Kickboxer

When it comes to those musclebound heroes who were so popular in the eighties/early nineties, you kind of remember their breakthrough roles. 'The Terminator' is still a classic to this day and you can see how it catapulted Arnold Schwarzenegger into super-stardom. The same can be said for 'Rocky' and 'Die Hard' for Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis respectively. It was fair to say that Jean Claude Van Damme hadn't done much before he starred as the lead in 'Kickboxer' (and a brief turn as the Predator before he threw a hissy-fit on set doesn't count – seriously, look that up). In 'Kickboxer' he plays a ballet dancer who turns professional kickboxer to avenge the crippling of his (also kickboxer) brother in the ring at the hands of a psycho. No, really. That's the plot.

Okay, so you can expect a certain amount of training, in-ring fighting and romantic love interest thrown in there for good measure. That's all taken for granted in pretty much any film. However, all these tropes can't hide the fact that Van Damme isn't really that great actor. Okay, so he's hardly improved dramatically over the years, but he's definitely got better to justify his casting as a lead. Here, he can barely look like he understands other characters' lines, let alone form a facial expression that relates to them. I guess what I'm trying to say it that, even if 'Kickboxer' isn't the worst film ever made, it's quite hard to see how this was a springboard for his rise to stardom.

I suppose he was cast simply because of his looks (which my girlfriend tells me are pretty hot back then – not to mention other areas of his anatomy!) and his ability to throw a kick or two. That, he can do for sure. Yes, the film-makers may have felt the need to overlay a sound effect reminiscent of you hitting a sponge sofa really hard over every punch, but you can tell he's really got the moves in the ring.

'Kickboxer' is a classic. Everything about it should make it bad – reading back over this review I can see how scathing I sound. And yet, after watching it, I really don't feel like I've wasted my time and even enjoyed much of it. Yes, it's quite silly in places and the songs played over (alleged dramatic moments) sound like something Trey Parker and Matt Stone would spoof in 'South Park.' Plus the overall story plays out like a slightly more violent 'Karate Kid' movie, but it's still fun. You'll have seen it all before and know exactly where it's going, but if you're a fan of JCVD, or are just happy to sit through martial arts movies or general eighties overblown cheese, you should find some enjoyment here.

It has been made a lot of sequels in this series,but this one is the only that is worth watching. It is kind of like Rocky,in the sense that he traines all the movie for a fight in the end. The fight scenes are hardcore and the one at the end is quite cool. This cant be compared to the best movies of Jackie Chan and Jet Li,but it is still a good martial arts movie.

One of Van Dammes best to date.

this is the one of my favorite van dam movies. I think that it is also one of his best films. We watch his character train throughout the movie for a fight at the end. The martial arts throughout are very well done. This is one of those films you can watch every time it is on TV. If you like martial arts movies you will probably enjoy this one. The movie though is all about the final fight. Like many other films of its type. All in all van dam is great and if you want to see a film based on the martial arts that doesn't have Druce Lee or Jackie Chan or Jet Li in it then this movie is one for you. The story is pretty simple but the fight scenes are worth it so go for it. 7 out of 10.

A man named Kurt Sloane(Van Damme) learns in Thailand the ancient Kickboxing style called Muay Thai for fighting the contender who paralyzed his brother named Eric(Dennis Alexio who was actually US Kickboxing heavyweight champion) . During world championship with the Kickboxing heavyweight champion celebrated in Bankok stadium, Eric was crippled by fighter Tong Po. Then, Kurt is seeking vengeance and he's only helped by an American ex-soldier(Haskell Anderson) and an expert trainer named Xian(Dennis Chan). The film contains some biographic note, as Kurt tells his sweet-girl he was born Belgium and lives in Los Angeles.

The picture displays lots of violence, action filled, thrills and fierce combats. This is a colourful, Thailand set and quite budget movie; leave no cliché untouched , though the fighting are well staged . Van Damme performance reveals to be more of the Chuck Norris, Stallone style than the Stanislawski school of acting. Karate expert Van Damme co-wrote the script along with the producer-director Mark DiSalle .The breathtaking fights are magnificently choreographed and directed by Van Damme. Exciting scenes , such as Van Damme training over temple of stone, sympathetic fights in the bar and spectacular combat against tiger champion Tong Po and the crowd shouting, 'great white warrior'. The motion picture is professionally directed by Michael Worth and Mark DiSalle who tried repeat success with Jeff Speakman but he didn't achieve. The result is a strong entry for action buffs, though strictly for Jean Claude Van Damme fans. Followed by numerous unreleted sequels, such as, Kickboxer II, the road back directed by Albert Pyun with Sasha Mitchell; II Art of war directed by Rick King with Michell; IV by Albert Pyun with Mitchell; V by Kristine Petersen with Mark Dacascos.

This is a splendid movie. It's van Damme exactly as I want to see him, with great martial arts action, a decent plot (even if it's not original at all), cool characters and a great 80's soundtrack. The movie is somewhat different from Bloodsport. Of course there are similarities too, like an evil fighting champion that van Damme is fighting. But this movie hasn't nearly as many fights as Bloodsport. Instead, it's more focus on training here. The training scenes are visually very good, and with really cool background music. Even though I had expected more fighting instead of this, there's no doubt that this is a great movie in it's own way.