Monday, August 3, 2009

Spotlight: Bloodsport

Nostalgia's rearing its ugly (or pretty) head on me once again. I decided to see a classic martial arts movie just for the heck of it, and I ended up with this:



Movie: Bloodsport
Starring: Jean Claude Van Damme, Bolo Yeung
Directed By: Newt Arnold

Yeah, depending on your views, the definition of "classic" varies with Bloodsport. For one, this was the movie that defined Jean Claude Van Damme for the martial arts generation of the 80's, and it was kick ass too. Before his string of hits (and misses) with Kickboxer, Universal Soldier, and *ahem* The Street Fighter movie, this is the flick that put Jean Claude on the map to hollywood action movie stardom.



However action packed it was, Bloodsport was also wrought with campy humorous moments and cheezy fight scenes and slow-motion effects. Compared to today's action movies, that would look totally fake... but Van Damme's moves were the real deal here. He could split like crazy and hit opponents with a nutcracker that would leave them crying until tomorrow, which inspired the guys behind the Mortal Kombat game to create the infamous fighter known as Johnny Cage.



The primary antagonist of this flick is none other than Bolo Yeung, a well known martial arts film actor who was best known for his appearance in Enter The Dragon; serving as the villainous opponent of the legendary Bruce Lee. In Bloodsport, Bolo plays Chong Li (NOT related to Chun-Li), a ruthless and cunning martial artist who fights for pleasure and kills for entertainment. His massive built and intimidating appearance could scare the beejezus out of anyone going up against him, and it worked well to serve him up against Van Damme, who plays real life martial artist Frank W. Dux.


Bloodsport Intro: Preparation For The Kumite


Bloodsport is based on the supposed real-life story of Dux, a martial artist from America who competes in the Kumite - a shadowy and controversial tournament held in Hong Kong every five years. As a boy, he learned the ways of Ninjutsu from a Japanese teacher, Senzo Tanaka, who wanted nothing more than to make him a training dummy for his son, Shingo. Eventually earning the family's respect and friendship, Dux grows to become a competent disciple, until tragedy strikes the Tanaka family and Shingo dies while competing in the Kumite. Wanting to honor his mentor and the memory of his deceased son, Dux asks Senzo to teach him everything he knows, becoming a skilled martial artist with five years of training in preparation for the next tournament.

Dux, now an officer for the Army, goes AWOL and competes in the Kumite despite being prohibited by his superiors. Managing to outwit and make it to HK, he befriends a fellow American martial artist named Randy Jackson and becomes involved with a female reporter named Janice Kent. Everything goes well and he competes in the tournament; until things get serious and Randy is badly injured by the massive and arrogant fighter known only as Chong Li. Trying to keep himself focused on the tournament and honoring his friends, Frank presses on, determined to win this Bloodsport with everything he knows.



I'm sure many of you have seen this film as kids back in the day. We'd root for the good guy to win against the mean looking bad guys, and Bloodsport is a clear example of how B-movie goodness went back in the 80's. It was a no brainer flick that required less attention on the dialogue and more focus on the action. Van Damme was excellent with his fighting scenes, and to this day it amazes me he could pull off such feats with minimal effort involved. Heck, the actors chosen for this film were decent enough for their roles, and one of the guys chosen happens to be a young and then unknown Forest Whitaker, who played a sidekick cop chasing down Van Damme throughout the entire movie.

One of the things I couldn't believe about this movie was the soundtrack. Sure, it sounds cheesy when compared to today's musical standards, but back then, it was kick ass inspirational action movie music anyone could listen to. In fact, I was surprised to find out that Stan Bush (yes, THE Stan Bush) of Transformers: The Movie fame had covered two songs for the film that never made it to the official OST (i.e the songs made, someone else sang it). Again, they were some of the most inspirational pieces of B-movie music befitting for this kind of movie. Go check 'em out below with some you tube links:

On My Own-Alone by Stan Bush


This is the scene where Frank, still confused and distracted over recent events, tries to get away from it all to clear his head and meditate. It's a cool musical piece by Stan, and reminiscent of songs sung by Peter Cetera of Chicago and Karate Kid music fame.



Fight To Survive by Stan Bush


The movie's theme song by Stan Bush. Nuff Said.

In the end, Bloodsport is a true 80's martial arts movie classic. It's not the most spectacular movie out there when compared to the likes of Enter The Dragon or Ong Bak, but it holds on it's own as a movie that can stand the test of time, probably for its vintage looks and heroic feats of kick ass moments. It's also a good Van Damme film if you're a fan of the guy, so go look it up if you're in the need for some "old school" action.

Rating - 4/5

For a bonus, here's the FINAL BATTLE of the film:



HAJIME!

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