Jean-Claude Van Damme Movies

Jean-Claude Van Damme plays himself in this meta-crime comedy that finds him garnering mores headlines than he's had in years after stumbling into an in-progress bank heist. Down and out, with only straight-to-DVD titles under his belt and a recent job lost out to fellow has-been Steven Seagal, the aging action star returns to Belgium a broken man fresh from losing a custody case for his daughter in Hollywood. Upon his arrival, the bad news continues with a disastrous ATM encounter that leads him into the bank and straight into a robbery situation, for which he's about to be blamed. Soon, crowds grow outside on the street, with the cops quick to point the finger at him and his fans cheering for his release. The film garnered a cult following during its festival run and awarded Van Damme his first theatrical release in the States in almost a decade. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Action icon Jean-Claude VanDamme stars in this explosive thriller following a former New Orleans homicide detective who leaves his post at the local police force in order to combat murderous drug smugglers as a U.S. Border Patrol agent. Jack Robideaux (VanDamme) is a former cop with a secret agenda. Robideaux is right at home observing freshly killed corpses and grisly crime scenes, so when he's assigned to patrol a dangerous stretch between Columbus and Las Palomas, Mexico, he readily adapts to his new surroundings. When Robideaux learns that a renegade American Special Forces unit has hatched a plan to smuggle $35 million worth of heroin into the United Stated he sets out to single-handedly take down the cartel while contending with suicide bombers, merciless torturers, and traitorous double agents who would have him killed in order to protect their dirty little secret. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Action star and goofball extraordinaire Jean-Claude Van Damme returns in this gritty tale of revenge between the Los Angeles mob and an invading Chinese Triad. The "Muscles From Brussels" stars as Ben Archer, an ex-mob tough guy whose wife is savagely murdered after she brings home an orphaned child who happens to be a Chinese kingpin's daughter. Racked with grief, Archer is forced back into the mob life as Van Damme stacks up the dead bodies until he finally comes face to face with his wife's killer in an explosive match to the death. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Director Bob Misiorowski helmed this straight-to-video actioner starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Van Damme plays Jacques Kristoff, a special government agent assigned to protect Dr. Galina Konstantin, a scientist played by Laura Elena Harring (Mulholland Drive). When a group of terrorists hijack the train they're riding and demand to see Konstantin, it's up to Kristoff to defeat the bad guys before they get their hands on the biological weapons the doctor has with him. Also starring Tomas Arana and Susan Gibney, Derailed was released in Europe under the title Terror Train. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as a reformed artifacts smuggler in this adventure-thriller directed by Sheldon Lettich. Rudy (Van Damme) is forced to venture to Jerusalem after his father is taken hostage by a group of religious extremists. In order to free his dad, Rudy must find a ancient scroll that contains secret information about a mysterious and ancient religious sect. Not surprisingly, that same sect doesn't want that particular scroll to be found. Rudy is thus forced to contend with many powerful obstacles as he sets about to procure the artifact and free his dad. Film icon Charlton Heston also appears in a minor role. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Jean-Claude Van Damme returns as cybernetic warrior Luc Deveraux in this sequel to the 1992 action hit. After barely surviving his experiences as a part-human/part-robot Universal Soldier, Luc has opted to stay out of the front lines and work with a military project to refine and perfect the system. However, something goes wrong (as they so often do in films like this), and S.E.T.H. (Michael Jai White), the android supercomputer leading the new breed of soldiers, suddenly develops a murderous mind of his own. Soon S.E.T.H. is leading his fellow war machines on a rampage, and Luc is the only one who can stop them. The supporting cast includes Heidi Schanz and wrestling star Bill Goldberg. