Kumite, kumite, kumite, kumite!
I don't care what anyone says or whatever film van Damme will make, this will forever be my van Damme holy grail. The soundtrack, the facial expressions, the fights, the simplistic story, the horrendous acting by the kid playing young Frank, all the splits, Jackson, young Forest Whitaker, the chase scene, the sad song montage, the "Fight to Survive" song and I could go on.
Bloodsport will never fail to entertain me. Damn I miss my Bloodsport shirt.
This pure 80s action at its best, you have the awesome JCVD (Frank Dux), Bolo Yeung (Chong Li) and so many more in this film to make it the ultimate 80s cheese fest full of awesome action sequences, funny (bad) dialogue and one of the best soundtracks ever. I recommend this film to anyone looking for a fun time, because thats what this film is and to take it anymore seriously than that is insane.
Literally you can see why this film helped spawn Mortal Kombat and lets be honest, this is the best Mortal Kombat movie :)
The one thing I wish wasn't in this film was the love interest as it is so unnecessary and forced, but also the whole AWOL plot line as well. Otherwise, this film is definitely one of the best Cannon Films and probably JCVDs best film.
Easily one of the best martial-arts movies there is!
The plot is very simple: Van Damme plays Frank, who is taking part in an underground tournament - the kumite. There, fighters from around the world, using many different styles of striking, battle in elimination matches.
Basically Mortal Kombat, which this movie was clearly an inspiration for - not to mention Van Damme uses the Johnny Cage splits to nut punch!
In addition to all the great fight choreography, the film offers just enough depth to allow one to invest in the characters, including a reporter, Janice, and American tough guy, Ray. Hell, we even get a young Forest Whitaker as Rawlins, one of the agents tracking Frank.
Still holds up. A true classic.
I'd totally recommend this to all fans of action. If you love martial-arts movies, this is a must watch.
Love this movie from my child but jesus is the music in it so cheesy.
Watching Bloodsport in the ideal conditions - at 12:30 am in a motel as a mental reprieve during a wrestling trip
This movie is pretty good in sport movies genre, Bolo Yeoung is very convincing as a relentless and tenacious fighter. Van Damme is the fighter that never surrender, that proves his value with sacrifice, both of them are the best of the movie. The Kumite and Kowloon setting makes the torunament clandestine but legendary and convincing. This movie would be perfect if only the one Brazilian fighter makes Capoeira instead just boxing. overall, Bloodsport is a very good class B movie and one of the finest sports movie ever released.
Definitely NOT my first time to watch this and (probably) won't be my last. But to be fair, this time, I did fast-forward through all the boring parts (the romance, the hospital visits, the ride around Hong Kong at night, etc) and just watched the action parts. I mean, I've seen the movie; I know all the backstory and it's too cheesy to sit through THAT many times. I just wanted the fight scenes.
The fight choreography was stupendous in Bloodsport . Far-fetched? Of course, but still a great martial arts film to disengage your brain and sit back and watch. Jean Claude van Damme still can't act (never could) but you don't watch films like this for Oscar performances. What JCVD can do (or at least, what he DID) is fight, and here he was probably at his best. (Although Lionheart remains right there with Bloodsport as far as fight scenes go.) This is just a great "fight" movie. The "cops" - or whatever they are - sent to retrieve Frank Dux and return him to the US Military are awful, as far as the storyline goes. They're too silly to be taken serious but not silly enough to seem like a cheesy joke so you're not sure whether to believe them or not. They just muddy up the story. Leah Ayres (as "Janice") continues to be awful and only adds to the atrocity of the story. Trust me, this is not a film you want to watch because of the storyline; you want to watch Bloodsport only for that one thing: the blood-sport.
Bolo Yeung remains one of my favorite-ever Asian martial arts actors and carries his part to absolute perfection here. You can almost root for him, he comes across as so indomitable. I'm not sure how his English is but Yeung is one of the few actors I would genuinely enjoy sitting down and conversing with, if possible. He just plays his parts so well in every film I've watched him in. (As a side note, the dude is built like a truck; why would anyone go for his chest, shoulders, back, or legs in a fight? Stupid.)
Several of the fighter/actors in Bloodsport are real-life martial artists and/or martial arts fighters, which makes the film that much more enjoyable. There's a hint of authenticity behind the choreography but watching this, it's easy to see why "mixed martial arts" - in the early days - never really got off the ground. It's completely awkward for fighters from two entirely different sciences to put on a "good" watchable fight; it's just too awkward. (If you don't believe me, go find the first 10 UFC cards on ESPN Plus and watch them; you'll see for yourself how awkward it was for someone who was supposedly a black belt in karate to "fight" with a collegiate wrestler, and vice versa.) It's one thing to engage in combat when you have an idea of how and what your opponent is going to move but to try to combat a style you've never even encountered before is not only difficult, but very awkward...for both parties…but I digress.
Yes, it's very dated and the clothing, hair-styles, environment, everything is almost ridiculous (and I lived through this era!) but as far as the fight scenes go, this is still very entertaining. Not very realistic, no, but again, the fight choreography makes this fun to watch in spite of the poor acting. Watch the opening scenes, brace yourself to get through the "back-story" of Frank and his beloved "shidoshi" Tanaka, and then enjoy the fight scenes. You can skip through pretty much everything else but at least enjoy the fight scenes.
As iconic as this movie is, I find the casual racism intolerable —the one black fighter whose entire "style" is acting like a monkey gets the longest sequence; the only one who acts like a normal person is only shown when he gets defeated… and even Forrest Whittaker is presented as a clown. It's an unpopular opinion, but all the action sequences and memorable scenes, they're hardly redeeming. Some may enjoy it (which is fine); but for me, it takes me completely out.
Kumite! Kumite! Kumite! Kumite!
In Bloodsport Van Damme really takes facial expressions to a new level. Stan Bush elevates the soundtrack with his awesome songs. Bolo Yeung is a freaking monster. The scenes with Frank Dux as a kid is just to laugh out loud about. MONTAGES! Ray Jackson, always smiles. The shot when Van Damme does a split on that balcony is epic and beautiful at the same time. THAT BONE! Leah Ayres looks charming. The dog wouldn't even eat the eel! Frank Dux records at the end.
Anyway, this is the 4th time I log this film in the past 8 years, which means that I think this movie kicks ass. Bloodsport will not fail to entertain you with all the shit going on these days.
Very dynamic film, JCVD is extremely inspiring, Frank Dux's story pictured in here might turn some on to combat sports or their history. Extra appreciation belongs to Belo Yeung, who would have thought while watching the movie that he was 14 years younger than JCVD.
"BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME"
This movie is all action, and that's what makes it awesome. The writing and plot are complete crap, but the fight scenes make you want to be a martial arts expert. Perfect mindless action movie.
(via Movie Blaze for WP)how do ye play the film
Loved this movie since I first saw it in the 90's.
Obrigatório para quem gosta de filmes de artes marciais!
one of my favorite movies too ;)
One of my favorite movies!
I loved this movie growing up.
Shout by Amadeus StergiouVIP 10BlockedParent2014-08-06T22:27:39Z
Today (2014) this film is cult. After all it made Van Damm famous.