Review #534: 'Bloodsport' (1988)

After the son of Japanese martial arts master Tanaka (Roy Chiao) dies, American Frank Dux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) pleads to him to be trained in the art of Ninjutsu. In a show of gratitude and a way to honour his master, Dux travels to Asia to compete in the Kumite, an illegal, underground combat competition that invites the finest fighters in the world to compete every five years. There, he befriends tubby Vale Tudo fighter Jackson (Donald Gibb), but finds himself pursued by two ACID officers Helmer (Norman Burton) and Rawlins (Forest Whitaker), who want to bring him back to America to face punishment by the army.

After appearing in roles such as Spectator in First Dance Sequence and Gay Karate Man, Van Damme took his first starring role here after his proper début in No Retreat, No Surrender (1986). His inexperience shows as he puts in a rather horrific, wooden performance, managing to convince the supporting characters of the fact that his character is America, but certainly not the audience watching the film. But he wasn't hired for his acting talent, but for his frequently astonishing fighting ability. He has never looked in finer shape, as he displays his trademark ability for high kicks and bollocks-stretching splits. And this is something that works for the film as a whole, as nobody really cares about the story, we just want to see some decent fighting.

What is so endearing about the film is the way it harks back to the 1970's kung-fu movies from China and Hong Kong, notably the formidable output from the Shaw Brothers Studio and tournament movie Enter the Dragon (1973). There are many silly and frankly inexplicable moments, especially in the intrusive romance between Dux and reporter Janice Kent (Leah Ayres), a pointless and contradictory character (clearly the movie was in need of a leggy blonde). This is a bad movie, but it managed to deliver much more than I was expecting - plenty of blood, sweat, homo-eroticism, the colossal Bolo Yeung, and more slow-motion "aaaayyyyeeeeessssss!" than I could count.


Directed by: Newt Arnold
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb, Leah Ayres, Norman Burton, Forest Whitaker, Bolo Yeung
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie