Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5603 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-02-24
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 88 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A well-oiled Jean-Claude Van Damme makes his starring debut in what may be one of the few kickboxing films to be based on a true story. The Muscles from Brussels plays Frank Dux, the first Westerner ever to win the extreme "whupfest" known as the Kumatai (a long-running, no-holds-barred fighting tournament in Hong Kong). While a bit deficient in the script department (to say the least), this undeniably exciting flick succeeds by letting Van Damme play to his strengths: namely, minimal acting and a lot of impossibly acrobatic splits while kicking people in the head. Bloodsport is a guilty-pleasure testosterone blast of the highest order, with a memorable villain (the massive Bolo Yeung from Enter the Dragon) and a multitude of well-choreographed fight scenes. An embarrassed-looking Forest Whitaker cameos as a hapless (and non-kickboxing) cop. --Andrew Wright

Amazon.co.uk Review
A well-oiled Jean-Claude Van Damme makes his starring debut in Bloodsport, which may be one of the few kickboxing films to be based on a true story. The Muscles from Brussels plays Frank Dux, the first Westerner ever to win the extreme "whupfest" known as the Kumatai (a long-running, no-holds-barred fighting tournament in Hong Kong). While a bit deficient in the script department (to say the least), this undeniably exciting flick succeeds by letting Van Damme play to his strengths: namely, minimal acting and a lot of impossibly acrobatic splits while kicking people in the head. It's a guilty pleasure testosterone blast of the highest order, with a memorable villain (the massive Bolo Yeung from Enter the Dragon), and a multitude of well-choreographed fight scenes. An embarrassed-looking Forest Whitaker cameos as a hapless (and non-kickboxing) cop. --Andrew Wright

Special Features
widescreen special_edition digital_sound dts_stereo

Customer Reviews

This Is My Favorite Van Damme Movie Besides Kickboxer!
I want to make this brief. The fight scenes are great, and the soundtrack is right on. I remember watching this movie over and over again when I was young. I knew every word that was going to be said. Crap, for that matter I tried to duplicate the fighting scenes. I thought the story of Frank W. Dux was so great and amazing that I looked for more information on him on the internet. What I found was disturbing. Turns out he's a big fake. For one reason or another the real Frank Dux made up the kumite story along with a bunch of other crap. I read at first he didn't want to lie, but his agent or something explained how much money was involved and he just did it. He has a book out that goes into explaining how he trained elite military personnel in his "Dux-Ryu" fighting style. From what I hear that's fake too. In fact the American Ju-Jitsu "Dux-Ryu" I've read from martial arts experts is just bull crap that he made up and isn't even real. So much for those amazing world records at the end of the movie. But after all of that I still love the movie and pretend the Frank Dux really did all that sweet stuff. Great stuff, a must see.

I wish I could do the splits like he can!
I think this is Jean Claude Van Damme's best film based on the life of Frank Dux. It is action packed with a good storyline, the only character that irritated me was the news reporter, speaking into a dictaphone at a secret kumite - as if no-one would see her do that and chuck her out is beyond me! Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the film and would recommend it to all the martial arts fans out there. Watch out for the small write up at the end of the film, explaining how many fights the real Frank Dux did win in his life and the speed of his knockouts - quite amazing really!

Martial Arts at it's best and bloodiest
Bloodsport is, without a doubt the bloodiest Martial Arts Film out there. The film starts of showing you some of the different fighters from around the world (Asia, Africa, North America etc)
and shows you how the training varies. The film starts off showing you Frank Dux (Van Damme) training in the Army's Gym. When he hears of a full contact event being held in Hong Kong, he does a runner on his commanders and sets of to join.

Before he joins, he goes back to his old master, who is now terminally ill. A film then takes you back twnty years or so and shows you what Frank was like before he started training in Martial Arts. He is sneaking into the house of his soon to be mentor and teacher.When he is used as a punch bag for his master's son, he threatens to quit. When his master's son is attacked at school, Frank leaps to the rescue. The son then tells him that he'll one day fight in the kumite and make his father proud. Tradedy strikes when the son is killed and Shidoshi tells Frank that he won't train himanymore, Frank manages to persuade him to carry on because he thinks he can do it. the action then comes back to the present day.

The action then sets off to Hong Kong where the kumite is about to begin. Frank meets up with a fellow american Ray Jackson (Gibb) who becomes his friend. The real action then gets underway with Dux and Jackson walking into the stadium where the kumite will take place. Frank is instructed to prove his strength by showing the dim-mak (death touch). It is then that Frank then spots the evil and vicious Chong Li (Yeung) who is the current champion and has never been defeated. After a few minutes of talking the film gets back to the stadium. After
a short speech from the grandmaster, the fight starts.

The whole tournament goes on for three days, and in those three days are some of the most bloodtirsty and violent fights that have ever been recorded on film. Many of the fighters don't even make it out of the ring alive. The action, excitement and thrill is kept all the way through the fights until the final, brutal showdown between Dux and Chong Li.

This is without a doubt the best and bloodiest action/martial arts movie I have ever seen. It did spawn a few sequels, but they are nowhere near as good as the original. A must buy for any die hard Van Damme or Martial Arts fan. This film was actually based on the real life story of Frank Dux. Who still holds a number of martial arts records that have never been broken. He also retired from full contact undefeated.