| ACTION BUSYNESS | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| MOOD SETTING | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| SCRIPT COHESION | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| PLOT DENSITY | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
This is easily one of Van Damme’s best movies, and in my opinion, it’s his very best. Bloodsport is a masterpiece of a martial arts movie. It seems to have had a great budget for its day, or was at least managed very well to cater for all departments efficiently. It has great acting by the Van Damme and pretty much all the extended supporting cast members too. It has a great story, albeit a simple one. It provides great entertainment throughout – it keeps busy and doesn’t have boring or over-predictable patches like Van Damme’s later direct-to-video style movies did. This movie was clearly made with love. Great soundtracks. Ample distinct highly entertaining scenes. The lead antagonist is played by Bolo Yeung from Bruce Lee’s ‘Enter The Dragon’ as he’s a highly credible martial artist with high talent in real life and has sufficient acting ability for the job (this is why he was chosen for a strong role in Bruce Lee’s highest-budget, last-completed movie).
Bloodsport could probably get a perfect 10/10 if it had one or two further outstanding actors in major supporting roles, and if its martial value was far more detailed & accurate (helping viewers learn a lot more about martial arts techniques & principles while watching). Van Damme in real life was a decent kickboxer – before he made his way into the movies, he earnt a living doing odd jobs including being a sparring partner for Chuck Norris. But he lacks the finer skills of Bruce Lee or even Steven Seagal. But he’s a good actor nevertheless – he put his heart into his roles.
If you’re a fan of martial arts movies, particularly Van Damme’s movies, and haven’t yet seen this one, you really need to catch up with this classic. It’s easily re-watchable every year or two.
Action wise, it’s not James Bond, but there’s a lot of fist fighting and a bit of running around. Plot wise, it’s quite zeroed in on a simple concept, but stays quite busy and works fantastically.
This movie was inspired by the alleged real life story of Frank Dux – a martial artist still living & teaching today, although his life story now appears to be almost certainly utterly bogus. I guess we can still thank him for his dodgy story having inspired one of the greatest martial arts movies ever made.
Watch it online
Until someone takes it down, you can currently watch the full movie online for free here.
Why this site is needed
When Bloodsport first came out, it received generally negative reviews by mainstream professional critics. Leonard Klady for the LA Times called it a “jungle of cliché” and a “reservoir of bad acting”. Rotten Tomatoes said “Bloodsport is a clichéd, virtually plotless exercise in action movie recycling”. Van Damme was even nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst New Star. But if you ask any modern action movie superstar who inspired them, and what are their favourite movies, there’s a high chance you’ll hear Van Damme and Bloodsport mentioned. In the past few months alone, I’ve heard some of Van Damme’s best classics including Bloodsport & Kickboxer namedropped as all-time favourites by Chris Hemsworth (on Hot Ones), Scott Adkins (on The Art Of Action), and even Carl Froch (on Froch On Fighting). Even my local taxi driver was quick to recommend the same movies. Surely this is proof enough, that it’s not just me who’s the anomaly. It’s actually the professional critics who are terribly out-of-touch. They’re commenting on a genre that they don’t understand. They should stick to criticising other genres, like slow drama, soppy romance and unpleasant horror, and leave the action hero movies to people better qualified to judge them – people who understand their purpose, and appreciate them enough to watch them regularly. People who really know what they’re talking about. People like you & me.