Bloodsport Collection

Jean-Claude Van Damme

Bolo Yeung Sze

Donald Gibb

Leah Ayres

Norman Burton

Forest Whitaker

Roy Chiao

Philip Chan

Kenneth Siao Wai-Keung

Paulo Tocha

Pierre Rafini

Kimo Lai Kwok Ki

Bill Yuen Ping Kuen

Shun-Yin Leung

Joshua Schroder

John Cheung Ng-Long

Jahangir Ghaffari

Johnny Cheung Wa

Michel Qissi

Bernard Mariano

Sean Ward

Johnny Lai

AP George

Charles Wang

Dennis Chiu

David Ho

Eric Neff

Michael Chan

Rick Erikson

John Law

Mandy Chan Chi-Man

Claude Heme

Susan Sheers

Wilson Lee

Menahem Golan

Newt Arnold

Frank Dux

Christopher Cosby

Yoram Globus

Mark DiSalle

Mel Friedman

David Worth

Sheldon Lettich

Carl Kress

Paul Hertzog

Shelley Cook

Action

Thriller

Drama

Bloodsport

The Cannon Group

United States of America

You told me to use any tactic that works, never to commit yourself to one style, to keep an open mind!

Bloodsport is directed by Newt Arnold and written by Christopher Cosby, Mel Friedman and Sheldon Lettich. It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb, Leah Ayres, Norman Burton, Forest Whitaker and Bolo Yeung. Music is by Paul Hertzog and cinematography by David Worth.

One of the earlier films that made Van Damme into a star, Bloodsport finds Van Damme as real life martial artist Frank Dux. Dux enters into the famed Kumite, a no nonsense tournament in Hong Kong and must overcome various hurdles to hopefully achieve his goals.

As is the norm for a Van Damme action movie, particularly where his late 80s and early 90s output is concerned, one has to be prepared for some at best average acting and a flimsy plot. Plot follows a familiar Van Damme trajectory, his character will yearn to overcome adversity, go through a strenuous training programme, meet and make friends and enemies, produce some outstanding martial artistry, and end up in a winner takes all fight for justice, revenge, honour...

Away from the seriously great fighting skills showcased by Van Damme and the other martial artists he comes up against, there's not a lot of artistic film making craft on show. But as fans of this sort of stuff will tell you, and I'm one of that number, it matters not, for they deliver exactly what we expect. Great fight choreography, a super Kumite montage, a vile villain who needs his ass kicked, and of course lots of Van Damage as we hurtle towards what we hope will be a triumphant finale. Hooray!

Though supposedly based on facts in Frank Dux's life, this has been called into question over the years, so best to just observe it as an energised martial arts film rather than a part biography piece. 7/10

I've been pretty harsh reviewing Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, and even though he is significantly older than me, I have the feeling he can still kick my butt, so maybe I should back off a little.

Honestly though, this one is pretty watchable. Make no mistake, it is no Chinatown, but, who cares, it is a fun way to hit all the tropes of the martial arts genre and it does it in a way that you know is going to be copied, even if it was already kind of a copy of Enter the Dragon only without the art.

So, what you have is a bloody trope filled film that is fun to watch and vaguely (in the vaguest sense of the word vaguely) based kinda sorta on a true story that one guy said happened and was never really verified.

So.... sit back and pop some corn, you'll love this.