Customer Reviews

Bloodsport / Timecop [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I discovered Jean-Claude Van Damme just recently. In fact I watched my first Van Damme film this summer (Universal Soldier), and I was blown away. Thus, I have begun to buy as many Van Damme films I can find. Though he is not really an excellent actor, he is good at making the audience root for him. No matter how ridiculous his acting gets at time, you can't help but be on his side. At this point, I have watched Universal Solider, Universal Solider: Regeneration, JCVD, Kickboxer, and Replicant. When I found out that Bloodsport and Timecop would be put in the same Blu-ray for the very affordable price of 20 bucks, I pounced. I was not dissapointed. Bloodsport is Van Dammes' breakthrough film. It is the story of Frank Dux participating in the Kumite, while this story has by all means been debunked and Dux has been ousted as a fraud and a liar, this movie continues to be one of Van Damme's best performances. Timecop is the real gem here though. Out of all the Van Damme films I've seen, Timecop is one of the most enjoyable. I absolutely loved the movie and the sillines of it all. You should be warned that this a bare-bones release of both films and the quality of the movies is quite impressive. If you are a Van Damme fan, buy this set. It is completely worth the money.

Interesting that they make this Van Damme Action Double Feature spread its focus to two different genres of movies. One being martial arts and one being science fiction. As others have mentioned it would have made more sense to do the same genres like TimeCop/Cyborg or Bloodsport/Lionheart (which gets my vote in spite of the just as viable Bloodsport/Kickboxer option). Unlike most combo packs that give you two movies on two disks this one is two movies on a single sided disk.

Bloodsport is arguably Jean Claude Van Damme's greatest martial arts film. Is it because of the amazing action? Not really? Deep and involved story? No. None of that here. Fantastic acting? Now you're making me giggle. Bloodsport hit a moment in time when martial arts movies were on the upswing and put out a kind of film that transcends your conventional concepts of what to find in a fighting film. In a very real way this helps negate the lack of a real plot or compelling character acting.

So what makes Bloodsport the exception to the rule? In a word: tournament. This is movie at its heart is all about a martial arts tournament. Sure there is a notoriously evil villain and a manhunt by the military. Sure there is a love interest and tragedy among friends, but all of that is really either just window dressing or distraction from the real reason the movie rocks. What you get in Bloodsport is the showcasing of martial arts from all over the world. Different styles going toe to toe against each other in a winner takes all full contact competition. Not since Bruce Lee's Game of Death has a movie taken the time to show varying forms of fighting.

You get to see martial arts styles in action like Kung Fu, kickboxing, wrestling, Muay Thai, Jeet Kune Do, Karate, Judo, Tae Kwon Do, street brawl and some I have never seen before. You get to see them all in the ring. Some all too briefly, but considering the sheer amount of various forms you can forgive that. You of course also get to see Van Damme doing his signature helicopter kicks, full splits and other moves I haven't seen him do on any other movie. This is also the movie that inspired Johnny Cage's signature non-fatality move in the original Mortal Kombat video game.

The acting is B-movie. Van Damme sometimes gives a good performance and other times overacts. Other actors offer varying performances. Donald Gibb, who plays Van Damme's street tough buddy, seems to enjoy his role and plays it with a slight wink and nod. Norman Burton and Forest Whittaker as the military police make a good ensemble performance. But lets face it. Most of these guys are not actors. They are fight choreographers, martial artists and stunt men. Besides you aren't here to see Shakespeare. You're here to see Bolo Yeung tussle in the ring (and did you know he was like 49 when he did this film?!? I wished I looked half that healthy years younger).

Now this is a Blu-Ray release so how does it look? Well... it's better than any previous release. You get a level of clarity that I don't even remember when I saw it in theaters. That being said it's still a VERY grain-ridden film. If you did screen caps of the movie it wouldn't even look like good standard definition close up. I don't know if this is because the movie was done on a small budget, thus wasn't using the best film (maybe it was shot in 16mm instead of 32mm?) or because nobody bothered to get the original negatives and do an honest restoration. Either way this movie will never hold up to other Blu-Rays. Heck it may not even hold up to newer movies in standard definition upscaled.

Audio is clear and in stereo, but that's about it. Nothing to scream about here. Then again this movie's montage-laden power songs sounded a little dated even back when it was first released in 1988. I swear those songs were stuck in 1985. So yea the soundtrack is a product of the time, but in a low budget movie sort of way it works.

