"Bloodsport" was released in 1988. 2013 marked the 25th anniversary of the movie that made the lead actor, Jean Claude Van Damme (The Muscles from Brussels,) a star. It tells the 'true' story of martial artist Frank Dux who was the first westerner to win the 'Kumite' a bloody no-holds-barred fight that took place in 'Hong Kong.'
Why am I putting everything in quotes? Because there is no end of controversy to this film even 25 years later.
- Was Frank Dux, the source material for this story, the real thing both as a martial artist and a military hero?
- Was Van Damme a real martial artist or just a talented dancer and gymnast with some martial arts moves?
- Did the Kumite, the fight with no rules and where death was possible, even exist?
Honestly, does it really matter?
At the age of 28 at the time, Van Damme was supremely handsome, built like a god, able to spin and kick with apparent power and elegance, and could do a full split, even able to support himself fully extended between two chairs. If you've never seen Van Damme do this, you have got to YouTube it and check it out. There's a small image later on in this article from the movie with him doing this.
Van Damme had done 4 films before "Bloodsport" and has done 42 since, including a recent turn in "The Expendables II" staring a lot of aging action stars. And he still looks convincing good kicking and fighting although his face does show wear from years of hard living.
Even with his heavy Belgium accent, Van Damme's electric smile and undeniable on-screen charisma could always convince you that he was a good enough actor his films. And he was perhaps one of the most convincing martial arts kickers on the screen tossing out fan kicks and his flying, signature 360 degree spin kick with perfection. Even Chuck Norris with his power and speed didn't seem as good as Van Damme in his prime in the 80's and early 90's. The question that has always been asked: was Van Damme a real kicker?
Plenty of people have said that he couldn't really kick his way out of a paper bag. I don't think I would have wanted to find out. Van Damme always looked precise, powerful and in perfect control. A mark of a martial artist who truly understood his body and his skill set. Plus, at an early age (16-yrs-old through 22-yrs-old) he competed in semi- and full-contact karate kickboxing matches and won them convincingly. Before he retired from competition he had an 18-1 (18 knockouts) kickboxing record, and a semi-contact record of 41-4 and was part of a Belgium team that won a European Karate Championship. Apparently, there was difficulty verifying some of this 20+ years ago but it has since been cleared up and Van Damme has been redeemed.
The Walled City, Kowloon, is used as a set piece in this film. The Hong Kong government tore it down in 1993 but this movie is the only one I've seen where it's featured. Too bad they did away with it - it looked fantastic. Uh, well, if you appreciate post-apocalyptic-type settings. I wish they had explored this fascinating piece of history more and had less of the silly military police story.
Van Damme as Dux fights, wins, runs away from the military police, and, in the epic last battle as Leong's character tosses some sort of stinging dust in his eyes, fights blind. Lucky for him, his master, Tanaka, trained him how to do this by having him serve tea. I'm not kidding, although I am being a bit snarky - there are other training sequences with Dux in a blindfold.
I did say the story is razor thin.
"Bloodsport" 'kickstarted' the career of Van Damme was successful enough to spin off at least two sequels. Recently, Van Damme tried to reboot "Bloodsport" but the studios ultimately turned him down. It is listed as being 'in development' so perhaps it is still to be. Van Damme's career isn't suffering though. He did six films in 2012, one in 2013 (so far) and has one listed in pre-prod for 2014.
Sheldon Lettich, who co-wrote "Bloodsport" with Dux hasn't done anything that I can find since 2006 but this film also supercharged his career and he wrote and directed several films, including a few more with Van Damme, after this.
Despite personal issues including alcohol problems, and always having to defend his martial arts cred and his acting, Van Damme is still a supremely compelling figure. Don't count him out at any point because like the characters in his films, he always get up off the mat after being knocked down and seemingly knocked out.
And Frank Dux travels the world as a martial arts advocate, teacher, advisor and still larger-than-life character.
Trivia/Errata:
- The real Frank Dux was the fight coordinator and creative consultant on this film. According to "legend" Dux met Van Damme, prounounced him too soft for the role and put him under an arduous three month training regime. Van Damme admitted that Dux put him through the ringer saying the he had never worked as hard to train for anything.
- At the end, before the credits roll, this is displayed about Frank Dux: 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.
- At the time the film was released, the L.A. Times posted this article about Frank Dux that basically started the controversy about his background: HERE
- Here's some fun facts about the film from Frank Dux: HERE
