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Bloodsport main poster

Bloodsport

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7.0/10 • 1.8K

1988-02-261h 32m

ActionThriller

The true story of an American ninja.

An American Army Major goes AWOL to Hong Kong for an outlawed martial arts contest called the Kumite.

Directors
Newt Arnold
Editors
Jean-Claude Van Damme

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Jean-Claude Van Damme

    Jean-Claude Van Damme

    Frank Dux

  2. Bolo Yeung

    Bolo Yeung

    Chong Li

  3. Donald Gibb

    Donald Gibb

    Ray Jackson

  4. Leah Ayres

    Leah Ayres

    Janice Kent

  5. Norman Burton

    Norman Burton

    Helmer

  6. Forest Whitaker

    Forest Whitaker

    Rawlins

  7. Roy Chiao

    Roy Chiao

    Senzo Tanaka

  8. Philip Chan

    Philip Chan

    Captain Chen

  9. Kenneth Siao Wai-Keung

    Kenneth Siao Wai-Keung

    Victor Lin

Reviews2

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John Chard Avatar

John Chard

Jul 20, 2019

7/10

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

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$1,500,000.00
Revenue
$65,000,000.00
Keywords
martial artssportsbiographyfistfightsenseimixed martial artshong kongtournamentunderground fightingwalled citybloodsportkowloonaction hero