Bloodsport

"Bloodsport" is a milestone for Jean-Claude Van Damme: much like "Conan the Barbarian" for Arnold Schwarzenegger and "Rocky" for Sly Stallone, the dramatized kinda-maybe-true tale of Frank Dux's winning of the enigmatic Kumite tournament proved to be his stepping stone into mainstream cinema, and would help secure him as one of the biggest action heroes of the late-80s/early-90s period.
Like most action films of its time, "Bloodsport" is technically and theatrically flawed, but unlike most other action films, it fails to cover for its mistakes effectively; leaving cool, violent combat outweighed by an unpolished story and some of the worst acting seen this side of the 80s.

Like any tournament-centred action film, the weakness of "Bloodsport" lies in the fact that all of its fighting is restricted to pre-assigned "fight times" and appears nowhere else in the movie. Granted, the choreography and intensity of these fights is infinitely superior to many a commercial beat-`em-up flick, but the fact that they are so very designated leaves the rest of the film without much excitement at all, because you know that nothing is going to happen until Van Damme steps into the ring.

And concerning Van Damme...
The film begins with several shots of the diverse fighters training for the contest: a monkey kung fu fighter chops coconuts in half, a giant tosses huge sacks, bad-guy Bolo Yeung ("Enter the Dragon") breaks blocks of ice, etc.; I can't help but imagine what this film would've been like if it followed the paths of more participants than just Van Damme, whose personal odyssey is just a tad boring. Would it have been better than the star's early attempts at acting, the meaningless love story between him and Leah Ayres ("The Burning"), or the absolutely atrocious flashbacks of Dux's supposed childhood? - I don't know, but nothing about the given plot, besides the fighting, is in the least bit intriguing, even for an action movie.

To be fair, this is a genuine cult film, and is standard viewing for any fan of action movies...if only for the rough half hour devoted to the fights. Give it a rent if you haven't seen it, and buy it if you're a fan of Van Damme or Bolo Yeung...but if you have a phobia of lousy acting or melodrama, steer clear.

This is one cheesy movie that anyone can enjoy and wont ever forget.
It is so stupid, yet it comes off fun and hilarious to the point where if you even watch 10 mins of this movie you will see it to the end everytime. Even people who take movies seriously will enjoy this.

I am perfectly aware there is no good acting of any kind and the fighting is sub par. This doesn't change my opinion for some reason. I can watch this movie again and again, more so that any modern day action film. When it comes on TBS or TNT I simply can't turn it off and 2 hours of my life go by. When I was a kid i used to watch this every weekend over my friends house on VHS. You simply can't beat a classic and anyone from the age of 19-30 knows they feel the same way I do.

i orded a dvd from gohasting i wanted to return it n when i called them back to have my money refuned they refuse to give it back they will lie to u n take your money i dont recommend anyone to buy anything from them.

Hello B fans, Sid the Elf is back to review Bloodsport. We mean this in the straightest way possible when we say that the most impressive thing in the movie was when Van Damme does the splits. No, actually, this film was wonderful. We picked it on the spur of the moment and it didn't disappoint. It had everything we could ask for. There was horrific acting from everybody involved. This even includes Forrest Whittiker from 35,622 buckets of fried chicken ago. You have Jean-Claude Van Damme in his first starring role and he hit this one out of the park on the first try. Although we're not quite sure why they chose a local special needs fry chef to play the young Frank Dux, but it was more than made up for when we heard the kid talk and saw him get kicked in the chest by the little Chineese kid. Then you had Ray Jackson, the big cross-eyed guy, who was nothing short of hillarious. Finally, there was the one, the only Chong-Li. Here you had a jacked, utterly insane Korean who instead of pounding hot dogs like Kobyashi, ate 34 egg white omelettes in 8 minutes while training for the Kumate. He just has a presence. When the screen showed his name opposite Ray Jackson's Sid the Elf froze. It was momentous.

Bloodsport is actually a true story-seriously. It is about Frank Dux, the only American to ever win the Kumate. When he was a kid, Dux was taken in and trained by his Asian master. In a hilarious sequence, we see Young Dux(sounds like a rapper doesn't it?)learning all the awesome tricks he would later unleash in competition. When his master is on his death bed, Dux goes AWOL from the military to see him. After his death, Dux decides to honor his master by entering the Kumate. So, he not only has to fight insane opponents, like the completely frightening Chon Li, in the Kumate, he also has to elude Military Police who know he's at the Kumate and want to bring him back home. What makes Bloodsport such an awesome guy's movie is that the majority of the movie revolves around either karate fighting or training to karate fight. There are just too many cool or funny happenings in the movie to recount them all. As we, Sid the Elf, like to do when there's just too much to go over, we'll break this one down Joe Bob style and let you use it as a guide when you watch Bloodsport. Here are the Drive-In totals:

3 bricks broken, 1 with a head-butt

1 compound leg fracture

2 tazerings

1 skinny Forrest Whitiker falling off a boat

1 partially nude Van Damme

1 pair of red bikini briefs worn by the Muscles from Brussels

1 Mr. Fuji style eye salting

56 hilarious facial expressions

1 ref beating courtesy of Chong-Li

1 homicide in the ring

32 crushed beer cans by Ray "ABC 123" Jackson

1 Van Damme Flock of Seagulls hair do

4 inappropriately placed romantic songs from the soundtrack...

...ALSO HE'S A NINJA!

Definitely 5 stars. Partially for the terribly done fighting scenes. I mean, most of those blows could be stopped by Cecila Dux, Frank's grandmother. Easy recipient of the Sid the Elf Seal of Approval. I have put all my knowledge into you. Watch Bloodsport!