on different scales. If I gave The Fireman's Ball or A Short Film About Killing four or five stars then yes, Kickboxer would get a half star on…
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7.0/10
Movies like Kickboxer don't pretend to be great films, have nothing else in mind but to entertain audiences in the most obvious way, don't even try to be shocking or surprising because right from the beginning, from the very first moment you take a quick glance at the poster, you know exactly what's going to happen and there's no way movies like these can ever surprise you.
When someone's looking for some mindless entertainment and for something cool and dumb to watch, films such as these are completely irresistible. Once in a while, I enjoy watching this kind of movies and since Kickboxer is a fine example of it, I must confess I liked it and had a really nice time with it.
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Van Damme has some impressive dance moves.
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Paul Hertzog is seriously one underrated composer. Kickboxer and Bloodsport soundtracks are fucking awesome. Goooooooooooood fuck!
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What can I say? If you like watching JCVD kick people in the face, whilst wearing short shorts, set against the soundtrack of awesomely eighties dated power ballads, then this is the film for you.
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Utter trash for a late Saturday night , but what fun trash , boy they don't make them like this anymore.
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I still love watching this movie, it has a high entertainment value and it's a very easy watch. One of Van Damme's finest IMO.
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The soundtrack is something else and the whole experience feels like visiting a lost relic of civilization. This is a time capsule film for distant future intelligence to examine under a microscope, if they feel so inclined to analyze the 80s in a nutshell.
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A long time ago in a council flat on the south coast of England, 7 floors up, a young man clad only in white karate pants and white t-shirt practises his side kicks against the bedroom wall. A sand bag has been haphazardly screwed to the wall and the occasional thud of each kick striking the canvas pouch reverberates along the corridor. Luckily no one else is home, except for his pet gerbils. The pair of black Egyptian gerbils housed in their glass tank are wary and refuse to leave the comfort of their den, as the floorboards flex and creak a little too easily. The young fighters’ sidekicks continue to dig deep into the target. A young man inspired…