Bloodsport Written Review

Genre: Action
Director: Newt Arnold
Format that i've seen: DVD
Studio: Cannon
MPAA: R
Runtime: 92 min


Bloodsport is one of the few cannon films that i've watched (Superman 4 is the only one after this). But what makes this cinema classic so memorable, we'll find out.

The film focuses on real-time martial arts guy Frank Dux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) (yes, it's  based on a true story) who wants to fight in the kumite. But the cops are chasing them (Norman Burton and Forest Whitaker) for no good reason which is not described in the movie. He gets trained by Senzo Tanaka (Roy Chiao) (seriously, the last name Tanaka reminds me of you only live twice). When Tanaka is dying, he decides to honur them to go to the kumite (there's 30 minutes of flashbacks all over the place). At Hong Kong, he befriends, Ray Jackson (Donald Gibb) an obese martial arts sensation. There, the undefeated champion (Cliche) is Chong-Li (Bolo Yeung) (who's kind of a Rocky IV character because he takes anabolic steroids and he's also kind of a character he played in enter the dragon) who breaks the bones of contestants (at one point, you see someone's bones (there fake) but it's still discusting, that's why it got rated R). Also, there's the hot chick (Leah Ayers) who's at the wrong place at the wrong time (another cliche) who keeps knowing that there's a kumite but the kumite is supposed to be secret (how does she know and the other citizens don't know about it?). And then the film is filled with cliches (spoiler alert) Ray gets injured badly by Chong-Li and then Frank decides to fight him and, of course he wins.

The performances are god-awful, all of them. Especially Forest Whitaker who's relaked and nervous at the same time. Such a waste of good money. Bolo Yeung says a quote that's a rip-off of Rocky IV "Now I brake you" Bloodsport "I must brake you" Rocky IV.

For an action film, there's a heck of a lot of action scenes, training montages, and Van Damme splits. The action scenes are good and entertaining. Some of them being excellent , some of them being cheesy (I was expecting this from a cannon film) The dialogue is awful and the music is too.

Overall, the film is a mediocre OK. If you're a Van Damme fan, there must be something better to see than this.

I'm going to give this film a 3/5

Stay tuned tomorrow for my Video Review!!!!!!!!!!!