Bloodsport

***
USA Release Date: February 26th 1988

UK Theatrical Release Date: March 1st 2003

Frank Dux has entered the Kumite, Hong Kong's illegal underground yet fabled martial arts tournament,  and faces the greatest fighters in the world.

Director: Newt Arnold

Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb, Forest Whitaker, Bolo Yeung

Bloodsport passes the test of time. It doesn't feel 26 years old. This B-movie never made it to the cinema. It was one of those predisposed flops that ended up as a cult film with an impressive fan-base, pelting Jean-Claude Van Damme into stardom. Not bad for a relatively unknown Belgian lad. 

Bloodsport is a true story about Frank Dux (Van Damme) and his participation in Hong Kong's Kumite. Will he be the first westerner to win the tournament? The narrative's build-up makes it easy to guess the outcome, but it's not a film about the ending (take Rocky for instance) but about the choreography and its unique characters.

What Van Damme lacks in acting skills he more than makes up for in fighting. Bloodsport is pure entertainment. The choreography in the fights (which there are plenty of) are outstanding and done by Frank Dux himself. 

There are plenty of interesting entries that add to Bloodsport's overall value, including Ray Jackson (Donald Gibb) whose strength is hidden behind his humour and Chong Li (Bolo Yeung) the bad guy and the retaining Kumite champion. 

The scripting isn't anything to go by, and the editing is a little scrappy in places (Dux's flashback of the time spent with his mentor doesn't quite get the impact it was hoping) but it can't be faulted on sheer satisfaction and enjoyment.