Jean-Claude Van Damme Movies
Belgian-born film star Jean-Claude Van Damme can be called an actor, although it would be more accurate to describe him as a bodybuilder and kickboxer. It evidently wasn't in the genes; Van Damme's father was an accountant and flower salesman. Taking up the study of Shotokan karate at the age of ten, Van Damme went on to win the middleweight championship of the European Professional Karate Association, where he thrilled one and all with his 360-degree leap-kick. Cashing in on his fame, the 18-year-old Van Damme launched the California Gym in Brussels. When he moved to L.A., he had 7,000 dollars to his name and spoke only French and Flemish. At first, he took many odd jobs, the least prepossessing of which was as a carpet layer. Van Damme's first film was a bit part in Chuck Norris' Missing in Action (1984). Groomed for stardom by Cannon Films' Menahem Golan, Van Damme became a big box-office commodity via such epics as No Retreat, No Surrender (1986); Bloodsport (1988); Cyborg (1989); Kickboxer (1989), which he co-wrote; Lionheart (1990); and Universal Soldier (1992). Fully cognizant of his own histrionic limitations, Van Damme didn't branch out into comedy or "sensitive" roles as has Arnold Schwarzenegger; when starring in the popular futuristic-action film Timecop (1994), Van Damme wisely left the acting to villain Ron Silver. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
An escaped convict fights for his rights while hiding out from the law in this action drama. Sam Gillen (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a thief who, despite his criminal past, is an essentially decent man; he ended up behind bars after taking a murder rap for his partner. Sam escapes from prison in a daring jailbreak, and he hides out on a remote farm while on the run from police. A young boy named Mookie (Kieran Culkin) finds the fugitive and takes him in; it seems that the farm belongs to his mother Clydie (Roseanna Arquette), and soon Mookie and his sister Bree (Tiffany Taubman) have become friends with Sam, and Clydie and Sam fall in love. However, Franklin Hale (Joss Ackland), an unscrupulous land developer, wants to buy Clydie's farm and isn't taking no for an answer. When Hale's thug Dunston (Ted Levine) tries to use force to drive Clydie off her property, Sam is ready to fight fire with fire. Nowhere to Run was co-authored by noted screenwriter Joe Eszterhas; Richard Marquand received his story credit posthumously. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rosanna Arquette, (more)
John Woo's first Hollywood feature stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Boudreaux, a down-and-out Cajun merchant seaman, who, after saving a young woman, Natasha Binder (Yancy Butler), from a gang of thugs on the streets of New Orleans, agrees to help her search for her father (Chuck Pfarrer), a homeless Vietnam vet. They locate local businessman Randall Poe (Elliott Keener), for whom the vet had been working, and learn that her father has become a victim of wealthy sportsman Emil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen), who, along with his cronies, hunts homeless men as a form of recreation. After Fouchon finds out that the girl is investigating the murder of her father, he arranges for she and Chance to be ambushed, but they manage to escape into the backwoods of Louisiana -- his stomping grounds. Realizing he needs to regroup, Fouchon assembles a private army to invade the bayous. They track the pair to the rustic cabin of Chance's Uncle Douvee (Wilford Brimley), and the real fireworks begin. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lance Henriksen, (more)
Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren play archenemies from beyond the grave in this action film. During the Vietnam War, Luc (Van Damme), hoping to be sent home, comes upon blood-crazy Scott (Lundgren), who is starting a one-man genocide program. When Luc tries to stop Scott's carnage, Scott fights back and they end up killing each other. But now the government gets involved, cryogenically freezing their corpses and using their bodies in a secret government project call "UniSols" --turning the dead men into android fighting machines. Luc and Scott are now metallic fighting members of a robot SWAT team. But Luc begin to have flashbacks to the final moments of his life in Vietnam, as does Scott, who recalls that one of his final thoughts was to kill Luc. Meanwhile, a snoopy reporter named Veronica (Ally Walker) stumbles upon the secret of the UniSols, and soon Luc is trying to save both himself and Veronica from the wrath of Scott, who is trying to kill them both. All of the action culminates in a wild chase between a prison bus and a UniSols van, racing around hairpin turns on desert precipices. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, (more)
Jean-Claude Van Damme proves that two cracked heads are better than one in Double Impact. Van Damme plays twins Chad and Alex, who were separated at birth when their parents were brutally murdered by members of a Hong Kong criminal cartel. Incredibly both Chad and Alex have grown up to become world-class martial arts experts. Chad is a snobbish Californian karate instructor, while Alex is a cigar-smoking smuggler in Hong Kong. The two are brought back together by the family bodyguard Frank Avery (Geoffrey Lewis) to team up to avenge their parents' murder. But stacked against them is a thoroughly nasty, over-the-top assassin named Moon (martial arts film great Bolo Yeung). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Geoffrey Lewis, (more)
