"Bloodsport" follows Frank Dux, an American martial artist serving in the military, who decides to leave the army to compete in a martial arts tournament in Hong Kong where fights to the dea... Read all"Bloodsport" follows Frank Dux, an American martial artist serving in the military, who decides to leave the army to compete in a martial arts tournament in Hong Kong where fights to the death can occur."Bloodsport" follows Frank Dux, an American martial artist serving in the military, who decides to leave the army to compete in a martial arts tournament in Hong Kong where fights to the death can occur.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Jean-Claude Van Damme
- Frank
- (as Jean Claude Van Damme)
Joshua Schroder
- Chuck
- (as Jousha Schroder)
- …
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJean-Claude Van Damme actually knocked out Bernard Mariano with his elbow. The scene made it into the movie.
- GoofsWhen Lin is escorting Frank and Ray to the "Narrow Corridors" before entering the Kumite for the first time, he greets the older Asian man who famously says "OK USA!" At that time, Lin has a scruffy beard. When they get to the Kumite to meet the judges, he is clean shaven. Later on in that scene, his beard returns.
- Crazy creditsBefore the credits the following can be found: This motion picture is based upon true events in the life of Frank W. Dux. From 1975 to 1980 Frank W. Dux fought 329 matches. He retired undefeated as the World Heavy Weight Full Contact Kumite Champion. Mr. Dux still holds four world records: Fastest Knockout - 3.2 seconds Fastest Punch with a Knockout - .42 seconds Fastest Kick with a Knockout - 72 mph Most Consecutive Knockouts in a Single Tournament - 56 Subsequently Mr. Dux founded the first American Ninjitsu System. Dux-Ryu.
- Alternate versionsFinnish version is censored (over 20 minutes). The cuts include almost every fight of the movie, Jackson's first fight is heavily cut, every Chong Li's fight is cut to pieces. The whole sequence where the "Kumite"-song is heard and it shows several fights is removed, and the final conflict between Dux (J-C Van Damme) and Chong Li (excellent Bolo Yeung) is extremely cut (several minutes).
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Art of Action: Martial Arts in Motion Picture (2002)
- SoundtracksFight to Survive
Music and Lyrics by Shandi Sinnamon (as Shandi) and Paul Hertzog
Performed by Stan Bush
Stan Bush appears courtesy of Scotti Brothers/Epic Records
Featured review
When it debuted, "Bloodsport" was to have been a story of the famed martial artist and miltary hero, Frank Dux. According to Dux, he won the ultra-secret 'Kumite'...a no holds barred martial arts international competition. He also was a top secret operative for the military and went on all sorts of scary missions in various countries. Unfortunately, pretty much none of Dux's claims turned out to be true! However, I assume no one other than Dux knew it at the time AND the star of "Bloodsport", Jean-Claude Van Damme, was no phony--having been a very accomplished full-contact fighter with championships to his credit. So, while the story turns out to be a load of crap, you cannot fault Van Damme and it's among his best films.
The lead up to Dux (Van Damme) going to the Kumite is confusing....like two separate movies tossed together. One shows him running away from the army to fight in the competition. Another shows him working for years with his Master to get ready for the competition! This was confusing and the chronology made no sense.
Once the film heads overseas to the Kumite, things improve considerably. Dux strikes up a friendship with a nice but dopey lug who is also in the Kumite (Donald Gibb). Ultimately, an insanely sociopathic competitor unleashes EVERYTHING on the lug and leaves him a battered mess. And, ultimately, Dux must also fight this Chong Li. Is such an ignominious ending also in store for Dux as well?
While I am not a huge fan of the Van Damme films, he did make some good ones and his martial arts skills are truly amazing. If you watch "Bloodsport", you'll see what I mean. Van Damme is a very impressive athlete instead of just being some actor....and his athletic skills are far superior to his acting skills. Seeing his splits and many of the action scenes leave you breathless!
So is the film itself any good? After all, we know now that nobody (other than Dux) believes the story to be true. Well, despite the spotty background to Dux and the film, it is a very good film for the genre. Like many 80s films, it has montages, 80s pop music, slow-motion and all the standard cliches...but it does them all so well and Van Damme is so good in the story. Overall, a surprisingly good film that holds up well today.
The lead up to Dux (Van Damme) going to the Kumite is confusing....like two separate movies tossed together. One shows him running away from the army to fight in the competition. Another shows him working for years with his Master to get ready for the competition! This was confusing and the chronology made no sense.
Once the film heads overseas to the Kumite, things improve considerably. Dux strikes up a friendship with a nice but dopey lug who is also in the Kumite (Donald Gibb). Ultimately, an insanely sociopathic competitor unleashes EVERYTHING on the lug and leaves him a battered mess. And, ultimately, Dux must also fight this Chong Li. Is such an ignominious ending also in store for Dux as well?
While I am not a huge fan of the Van Damme films, he did make some good ones and his martial arts skills are truly amazing. If you watch "Bloodsport", you'll see what I mean. Van Damme is a very impressive athlete instead of just being some actor....and his athletic skills are far superior to his acting skills. Seeing his splits and many of the action scenes leave you breathless!
So is the film itself any good? After all, we know now that nobody (other than Dux) believes the story to be true. Well, despite the spotty background to Dux and the film, it is a very good film for the genre. Like many 80s films, it has montages, 80s pop music, slow-motion and all the standard cliches...but it does them all so well and Van Damme is so good in the story. Overall, a surprisingly good film that holds up well today.
- planktonrules
- May 26, 2019
- Permalink
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $1,100,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $11,806,119
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $515,721
- Feb 28, 1988
- Gross worldwide
- $11,807,585
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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