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Hong Kong action genre craftsman Tsui Hark directed this martial arts tale, his second collaboration with actor Jean-Claude Van Damme after Double Team (1997). Van Damme stars as Marcus Ray, a Hong Kong fashion designer who specializes in "knock-offs," cheaply produced jeans and sneakers meant to look like major-label merchandise. With his new partner Tommy Hendricks (Rob Schneider), Marcus hopes to go legit and put his shady past behind him, but Tommy is really an undercover CIA agent investigating the smuggling of mini-bombs in Marcus' products. An unwitting pawn in a scheme concocted by the KGB and Tommy's CIA superior Johanson (Paul Sorvino), Marcus must clear his name and save his company. His quest to do so becomes even more complicated when local authorities link him to a murder and a vice-president, Karen (Lela Rochon), arrives from Marcus' parent company to investigate discrepancies in his bookkeeping. Knock Off is based on a script by Steven E. de Souza, author of 48 Hrs. (1982) and Die Hard (1988). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Julia Roberts and Jean-Claude Van Damme appear in this episode, in which the gang pays a visit to Hollywood. Chandler (Matthew Perry) is less impressed by celebrities than by an old friend from the fourth grade who has gotten work in the Industry -- and who has an old score to settle. Joey (Matt LeBlanc) gets another in a long line of "big" breaks. And Ross (David Schwimmer) and Marcel the Monkey take a trip. Michael Lembeck won an Emmy award for his direction of this episode. Part two of "The One After the Super Bowl" originally aired in a 60-minute slot with part one, but was syndicated as a separate entity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Martial arts movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme made his debut behind the camera as the director of this sweeping action drama. Van Damme stars as Chris Dubois, a clown pickpocket and Fagin-like leader of orphan thieves in 1925 New York City. Kidnapped by gun smugglers and then sold to pirate captain Lord Dobbs (Roger Moore), Chris eventually ends up the property of Khao (Aki Aleong), a master Asian kickboxer. His fighting skills win Chris a chance at a legendary contest, a gladiatorial showdown between champions of the world's many diverse combat styles in a Tibetan lost city. Along for the trip are the avaricious Dobbs, heavyweight boxing champ and fellow competitor Maxie (James Remar), and Carrie (Janet Gunn), a beautiful female reporter. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Pittsburgh Penguins owner Howard Baldwin was the producer of Sudden Death, and the action is set in his hockey arena, in which the Penguins are playing the Chicago Blackhawks. Pittsburgh fire inspector Darren McCord (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is attending the game with his two children. He's quit fighting fires because of a tragedy a few years earlier involving a child he couldn't save. Also at the game is the vice-president of the United States (Raymond Barry), who is the target of a terrorist plot. The terrorist leader, an insane ex-CIA agent named Joshua Foss (Powers Boothe), has masterminded a scheme to hold the vice-president hostage in his luxury suite while demanding that payments be transferred to his account electronically at the end of each period of the game. If he doesn't get his money, he will kill one member of the vice-president's party at the end of each period, and at game's end he will order ten bombs hidden in the arena to be detonated with all 17,000 fans present. McCord discovers the plot while his daughter Emily (Whittni Wright) is kidnapped by the terrorists too. McCord must dispatch the villains and find the bombs, while saving all the hostages. Luckily, he is adept at martial arts. He fights one henchman dressed in a Penguins mascot outfit in the arena's kitchen, and another terrorist on the arena's retracting dome. At one point, McCord switches identities with a player, is sent into the game, and scores a goal. Director Peter Hyams also directed Van Damme in the blockbuster Timecop. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Based on a comic book story, this futuristic film follows the time-travel exploits of policeman Max Walker (Claude Van Damme). In 1994, Walker's wife Melissa (Mia Sara) is about to tell him that she is expecting their first child when they are attacked by a group of criminals. Walker is shot and beaten and lies helplessly on his lawn while he sees their home and his wife blown up by the killers. Ten years later, Walker remains an employee of the Time Enforcement Commission, a federal agency which was set up in 1994 after the U.S. government learned that time travel technology is feasible. The commission's role is to prevent time travel to protect U.S. economic interests. Walker learns that the corrupt Senator McComb (Ron Silver), who helped establish the agency, is exploiting it for personal gain, trying to establish a monopoly on time travel so that he can enrich himself in the stock market. Walker travels back in time to stop McComb from murdering his former partner. At the same time, Walker hopes to rescue his wife, and he learns that the attack on his home was ordered by McComb to stop Walker from foiling his plans. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide