Bloodsport

1988 Directed by Newt Arnold

The true story of an American ninja.

U.S. soldier Frank Dux has come to Hong Kong to be accepted into the Kumite, a highly secret and extremely violent martial arts competition. While trying to gain access into the underground world of clandestine fighters, he also has to avoid military officers who consider him to be AWOL. After enduring a difficult training and beginning a romance with journalist Janice Kent, Frank is given the opportunity to fight. But can he survive?

Jean-Claude Van Damme Bolo Yeung Sze Donald Gibb Leah Ayres Norman Burton Forest Whitaker Roy Chiao Philip Chan Yan-Kin Ken Siu Paulo Tocha Pierre Rafini Kimo Lai Kwok Ki Bill Yuen Ping Kuen Shun-Yin Leung Joshua Schroder John Cheung Ng-Long

Alternative Titles

Bloodsport I, Кровавый спорт, Véres játék, Bloodsport - Eine wahre Geschichte, Contacto Sangriento, 투혼

action

92 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by DirkH ★★★★★ 18

Awfully acted piece of Belgian cheese with too many muscles and people doing splits whenever they get the chance fighting in ridiculous styles (monkey fu!) bashing each other's skulls in (which is pretty violent for a film directed by a guy called Newt) hitting every trope imaginable in the worst kind of way.
I have now seen it seven times.
Review by Ethan Colburn ★★½ 4

Did you know Jean-Claude Van Damme can do the splits?! Don’t worry, he’ll remind you every 5 minutes
Review by Wood ★★★★★ 7

As a JCVD connoisseur and 80's action trash enthusiast I hold Bloodsport in high regard. A crowning achievement in fight tournament movies and a young Jean-Claude at his physical peak.
There's a part at the beginning where a kid plays a young JCVD and he does the stupid accent perfectly, it was oscar worthy.
Splits, Ass and KUMITE!
Review by Naughty aka Juli Norwood ★★★★★ 13

I recall ordering this "based on the true story of Frank Dux" martial arts film for my brother's video store back in the day! It's my favorite Jean-Claude Van Damme film BTW!
If you can get through the first 10 minutes of the hokiest, cheesiest crapola to ever be witnessed onscreen you will be rewarded with an awesome variety of unique martial arts fighting styles and one of the most formidable villains ever in the form of Chong Li (Bolo Yeung)!
Review by josh lewis ★★★ 1

for a clear riff on Enter the Dragon it's a real shame that the fight scenes aren't particularly well choreographed, shot or edited really but between the romantic 80s music and the incredibly broad emotions i was surprised to find myself not really caring that much and genuinely enjoying the downtime between the fights even. it helps that van damme is just incredible to look at no matter what he's doing. also despite the insane number of 2nd-unit crowd reaction shots the climactic fight is sort of moving.
Review by Ben Hibburd ★★★★★ 18

I fucking love this film. This was one of my most watched VHS tapes growing up as a kid. I used to try and aspire to the ideology that JCVD lives by in the film and practice his moves. Looking back now I can't stop cringing but this film was influential during my childhood and goddamn it, this film is still so much fun!
I used to quote this film religiously, and here are some of the best ones:
"OKAY USA!"
"Now I show you some trick or two"
"You break my record, now I break you, like I break your friend!"
"You Jackson? You look like a Jackson"
"You are next!"
"Time to separate the men from the boys"…
Review by Fight Professor ★★★★ 1

Frank Dux, the grandmaster of bullshido. The fact that this is supposed to be based on true events is the biggest joke in film history. I can't deny that it is entertaining as fuck though.
Review by Scott Tobias ★★½

I’ve seen so many Van Damme movies but never this, the one that made him a star. Quality folding-laundry-on-a-Saturday- night fare, in the tradition of rock-headed, xenophobic, but highly watchable Cannon productions. JCVD is a beauty, too. In the obligatory romance with a scorching blonde, he’s the one who gets the nude scene.
Review by C4rlo5 ★★★★½ 2

This is one of the most popular action movies of Jean-Claude Van Damme and also one of his earliest, it’s such a great martial arts movie!
It’s based on the life of an American martial artist called Frank W. Dux, there are true parts and also fiction ones, although there are people that question the veracity of the story.
It’s about an U.S. army captain, Frank Dux, who is trained by Senzo Tanaka, who teaches him everything he knows about ninjutsu and how, after that, he aspires to be the champion of the “Kumite”, a full contact private championship that takes place in Hong Kong, in honor of his sensei, Tanaka.
This movie is such a great portrayal of contact sports, where…
Review by Geoff T ★★★½ 4

