pay homage to the greatest martial arts flick. ever!!!

and if you thought that movie was Bloodsport, you are so correct that you deserve a pat on the back. if you thought along the lines of American Ninja or Best of the Best, you are very gay. very, very gay. those movies sucked and not even years of therapy could/would/should make you think otherwise.

Seanbaby's love of Bloodsport... and something about Flash Gordon

share your love of this wonderful movie. ponder why this movie isn't even out on dvd. but more importantly... join in the love that is... the Kumite.

this is van damme at his best

one gripe I had about the film was they portrayed Bolo as a korean dude. Thats just wrong. Koreans don't cheat :/

That one scene where Bolo throws the powder into Van Damme's eyes is pretty fuqin hilarious.

I sometimes reanact that scene where Van Damme is trying to fight while being temporarily blinded. :lol:

While Bloodsport is a great film, its not Van Damms best. Hard Target is Best Vandamm film, thanks to John Woo.

We can call Bloodsport, Van Damms best Martial Arts film though :) It does have great fights, and Bolo is good as ever :)

What if I thought none of those, and Fist of Legend popped in my head instead? Partially because of its great story, as well as the fight scenes (though the rigged areas in the final scene kinda show, like the breaking tree that obviously been dead), especially the blind one. That was great.

Still need to see Bloodsport. We were gonna rent it about a week ago...

Van Damme movies always follow the same route. but Bloodsport... Bloodsport is just something incredibly special. this is the echelon of all Van Damme movies. compared to Bloodsport, Hard Target might as well be a Segal movie. :p

i'm partial to the Quest since it's like a semi-type sequel to Bloodsport. but the Quest doesn't have Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds or Karate Champ.

Klonoa, are you korean? Did u watch the olympics? Remember Apollo Anton Ono getting elbowed? :p At any rate, its the best AMERICAN martial arts film. You get so much 80s cheeze... after one view, you'll blowing your nose with a sandwich. No other movies had such memorable lines like "You roose, American asshole" or "Very Good. BUT BRICK NOT HIT BACK!". If that's not classic, I don't know what is. The main theme! Who could forget "I fight to surviiiiiiiiiiiiiive"?
KUMITE!
KUMITE!
KUMITE!

KUMITE!
KUMITE!
KUMITE!

At risk of starting some sort of flame war, I'm not even going to get into how Bloodsport isn't anywhere near being the greatest martial arts flick ever.

But that's a tough call. For pure stunts and martial arts, I'm not sure. But as an overall film I think Crouching Tiger is the best. Cast is great, fights are amazingly well done and the whole film is just beautiful.

Oh and speaking of ninjas, if anyone hasn't seen this site yet, I urge you to visit and laugh your ass off immediately. Real Ultimate Power

Well, Until I see Seagal in John Woo film, Hard Target is Vandamm best :) Even working Vandam who behaved like an ass during shoot, bitching studio who wanted to cut the film the way they wanted(and eventually did), Woo still put some of the most memorable action scenes in US film. And Vandamm looked cool as well.

In Bloodsport he did look kinda dorky. :)

I liked Bloodsport, but I feel Van Damme's best movie in Cyborg... nothing but fighting, the story was kindof cool and best of all Van Damme did very little acting or speaking in it. Hard Target was also good, I have the banner for that movie when I was working at the theatre ^_^

(While playing Karate Champ)
"Aren't you a little young to be fighting in the Kumite..."
"Aren't you a little old to be playing video games"

Bloodsport? Crouching Tiger? Come on!

Haven't you guys ever watched Asian martial arts movies? Haven't you ever heard of Chinese Connection, Drunken Master and Drunken Master II, Invincible Armor, or The Five Deadly Venoms? Oh, and the best American martial arts film may have been Bloodsport, but where is the appreciation for the first Ninja Turtles movie?

Drunken Master.

Best training sequence.

Best "wacky" sensei.

Best fight scenes.

Best use of alcohol as a prop.

Best kung fu movie ever.

Well, I like Drunken Master 2 more. Final fight in it just excellent.

Fist of Legend is also one of the best martial art films. Jet Li is excellent in it.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Despair
Well, I like Drunken Master 2 more. Final fight in it just excellent.

Fist of Legend is also one of the best martial art films. Jet Li is excellent in it.

---

ugh!

Drunken Master II is NOTHING compared to the orginal. All crappily edited with worse fight scenes, and not enough Jackie Chan!

*gets drunk, falls into a pot of water*

Best martial arts flick, and you give it to a Van Damme film. Shame, bro, shame.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I'm givin the title to Shaolin Soccer. Damn that movie ruled.

