Product: Bloodsport [VHS] (1988)
Rating: 4.0
A Guilty Pleasure Movie
I'm not a fan of martial arts movies. I'm not a fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme. But if I see this movie playing on one of my cable channels, put a fork in me, because I'm cooked for the next 90 minutes.After 30 minutes of attempted plot development, "Bloodsport" really gets going with some of the finest one-on-one fights I have seen as the Kumite competition begins. There are different fighters with all different types of styles, from brute strength, unorthodox defense methods such as hoping around like a kangaroo, and Van Damme's martial arts style. The Kumite makes up most of the remaining 60 minutes of the movie and is riveting.Van Damme can't act to save his life (and I get a kick - no pun intended - out of his American accent), but he puts on a good show here. That's because he doesn't have much dialogue. Bolo Yeung, who plays arch-nemesis Chong Li is ripped and very convincing as the villian. Donald Gibb (Ogre from the "Revenge of the Nerds" movies) plays Van Damme's fellow Kumite participant who gets his clock cleaned by Chong Li, causing Van Damme an extra incentive for revenge.It's cheesy, it's silly, it's poorly acted, but it is a lot of fun. A must!