Bloodsport (1988) * *

 

Directed by:  Newt Arnold

Starring:  Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb, Forest Whitaker, Bolo Yeung, Leah Ayres, Norman Burton

When Bloodsport was first released, it was allegedly based on a true story of Frank Dux, the first Westerner to win an ultra-secret Hong Kong martial arts tournament.   There was a Frank Dux, but there was no such tournament, and how secret could it be when dozens of fighters participate and maybe a hundred bloodthirsty gamblers pack the stands?    

Nonetheless, Bloodsport introduced the world to the "Muscles from Brusssels" Jean-Claude Van Damme, who for a time was a top-line action film star.   Bloodsport is the first of many Van Damme films in which he fights his way through a martial arts tournament.    They each contain the same types of scenes, including Van Damme squaring off against the evil opponent who crippled, maimed, or killed his friend in the tournament.    The villain, such as Chong Li (Yeung) in Bloodsport, sneers hateful dialogue at JCVD and promises (even with some poor dubbing) the same fate will befall him.   No points for guessing the bad guy won't get his wish.  

Bloodsport isn't a malicious movie, just a silly actioner showcasing Van Damme's acrobatic martial arts skills.   He looks good and has the moves, although his characters are limited pretty much to that.  While watching the fighters go at each other, I wonder why there was even a referee?   The combatants can do what they wish to each other, and the referee's job is to point out who won, which when you see one of the contestants lying in a pool of his own blood, is fairly obvious to the ravenous crowd.   This crowd, however, pauses its bloodlust when Li steps over the line and kills an opponent, leading to silence and the tournament powers that be to symbolically turn their backs on him.   No matter to Li, who wants to kill Frank because he eclipsed Li's quickest victory record.    

Bloodsport isn't altogether awful, just a product of its era.   It is preposterous violence centered around a threadbare plot and even thinner characters, but there are some nifty fight sequences before it all starts to become repetitive.   Van Damme and Steven Seagal would soon show up all over movie theater screens with films of varying degrees of quality and success.   I think they even starred in a movie together recently, but I don't think I'll be tracking that one down.    And I would like to see a movie about the real Frank Dux, who reportedly made all of this up.   It worked, because it got him into the movie business.