No, this is
not some re-edited Thai movie "directed" by Godfrey Ho (but if it
existed I would be the first one to watch it!), it's just me who had a weekend
filled of cheesy kickboxing on the TV! I've been in a Jean-Claude Van Damme
phase recently and decided it was time to watch Kickboxer (1989) again after
approximated 150 years. I probably watched it the last time as a young teen on
a censored VHS and most of it was erased from my memory by now. In all honesty, I kinda stayed away from the
kickboxing phenomenon at its peak. I felt it was too repetitive and just an
excuse for stiff actors to try too look cool on the screen. I preferred (and
still do) the more creative and imaginative Hong Kong cinema where everything
was used in the fights and not just two dudes kicking each other in the face
for 90 minutes.
What makes
Kickboxer work is the presence of a very innocent looking Jean-Claude Van Damme
and a cheesy, but honest, story about a young man, Kurt, who wants to take
revenge on his brother (played by Dennis "The Terminator" Alexio) -
who got his back broken during a fight against the dreaded Tong Po - and
becomes a student under the slightly mad Xian (Dennis Chan). In a series of
tests and exercises Kurt learns to control himself and be the best kickboxer in
the world! And he also listens to the ghosts of Ayutthaya and flexes his muscles under water.
Kickboxer
is very, very silly. But the story is timeless and the gorgeous locations makes
it a nice movie to look at. It almost borders to parody and the drunke dance
scene with JCVD is a sight to behold. But Van Damme is a good sport and it's
quite visible that he's giving it all, even when the scenes is more than
embarrassing both for him and the movie itself. The fighting is pretty decent
also, but it's hardly the most spectacular ever filmed. Van Damme is excellent,
but both him and the rest of the fighters seemed to be held back. Maybe the
director is to blame for this. Still, it's a damn fine little action-drama and
Van Damme is doing a better performance than he's credited for in countless
reviews.
A film that
doesn't hold back on the fights is The King of the Kickboxers (1990), which
more or less is a remake of Kickboxer, just with the added concept of snuff
filmmaking into the mix. This time goofy-looking Loren Avedon wants revenge on
his dead big brother who was killed by the evil, evil, evil Khan (Billy Blanks)
and heads back to Thailand to be taught by mad drunk master Prang (Keith Cooke)
and, to quote myself "In a series of tests and exercises Jake learns to
control himself and be the best kickboxer in the world!". And like Van
Damme's Kurt he also runs around in the ruins of Ayutthaya , finding his inner self. TKOTK is a
lot bigger and fancier than Kickboxer, more advanced, Hong Kong-inspired fights
and explosions - but it's very similar to the 1989 classic. Several locations
look the same also - and two actors worked on both of the movies.
It's a lot
of fun, but the cockiness of Jake is more annoying than the more subtle, human
Kurt. A lot of it is for fun, for a laugh, but it always irritated me when
Americans come to some Asian country to show them that Americans are bigger,
better and stronger. But I guess it's part of the genre. TKOTK also have a few
interesting character actors showing up, Richard Jaeckel and Don Stroud, and
both Loren Avedon (doesn't that sound like a soap or something) and Billy
Blanks is awesome during the fight scenes. But it still lacks "it".
That special kinda movie magic, that passion.
3 comments:
oh nice. I used to love these kickboxing movies as a kid and have fond memories of kickboxer, bloodsport, best of the best, king of the kickboxers and so many more of these films. For me those early Van Damme movies had no equals in this genre. Cool review.
"I've been in a Jean-Claude Van Damme phase recently and decided it was time to watch Kickboxer (1989) again after approximated 150 years."
But how about a JCVD week ninja...?
A review of Bloodsport (1988), Legionnaire (1998) etc would be great, ninja.
"I felt it was too repetitive and just an excuse for stiff actors to try too look cool on the screen."
Well...I saw some of these but most of them I skipped.
"Kickboxer is very, very silly. But the story is timeless and the gorgeous locations makes it a nice movie to look at. It almost borders to parody and the drunke dance scene with JCVD is a sight to behold. But Van Damme is a good sport and it's quite visible that he's giving it all, even when the scenes is more than embarrassing both for him and the movie itself."
You could be right but I fucking love his dance moves....look at Breakin' (1984) ......very funny.
"Still, it's a damn fine little action-drama and Van Damme is doing a better performance than he's credited for in countless reviews."
There are some films he made that I like because of his performances.
"A film that doesn't hold back on the fights is The King of the Kickboxers (1990), which more or less is a remake of Kickboxer, just with the added concept of snuff filmmaking into the mix."
Never heard of this one.
"Kickboxer, a more modest and less bragging film, still goes winning from this fight. Much like the character of Van Damme. It has less action, but more heart."
Interesting.....thanks ninja, great review, and please think about a JCVD week.
Megatron
That's funny, I too missed the kickboxing films at their peak because I was too busy watching HK films.
Ha! His name does sound like a soap. Though I gotta say, I'm a fan. I was blown away by NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER 2 back in the day.
Great write-up! I like the "vs." format. Good idea.
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