I totally agree with Nick. Invincible (Iron) Armor was great for comedic value. Nothing is funny in quite the same way as watching an old man being killed while the camera switched to someone crushing eggs in their hand. Crouching Tiger was a'ight (the hype raised my expectations way too high), and you gotta show some love for Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. Although, Bloodsport is a guilty pleasure...sorta like all the crappy cartoons that you might have watched as a kid. Sure, voltron is a framey mess today, but there's just something inherently cool in forming the blazing sword. Bloodsport is cheesy as all get out, but there's just something that makes put that all aside and enjoy the flick more than I rationally should :).

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Despair
Well, Until I see Seagal in John Woo film, Hard Target is Vandamm best :) Even working Vandam who behaved like an ass during shoot, bitching studio who wanted to cut the film the way they wanted(and eventually did), Woo still put some of the most memorable action scenes in US film. And Vandamm looked cool as well.

In Bloodsport he did look kinda dorky. :)

---

Woo had to cut & edit the film 7 times and they still wanted to give it a NC-17 rating. I would love to seen an unedited version of that movie.

Well, Look around. Its available on VHS in many places. Its much better than theatrical cut. Alot of violence was cut, adn action scenes look much better and longer. John Woo really did a great job on action scenes, which are much better than ones n Face Off, or Broken Arrow.

Check out, Videojunkie.com, they have vhs of sale.

Bloodsport is nothing compared to the emporer of all Van Damme movies, Street Fighter. No other Van Damme movie combined thrill-a-minute action sequnces with such memorable characters, awesome costumes and special effects, and witty dialogue such as "Quick! Change the channel!" or "I beheld Satan, as he fell from heaven, LIKE LIIIIGHTNIIIIINNG!!!" Truly, Street Fighter is not a movie, it is an experience.

In all seriousness though, Enter the Dragon is the best martial arts movie ever made.

I'm still holding out for the uncut DVD version of Gymkata.

Just kidding.

Where are the Jackie Chan fans? Anyone who has seen his early works and lesser knowns should know how versatile and strong he is.....'Snake in Eagle's Shadow' and 'Shaolin Wooden Men' are amazing. I'd even say 'Eagle's Shadow' is slightly better than the original Drunken Master. All Jackie fans must see it.

And the scene with the training dummies in 'Shaolin Wooden Men' is unforgettable.

Also look for 'The Young Master' and 'Wheels on Meals'.

P.S. Serious fans need to look for a Jackie flick called 'City Hunter'. The ending fight scene features a campy fight where Jackie Chan turns into Chin Li, and Gary Daniels into Ken! No bullshit. You must see it to believe it.

~Quinn

i should have titled the thread differently... something like greatest AMERICAN martial arts movie.

but anyhow... Bloodsport is classic!!!

Quote:

---

Now that I think about it, I'm givin the title to Shaolin Soccer. Damn that movie ruled.

---

Shaolin Soccer wasn't a martial arts movie. it didn't even have any real fighting to it (beating someone with a hammer is not a martial art, and neither is the final shoe attack), it was all senseless, but funny, violence. it's the greatest COMEDY ever!!

greatest of all time though has got to be Enter the Dragon. Last Dragon is up there too. "when ah say... whooooo's the masta... you say... SHO' NUFF!!"

lets not get off the original subject of Bloodsport though, i mean, what other movie shows off the skill of the "great" Afghani fighters ? :lol:

CIty Hunter is pretty good film(IMO), and that Street Fighter 2 fight with Jackie as Chun Li was great. End fight where Jackie fights Edward Norton is very good as well.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Despair
CIty Hunter is pretty good film(IMO), and that Street Fighter 2 fight with Jackie as Chun Li was great. End fight where Jackie fights Edward Norton is very good as well.

---

I thought I remembered City Hunter well enough, but Edward Norton was in it???

~Quinn

Fuck, I ment Richard Norton :)

I'm mixed up on Nortons here.

Right on, I gotcha.

He was also great as 'Gene Carlo' in Mr. Nice Guy. Hilarious!

~Quinn

Quote:

---

P.S. Serious fans need to look for a Jackie flick called 'City Hunter'. The ending fight scene features a campy fight where Jackie Chan turns into Chin Li, and Gary Daniels into Ken! No bullshit. You must see it to believe it.

---

So many people hate City Hunter because of the Street Fighter scene. Fools. That was great.

