Movie reviews: Kickboxer
More 80's cheesiness with an early role for Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Van Damme stars as Kurt Sloane, whose brother Eric is the United States kickboxing champion. The two brothers head to Thailand so Eric can challenge Tong Po, the undefeated champion. Eric is seriously out of his league, and despite Kurt throwing in the towel, Tong Po cripples Eric in a shocking display of brutality that leaves him paralyzed. Kurt vows vengeance on Tong Po and seeks training from a legendary muay thai trainer known as Xian Chow. Kurt and Tong Po must then face each each other the 'ancient way'- with their hands wrapped in hemp, coated in resin and dipped in broken glass.
That was quite an enjoyable movie. Your own enjoyment will depend on if you can stomach all the cheesiness. There's the aforementioned training montages that are as numerous as the fight scenes. The action is accompanied by a soundtrack of songs with such uplifting titles as Never Surrender and stuff.
The villains are your stereotypical gangsters. Tong Po, the champion, is one of their enforcers. To show how evil they are, the bad guys kidnap Kurt's brother, assault his girlfriend, and stab his dog.
This movie isn't a total cheese-fest, however. The training that Kurt goes through is genuinely made me grimace. In order to stretch his legs he is strapped to some sort of hellish contraption that wouldn't look out of place in the dungeons of the Spanish Inquisition. No man should be able to stretch like that. I felt rather queasy watching that bit. The bad guys don't get off lightly either. While Xian and Kurt's buddy Wiston rescue Eric, one of the bad guys gets a hook up the backside. Ouch.
Well worth a watch if you can stand the cheesiness and some genuinely cringe-inducing moments. Three and a half pointy hats.
Next time: The Last Patrol. Post-apocalyptic straight-to-DVD fun with Dolph Lundgren.
Van Damme stars as Kurt Sloane, whose brother Eric is the United States kickboxing champion. The two brothers head to Thailand so Eric can challenge Tong Po, the undefeated champion. Eric is seriously out of his league, and despite Kurt throwing in the towel, Tong Po cripples Eric in a shocking display of brutality that leaves him paralyzed. Kurt vows vengeance on Tong Po and seeks training from a legendary muay thai trainer known as Xian Chow. Kurt and Tong Po must then face each each other the 'ancient way'- with their hands wrapped in hemp, coated in resin and dipped in broken glass.
That was quite an enjoyable movie. Your own enjoyment will depend on if you can stomach all the cheesiness. There's the aforementioned training montages that are as numerous as the fight scenes. The action is accompanied by a soundtrack of songs with such uplifting titles as Never Surrender and stuff.
The villains are your stereotypical gangsters. Tong Po, the champion, is one of their enforcers. To show how evil they are, the bad guys kidnap Kurt's brother, assault his girlfriend, and stab his dog.
This movie isn't a total cheese-fest, however. The training that Kurt goes through is genuinely made me grimace. In order to stretch his legs he is strapped to some sort of hellish contraption that wouldn't look out of place in the dungeons of the Spanish Inquisition. No man should be able to stretch like that. I felt rather queasy watching that bit. The bad guys don't get off lightly either. While Xian and Kurt's buddy Wiston rescue Eric, one of the bad guys gets a hook up the backside. Ouch.
Well worth a watch if you can stand the cheesiness and some genuinely cringe-inducing moments. Three and a half pointy hats.
Next time: The Last Patrol. Post-apocalyptic straight-to-DVD fun with Dolph Lundgren.
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