What a complete and utter cheesefest, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Jean Claude Van Damme was already a widely accomplished martial artist, so of course Cannon Films saw this as an opportunity to try and turn him into a movie star. Bloodsport claims to be "based on a true story", but how much of what's depicted is true is debatable.
JCVD plays the role of a U.S army captain named Frank Dux, who travels to Hong Kong to compete in a deadly fighting tournament known as Kumite to honor the memory of his mentor's son, all while he is pursued by two military superiors. He has the support of fellow Americans Ray and journalist Jan Kent (who later…
Review by <Todd> ★★★★ 1

"I heard that Kumite could get you killed" - Trainer,
- JCVD Ranked: boxd.it/1ufiY
What is the referee there for?
Ah Bloodsport, the story of a young military man who enters a secret underground fighting tournament in Hong Kong. The tourney is called the Kumite and it is the most important tourney in the world that no one is supposed to know about but everyone does for some reason. Why does he enter? How will he do? Well that's what the movie is about... that and literal ass kicking. I love Jean-Claude Van Damme as an actor, fighter and person. I love him more than you do and I'll fight you for that. I'll be honest with him and tell…
Review by Travis Lytle ★★½ 5

A bad film with a heart of gold, Newt Arnold's "Bloodsport" is a lot of fun despite its dubious acting, story, and production elements. A fast-moving action film with an earnest tone, it is hard not to root for the Cannon production even when the filmmaking produces grimaces.
The plot is a tangled mass of flashbacks, martial arts competitions, and manhunts. As entertainingly violent as it is muddled, the story is pretty much inconsequential; the audience is here for the blood sport.
That blood sport, with its teeth-kicking, neck-breaking energy, makes the film watchable. Leading man, Jean-Claude Van Damme, all muscles and Euro-handsomeness, makes a go of his early action outing. His line delivery may be faulty, but his martial…

Recent reviews

Review by Tim Costa from the First Time Watchers Podcast ★★★

Van Damme is an absolute physical specimen. How anyone can look and move so good is beyond me. Surely he must’ve stood in front of mirrors most of the day, admiring himself. Hot damn. Or should I say “hot Damme”.
Pretty standard fair when it comes to martial arts tournament films, highlighted by Van Damme, Bolo Yeung, and an extremely entertaining Donald Gibb (Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds?!).
Amazing soundtrack. Fight to Survive is now an all-timer in my mind m, as it should be, considering Stan Bush also performed The Touch for the animated Transformers film.
Amusing how the first 15-20 minutes of this is made up almost entirely of flashbacks that keep cutting to Van Damme’s face as he’s…
Review by Rongas2112 ★★★★

A great way to warm up for the new Mortal Kombat movie, even though it will probably pale in comparison to this.
Review by Matthew ★★★

Thought this and Road House were the same film for the first 20 minutes
Review by HarvieSlater ★★★½

Werner herzog would love this
Review by TH_AshJW ★★★

My rating is converted from my initial rating system:
3 Stars = 7,5 / 10
Review by megabeardo ★★★★

Drinking game idea: take a shot every time JCVD does a split.
Review by Anthony ★★★½ 1

80s action trash
Best way to describe this film but being drunk af when I was watching it (to the point where I’d spent a solid ten minutes laughing beforehand with my mate over the word kachow) sheer nostalgia vibes alone made it feel like a top movie
They also spend half the time looking like their trying to impersonate the velociraptors in Jurassic Park and I love it
It’s pure shit but it’s my pure shit
Review by Ivica_Pusticki ★★★★ 2

So...my 8-year-old son and I decided to watch a movie together...just a two of us, without female family members...basically a manly movie night lol
Like any other dad I guess, I wanted to show him something from my childhood...something that I grew up watching and loving . So I picked BLOODSPORT!
BLOODSPORT is one of my earliest movie memories! Probably wasn't the first movie I ever watched, but nevertheless, its one of the first movies I remember watching as a kid. Or maybe was KICKBOXER, I'm not sure lol
Either way...we watched it...and...it was great! Kid loved it, and we had a great time watching it.
As for the movie itself...well...I always loved BLOODSPORT, and I was always a huge…
Review by Eros ★★

Newt, my man, I see the vision, but what the hell was this?
It was somewhat enjoyable though.
Review by Arthur Binello ★★★★

+ Basic but entertaining story
+ Great fights
+ Unintentional humor in the acting
+ Lovable characters
- Bad acting
- Not much happens
- Some unnecessary/underdeveloped scenes
- Bad dialogue
Review by Neil Wadhwa ★★★

dear hollywood: where’s my bloodsport x karate kid crossover movie?
Review by Muscat ★★★½

Bloodsport is a neat look back to 80’s action movies and old superstar culture in general. The movie isn’t anything memorable but it is probably the best Van Dame performance we’ll ever see. I don’t know if that means anything but I’m at least happy this movie met my expectations for some low maintenance action fun.