How did I forget about Drunken Master II? I think that's tied for my favorite kung fu film. And Shaolin Soccer was awesome, and it was a kung fu movie. Most of Stephen Chow's stuff is comedy primarily but SS had some wicked good kung fu (even though it was mostly wires). It's like watching live action Dragonball. And the "Evil Team"? How can you not love this movie? :lol:

And re: Hard Target, yeah, the movie could have been a lot better if Woo was given the proper respect he was due. But as a newcomer to hollywood, he had to take it up the ass from Universal and Van Damme. I really hope his career picks up again, eventhough Windtalkers looks kinda sketchy. He's gotta get back with Chow dammit. Actually, I think I'm going to write my english essay about this right now. Sigh...

the focus of a kung fu movie is... the kung fu. Shaolin Soccer dabbles in it but the ultimate focus was on the soccer and using the Shaolin techniques to their advantage. SS is more like 90% comedy and 10% on the techniques.

greatest scene in Shaolin Soccer was the "thriller" dance sequence, especially the beginning when the guy gets up and starts talking about being a composer.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Sean Baby
To the right is Jean Claude proving that if you do a move that's pretty enough, your opponent forgets how to fight. After seeing van Damme's Flying Blind Splits, Chong decides his best option is to go with the Somersault Barrel of Monkey. This is an ancient fighting technique used by young American children to go very quickly down hills. Also, if you jump high enough, the guy you're fighting will politely drop their hands and watch you kick them in the mouth. This is very useful to remember when want to kick your opponent in the face. But before I go, I'd like to give special thanks to Leapin' Joey, a member of the National Cheerleader's Association and fight choreographer for this movie.

---

This paragraph made me laugh so hard that I started choking.

BeanBandit: Crouching Tiger was good, but had flaws. Namely, the wire-action wasn't that great (after watching too many Jet Li movies, I was spoting screw ups left and right), but the story was good.

I prefer Fist of Legend because it's non wire-action and has a much better story (I would say original as well, but it is a remake after all), which I say place it on a higher level.

And the Official Ninja Homepage rocks, they've added a lot of content lately. Unfortunately, they removed the Hippos! The bastards!

88mph: That was friggin' hysterical!

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Ashen Victor
the focus of a kung fu movie is... the kung fu. Shaolin Soccer dabbles in it but the ultimate focus was on the soccer and using the Shaolin techniques to their advantage. SS is more like 90% comedy and 10% on the techniques.

greatest scene in Shaolin Soccer was the "thriller" dance sequence, especially the beginning when the guy gets up and starts talking about being a composer.

---

I disagree. A kung fu movie shouldn't be a bunch of showy fight sequences, linked together by a typical paper thin plot. I would hardly categorize Crouching Tiger as a romance type movie, despite the lengthly sequences where people are kissing rather than knocking out each other's teeth. Likewise, I wouldn't say Shaolin Soccer is a sports movie or a comedy. Drunken Master 2 (and several other Jackie Chan movies) also contain humour and lots of physical comedy.

And regarding the dance scene in SS, I've heard about it, but never seen it! because it is mysteriously absent from my DVD. Apparently it is on the VCD, which is really weird. I think I'll have to buy it just for that one scene. That's what I get for buying my DVDs in Chinatown. :(

Quote:

---

BeanBandit: Crouching Tiger was good, but had flaws. Namely, the wire-action wasn't that great (after watching too many Jet Li movies, I was spoting screw ups left and right), but the story was good.

I prefer Fist of Legend because it's non wire-action and has a much better story (I would say original as well, but it is a remake after all), which I say place it on a higher level.

And the Official Ninja Homepage rocks, they've added a lot of content lately. Unfortunately, they removed the Hippos! The bastards!

---

I don't know why I loved Crouching Tiger so much. It was such a surprise to see an Iron Monkey style film being made with a Hollywood style budget and image clarity. Not for everyone I suppose -- I can respect that. What I can't stand is people who came out saying, "What the hell was that? People can't fly in real life!" It's a movie for god's sake. Suspend your disbelief. Anyway...

Plus, Chow is awesome. Someone tell him to stop screwing around with crappy music video directors and do some more asian pictures.

edit: MechDeus - the hippo stuff is still there. You have to find it...

fuck yeah! a tribute thread to bloodsport. i can't even count how many times i've seen this movie. as you all know (well, despair knows), i'm a huge van damme fan; probably the biggest one on this board.

anyway, bloodsport fuckin' rules. my roommate has every line in the movie memorized. that's how classic this movie is. forget office space; forget kevin smith movies; forget the simpsons. when it comes to lines, it's all about bloodsport. "very goot, but brick no hit back!" bolo yeung rules. "you break my record, now i break you, like i break your friend." while it's one of van damme's best ones, i still would have to say that hard target is my favorite.

for another great van damme classic, check out "no retreat, no surrender." it's a great, but very cheesy american martial arts movie where van damme plays a bad guy. although he's only in the movie for about 15 minutes (maybe less), he kicks major ass, although he does lose to the main character at the end. classic cheesy 80s stuff.

