Having watched all of Van Damme’s movies before – most several times – and having reviewed and rated most of of them on this website already, I now present to you the Top 8 BEST Jean-Claude Van Damme Movies of all time, in descending order from best to worst. Why 8? Well, there’s a lot of movies currently competing for 9th place, so 8 seems like a good place to end it for now. I may update this page in future to cover the top 10 or 20 though – maybe even his entire filmography from best to worst one day.
1: Bloodsport (1988)
The whole production of this movie is just on another level, from the cast members, to the music, to the camera work, to the script work – it all comes together to create a great atmosphere and a movie clicks together very well, even though it’s relatively simple in plot core. There’s only one or two bits worth skipping when rewatching to frequently.
2: Kickboxer (1989)
As soon as Van Damme made the big time with Bloodsport, he was churning out a couple of movies per year, and Kickboxing was one of the earliest. Replicating much of what worked so well in Bloodsport, Kickboxer generates a good atmosphere albeit much more intermittent this time round. The overall movie isn’t as grand or polished as Bloodsport was, but is still up there as one of his next best movies thanks to some decent script ideas (even though the plot is simple at heart), plus some strong supporting actors, and good music to accompany good training scenes.
3: The Quest (1996)
This movie has an action-packed plot and was also Van Damme’s directorial debut – he led the screenplay personally, no doubt assisted by the experienced legend and co-star of this movie, Roger Moore. It’s one of Van Damme’s busiest movies and it generally works very well throughout although the ending is a bit one dimensional and overly drawn out.
4: No Retreat, No Surrender (1985)
This is a bit of a wildcard entry since it dates back to before Van Damme made the big time with Bloodsport. Van Damme isn’t actually the star of this movie, it’s actually Kurt McKinney, but Van Damme plays the main fighter of the baddies. It’s astonishing how Kurt McKinney didn’t go on to make more similar movies, since he comfortably holds his own, not being overshadowed by Van Damme in his performance here. They complement each other very well as rivals towards the end of the movie. A strong ending to a great motivational movie with great soundtracks and training scenes and fight scenes throughout. Very simple plot, with a lot of slower patches, but it frequently generates a good atmosphere with the help of strong music, screenplay and supporting cast members.
5: The Order (2001)
This is one of Van Damme’s busier movies, with decent script ideas and decent screenplay. It’s more fun than usual, as Van Damme plays a professional thief & smuggler of valuable artefacts. We see him travel the world, as his father also gets kidnapped, the police get involved, and Van Damme infiltrates a secret society. Strong supporting cast members, including the lead female, the bad guys and others.
6: Hard Target (1993)
Another busy movie, with some awesome scenes early on where the music clicks perfectly to set the mood. Strong cast members all round, including the lead female, the bad guys and others. This movie was the American debut of director John Woo.