( WARNING : SPOILERS !!!! )
BLOODSPORT
“Bloody Van Damme Good!”
Bloodsport is the type of movie that I think you either love it ... or completely hate it. It leaves little middle ground. It is an action/martial arts movie at its heart so if you don’t enjoy those kinds of films—you’re in for a lousy 92 minutes.
As it so happens, I am a fan and I thoroughly enjoyed this film. This was Jean-Claude Van Damme’s breakout movie and personally, the best of his films that I’ve seen and is the martial arts version of Rocky in my opinion.
Reputedly, this film was based on the real life of Frank Dux but I’m told that it appears that Dux exaggerated or made up quite a bit of it. Frankly, I can’t work up that much interest into that controversy—Hollywood isn’t exactly the bastion of truth and honesty either. So if Dux did indeed make up a lot of this; I give him credit that he at least made up an interesting and compelling story.
According to the film; Frank Dux is a US Army soldier and martial artist who aspires to participate in the Kumite—a secretive no-holds barred, full contact, and potentially lethal freestyle martial arts tournament held to decide who is the best of the best. Dux in particular is eager to prove himself and demonstrate his prowess as a way of honoring his former sensei and mentor, Tanaka. Tanaka broke tradition following the tragic death of his last son by entrusting his familial martial arts legacy to Dux who was his son’s friend and training partner.
But Dux’s superiors oppose his participation due to the risks involved and he is forced to go AWOL and while taking part in the secretive sparring tournament matches; Dux is busy romancing a lovely lady reporter who is interested in writing an in-depth article regarding the Kumite itself while dodging the military police trying to track him down. Along the way, he befriends one of the only Westerner competitors, Ray Jackson who is savagely beaten and hospitalized by one of the more ruthless competitors of the Kumite and Dux finds himself fighting for his honor and to avenge his friend.
The plot is pretty simple but understandable and doesn’t try for complexity. It’s weakest points is where it tries to tug at our heartstrings with how Dux is struggling to balance his dual roles between his lover’s fears and his desire to avenge his fallen friend.
I have to admit that in retrospect, I did find Jackson’s sudden recovery at the ending to be a vain attempt to have a happy ending for the audiences. I think it would have been much more dramatic were Jackson to have passed away as a result of his injuries. On the other hand, it would have demanded much more emotional pathos from the main star who to be honest—is not going to win acting awards.
Otherwise for the most part, the actors were above average in their performances. Jean-Claude Van Damme (Frank Dux) was pretty impressive in his starring role. I will admit that his acting was a little over the top and some of his expressions were a little cringe worthy in several scenes. But there is no doubt whatsoever that his physical athleticism and martial artistry were the real deal. My legs hurt whenever I saw him performing those unbelievable splits. JCVD also had an earnestness vibe to him that gave him a lot of lot of genuineness (at least to me) of being an honorable and genuinely nice guy.
Some Damme Screaming
His companion, Donald Gibb (Jackson) is also a surprising likable kinda guy. Yes, he came off as crude and a little crass but a stand up and loyal friend. The sort of roughhousing brawler who would take offense if you bump into him; beat you up, then laugh—pick you up, take the shirt off his back to help stop your bleeding nose and stroll off bare chested to go grab you a beer while giving you some tips on how to be a real man like him as the both of you do a beer chugging contest. He and JCVD had a lot of excellent chemistry together and he was a great humorous foil.
Bolo Yeung (Chong Li) was an excellent villain as well. Aside from his impressive musculature—he came off as a very menacing and borderline psychopath as well as being prickly, vain, and absolutely ruthless S.O.B. He rarely spoke but it just emphasized how intimidating he was when he did.
Otherwise, I thought he was a very physical character and I liked how theatrical he behaved in his scenes. I have to admit that I giggled whenever I saw him flexing his massive pecs too. I did like in one scene where he killed one of the competitors; he simply struts around, demanding applause for his utter brutality while the referee and the officials are disgusted at his behavior and refuse to call him the winner. He simply scoffs and waves his hands dismissively as he strolls off the mat showing how little he cares what they think of him.
Otherwise, the rest of the cast were fine in their roles but otherwise not exceptional. I didn’t really find much use in Leah Ayres (Janice) except for being a pretty face to swoon over JCVD.
Action wise, the martial arts chorography and stuntwork has held up remarkably well for a movie made in the late 80’s. I think it relied heavily on the actual physical skills and sheer athleticism of the various men who performed these sequences; JCVD in particular with his impressive split kicks. I’ve never seen any other martial artist with his extreme flexibility—but I understand that he was also trained as a ballet dancer which probably explains his extraordinary abilities.
I also appreciated the vast array of characters that they had in the matches—showcasing several visually distinctive range of fighting styles and martial artists. It looked impressively real with blood, bruises, and broken bones. Not all of the effects have aged well—they favored a lot of slo-mo action sequences.
Bloodsport is without a doubt, a solid movie throughout. It’s an unapologetically guy movie with a compelling plot of courage, honor, friendship, revenge, and loyalty with great action sequences and a fairly energizing soundtrack to boot. It’s no surprise to me why it’s considered a classic martial arts film of the 1980s or any era for that matter. Anyone who loves either action or martial arts films will think it’s damn good … or rather Van Damme good.
REPORT CARD
STORY / PLOT : C
CHARACTERS / ACTORS : B -
CINEMATOGRAPHY / ANIMATION / SPECIAL EFFECTS : B -
SOUND / MUSIC : B
OVERALL RATING : 3 STARS.
( SnowyMountain’s 5 STAR RATING SYSTEM NOTES / 3 STARS : Mediocre to Decent. This something that I think is average bordering on the cusp of keeping in your library for guilty rewatching pleasure. )