Yeah, with a Bruce Lee ghost training the guy so he can beat Van Damm's Ivan - The Russian Immigrant baddie :)


Well, I'm also fan of Tsui Hark's Double Team and Knock Off with Van Damm. Everyone seems to hate these 2 film, but I find them big deal of fun. I love the way Hark sets up and directs scenes, very visual, something Fincher does in US films. Action scenes are also great. Sure those are very silly and unbelievable, but their campiness bring more charm to them.

Sorry the best kung-fu flick is not Bloodsport or any Jackie Chan movies or any crouching tigers. It's a tie!

Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon & Shaolin Dolimite!

Sho nuf,
-Gigas

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Despair
Yeah, with a Bruce Lee ghost training the guy so he can beat Van Damm's Ivan - The Russian Immigrant baddie :)


Well, I'm also fan of Tsui Hark's Double Team and Knock Off with Van Damm. Everyone seems to hate these 2 film, but I find them big deal of fun. I love the way Hark sets up and directs scenes, very visual, something Fincher does in US films. Action scenes are also great. Sure those are very silly and unbelievable, but their campiness bring more charm to them.

---

dude, i totally love knock off and double team. i thought double team had great action and pacing. van damme rehab scene was dope. i also like the colors in the movie. it reminds me of "run lola run."

knock off was cool because it was van damme doing something very hk. carriage racing scene and van damme vs. 100 knife-wielding hk thug scene were the dopest.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by BeanBandit

I disagree. A kung fu movie shouldn't be a bunch of showy fight sequences, linked together by a typical paper thin plot. I would hardly categorize Crouching Tiger as a romance type movie, despite the lengthly sequences where people are kissing rather than knocking out each other's teeth. Likewise, I wouldn't say Shaolin Soccer is a sports movie or a comedy. Drunken Master 2 (and several other Jackie Chan movies) also contain humour and lots of physical comedy.

---

how can you say that Shaolin Soccer isn't a comedy or a sports movie when that's its MAIN FOCUS ? sure, a martial arts movie shouldn't be a bunch of fight scenes with a n ehhh plot, but that's usually what that genre is about. Once Upon a Time in China is a martial arts flick because that's what's being focused on, God of Cookery is a comedy because that's what's being focused on. Drunken Master is a comedic martial arts movie that is half this and half that, something that SS isn't.

Quote:

---

And regarding the dance scene in SS, I've heard about it, but never seen it! because it is mysteriously absent from my DVD. Apparently it is on the VCD, which is really weird. I think I'll have to buy it just for that one scene. That's what I get for buying my DVDs in Chinatown. :(

---

if you own the dvd, there should be certain scenes during the film where a little shaolin looking character pops up on the upper-right corner of the screen. it should pop up during the scene where Stephen Chow's character first meets up with Ah-Mei at the sweet bun shop.

Quote:

---

Xeno Gigas commenting on Bloodsport not being the best martial arts flick (he's in denial) and saying that Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon and Shaolin Dolemite are.

---

Last Dragon isn't the best, but i'd have to say that it's one of the best. it's pure 80's cheese, but it's the good velveeta type. it gets extra bonus points for this classic line:

"you Rick James, string bean, lookin' fool!"

Here are five immortal words.....

"Kung Fu Kids : Break Away"


~Quinn

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Despair
Yeah, with a Bruce Lee ghost training the guy so he can beat Van Damm's Ivan - The Russian Immigrant baddie :)


Well, I'm also fan of Tsui Hark's Double Team and Knock Off with Van Damm. Everyone seems to hate these 2 film, but I find them big deal of fun. I love the way Hark sets up and directs scenes, very visual, something Fincher does in US films. Action scenes are also great. Sure those are very silly and unbelievable, but their campiness bring more charm to them.

---

I loved Knock Off--especially for the race scene that ends up in the supermarket--his camera work is inventive and amazing. he's easliy one of my favorite directors in terms of variety. I only dislike one of his films so far--Green Snake.