Canadian Mountie Louis Burke (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is assigned to a bizarre case where prison inmates are being murdered. Sent to the jail to investigate while undercover as a prisoner, Burke is hot on the trail until one of his former busts, the Sandman (Patrick Kilpatrick), is transferred to the same prison. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Robert Guillaume, (more)
- 1990
Piecing together exciting film footage of martial arts performances, Deadliest Art demonstrates the reasons for the popularity of martial arts combat in visual entertainment. The history of the art, including basics of the Eastern philosophies that govern it, provides insight along with the demonstration of various types of martial arts fighting. Touching on the skills and frame of mind necessary to perform feats of this kind, this film showcases the beauty of defense without weapons, as well as special techniques required to incorporate the use of weapons, and the ways in which the martial arts have been showcased in the film industry. ~ Sarah Sloboda, All Movie Guide
After his brother is badly beaten by a street gang, Jean-Claude Van Damme deserts the foreign legion in order to avenge his honor in this action film also known as A.W.O.L. and Wrong Bet. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Harrison Page, (more)
In a post-apocalyptic world, killer-for-hire Gibson Rickenbacker (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is hired to escort a cyborg--which contains valuable information on a cure for a deathly plague--to its research center. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Deborah Richter, (more)
Jean Claude Van Damme kicks up his heels once again in this action film. Van Damme plays Kurt Sloane, the brother of American kickboxing champion Eric Sloane (Dennis Alexio). Having bested the best in the United States, Eric takes off to Bangkok with little brother Kurt to defeat the kickboxing champion of Thailand. However, while Eric wins the fight, his career is finished for good when his opponent, the malicious Tong Po (Michel Qissi) breaks his spine after the final bell sounds, putting Eric permanently in a wheelchair. Kurt learns the sport of kickboxing himself, so he can get in the ring and teach the Thai champ a lesson. An old man who is a master at kickboxing, instructs Kurt in the brutal art, along with gentle bromides of Zen philosophy and spiritual peace. Kurt finally becomes a pro and lines up a match with Tong Po, but to insure victory, Tong Po's cohorts rape Kurt's girlfriend, kidnap his crippled brother, and even kill his dog. But Kurt is unbowed and is ready for the champ to meet his match. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Alexio, (more)
Black Eagle takes as its inspiration Reagan-era cold war paranoia. After a renegade scientist goes AWOL, a top secret device is up for grabs. International intrigue ensues, with CIA agent Ken Tani aka Black Eagle and KGB operative Andrei, played by Jon Claude van Damme at the center. The picture builds towards their inevitable showdown where American interests are preserved. Black Eagle was van Damme's second picture.
~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide
~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Doran Clark, (more)
- 1986
- PG
This film is a kind of David meets Goliath story told in martial arts terms. Young Jason Stillwell (Kurt McKinney) moves with his parents to Seattle, where local bullies harass them without mercy. Jason's father Tom (Tim Baker) does not believe in violence, so the family takes it on the chin. One day Jason enrolls in a martial arts class and quietly rises in rank to be a major contender. His mettle is tested in an international match against Ivan, a Russian champion (Jean-Claude Van Damme), expanding the "enemy" beyond Seattle's borders. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt McKinney, Jean-Claude Van Damme, (more)
Jean-Claude Van Damme makes his starring debut in the aptly titled Bloodsport. An American soldier at large in Hong Kong, Van Damme becomes involved in the Kumite (also spelled Kumatai), a highly illegal kickboxing competition. Whoever survives the bout will be crowned Kumite champion of the world-a title that has plenty of challengers with homicide in their hearts. The finale offers a duel to the death (or near-death) between Van Damme and reigning Kumite king Bolo Yeung. The script is based on the real-life exploits of martial arts champ Frank Dux (who serves as the film's fight coordinator). Denied such niceties as production values, Bloodsport scores big-time in the violent action department. A sequel followed in 1995, inventively titled Bloodsport 2. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb, (more)
- 1983
This romantic comedy features the exciting relationship between an American and a mysterious Frenchwoman in their adventures. ~ All Movie Guide