Quote:

---

how can you say that Shaolin Soccer isn't a comedy or a sports movie when that's its MAIN FOCUS ? sure, a martial arts movie shouldn't be a bunch of fight scenes with a n ehhh plot, but that's usually what that genre is about. Once Upon a Time in China is a martial arts flick because that's what's being focused on, God of Cookery is a comedy because that's what's being focused on. Drunken Master is a comedic martial arts movie that is half this and half that, something that SS isn't.

---

The problem is that different people have different ideas of what a martial arts film is. Sure Once Upon a Time a China is a martial arts piece, but it's a lot more than too. It' a commentary on the British occupation of China and the overall modernization of China. There is a lot of confilct between the use of guns and the use of fists to fight.

I consider Shaolin Soccer as much a martial arts film as it is a comedy because of the importance martial arts play in the film. Each of the players uses Shaolin-learned secrets to make it in the 21st century. When Stephen Chow sings to Vicki Chao Wei, the lady making the sweet buns, he is singing a very famous Cantonese song, but playing with the words. Maggie Cheung and Bill Tung sing the same song in Project A 2, also playing with the words. Many of Stephen Chow's films play off of other martial arts films. Sure it's a comedy and a very un-traditional martial arts film, but it does have elements of them. It's a kung fu comedy. And it's one of the finest HK films ever made in my opinion.

WoW. It so nice to see some Double Team and Knock OFF love here. I thought I was alone :)

On all other HK movie boards, those movies are bashed regulary :(

HK Martial Arts films, and US Martial Arts films, are two different animals. Its onlu recently, US films started to get better, with a lot of assistance from HK talent. Just look at mid 80-90 US films of Don THe Dragon Wilson or Steven Seagal, or some other Van Damm films.
You can really compare them to HK films produced in the same time period.

"OKAY, U.S.A.!!"

Bloodsport is just one of those movies where the cheese makes it great. The fight scenes were decent for the time, and the characters were almost Street Fighter-ish in design.

Bloodsport and Kickboxer are definitely the top two American-made 80's martial-arts flicks.

The pure crap award has gotta go to "Gymkata". The hell were they thinking when they made that heap? Good for a laugh, though.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Ashen Victor

Last Dragon isn't the best, but i'd have to say that it's one of the best. it's pure 80's cheese, but it's the good velveeta type. it gets extra bonus points for this classic line:

"you Rick James, string bean, lookin' fool!"

---

I know it's not the best, I was just going along with the "american-made" trend in the thread. The best kung-fu flick ever is Fist of Legend.

Sho nuf,
-Gigas

i would have never expected this thread to get so many posts...

and with that said, everyone should download and immediately listen to the Bloodsport theme for nostalgia fun!

"it's not "Ducks", my name is Dux"
"oh... like in "put up your dukes ?"

Bloodsport - i'm pretty sure you can find nirvana just by watching it. and when you think about it long and hard, lines from that movie are great in normal everyday situations.

nak sou cow!

Quote:

---

Originally posted by BeanBandit
I don't know why I loved Crouching Tiger so much. It was such a surprise to see an Iron Monkey style film being made with a Hollywood style budget and image clarity. Not for everyone I suppose -- I can respect that.

---

Oh, it's good, I liked the movie, and accidently saw it three times opening day. It's just that I ay there are other movies which best it.

Quote:

---

edit: MechDeus - the hippo stuff is still there. You have to find it...

---

The search if on...

I would also like to say that while I've never seen Knock-off, I thoroughly enjoyed Double Team, especially since I was expecting such a stinker. Rodman really needed to shut up (his voice does not work in that movie), but otherwise, good stuff.

I'm also going to have to say that Enter the Dragon was the greatest martial arts flick of all time.

classic if I've ever seen one.

http://moon.pr.erau.edu/~andersbj/Pe...s/image009.jpg

In City Hunter, Jackie Chan is fighting 2 big black guys, while this scene from Game of Death, playing on the big screen behind them.

Classic :)

this deserves to be at the top. no reason, just cause.

knock off was Van Damme's worst theatrical release.

Double Impact was awesome.

No way, Knock Off is much better than that The Quest crap, or Lionheart.

which one was Knock Off ? and the Quest was good, like a spiritual sequel to Bloodsport, or maybe even a remake. but Lionheart sucks big time.

as much as i loved Van Damme in Bloodsport, he really throws out a lot of bullshit films. and lately it looks like he's putting out direct to home releases.

Well, I thought that Quest sucked big time. It was boring, fighting was boring, for exception of couple of fights, none of which had Van Damm present :), storyline was stupid, and I guess it just didnt worked for me.