I hear the movie's budget was just over a million dollars, and according to Box Office Mojo it made almost $12 million in the box office. Doesn't sound like much, but it's a ten fold return on investment.

Timecop I haven't seen yet on this disk and the last time I did see it was back in the theaters. I don't remember it all too well, but I do recall it was a cool enough concept. Imagine criminals that go to the past with modern weapons to steal. That's the general idea of the movie. I recall it was one of Van Damme's best acting performances to date. Special effect go from pretty good to over the top on the CG end. I will put more once I actually watch the thing.

From what I see there are absolutely no extra features on either disk. You get the films in English and French audio with the same in subtitles (plus Spanish subtitles). That's it. Bottom line if you want the best looking Bloodsport or Timecop video this is it, but don't expect anything else.

I am not going to review the films themselves rather how they look and sound on blu-ray.

BLOODSPORT:being the older and cheaper of the two films you would expect it to have the worst video and audio and it has.The picture is fine though compared to dvd,could it be better,yes,but for the price i paid i don't think so.The audio in my opinion is worse than the video(i know its only DTS-HD 2.0)but i still had to adjust my system(which isn't the greatest i will admit)a lot to get the best sound possible.

TIMECOP:the audio(5.1 DTS-HD) and video are good,easily way better than the dvd.The picture is really good thru out and it holds up well even with the more modern CGI effects.The opening scene in particular is excellent.

I don't own either film on dvd but i have seen them a couple of times on dvd.

So for 12/13 dollars they are worth getting especially if you are a JVC fan.

You're either a Van Damne fan or you're not...there's no in-between. If you are you're interested in the blu-ray transfer. Very good. Sound is definitely improved. Picture is excellent on both (I didn't notice discernable difference between the two films).

Proper aspect ratio on both. I recommend for fans...and if you're not a fan...these might make you one.

I think "Timecop" would have been better to be back to back with maybe "Cyborg."

Anyway, I think "Bloodsport" looks fabulous with the streets of Bangkok in the backdrop of the film. Some of the acting is atrocious in "Bloodsport", especially the terrible kid actor that played the younger Frank Dux. And Donald Gibb (playing Jackson) was rather over-exaggerated as a know-it-all making American's look stupid. But still, I can't help but still think that "Bloodsport" is one of Jean Claude's best films.

"Timecop" was a little hard to appreciate. I guess I might have to watch it again but sometimes movies about time travel can be easy to get lost in. It may take a second viewing to catch everything that I might have missed the first time, that I may not have understood. Unfortunately, "Timecop" wasn't interesting enough for me to watch it again any time soon, but, I do now have both "Kickboxer" and "Bloodsport" on Blu-Ray disc. The only other three Van Damme films that I want on Blu-Ray are "Nowhere To Run," "Death Warrant," and then maybe "Lionheart." "Hard Target" might be okay to put back to back with any of these other three I mentioned.

"Bloodsport" I would give 4 and a half stars, but "Timecop" only gets about 2 and a half from me.

Being a big fan of "Time Travel Movies", "Time Cop" has to be in the top ten of all the time travel movies. If you haven't seen this one, you're really missing out on one of the best. Don't think you got to be a VanDamme fan to like it, it's just his best movie, and a great time travel ride.

I think the Bluray looks good. Anyone who thinks too much into this stuff needs a life. Van Damme is bad ass as usual and never gets enough credit.

Clearly Bloodsport is his best movie for what he does. He's a terrible actor and a moderately skilled martial artist, but what he does he does best. You end up hating the bad guys, and can't help but get excited as he rally's (at the end of every movie). Timecop is a throw away in my opinion-it was his highest grossing movie but Van Damme needed to stick with "fight" movies. Check out the rankings on IMDB and you'll see the same thing. Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Lionheart. The rest tried to go mainstream and any one of us could act better than him. Great to see this on blue-ray, a profound difference from the VHS. Even my wife enjoyed the movie (it helps he was Mr. Belgium I'm sure)....

I have the DVD version of this as well and if you like these movies you will like them more in Hi Def. I noticed a big improvement in quality which is not always the case when switching to Blu Ray. It is more noticeable on Timecop though.

Okay, I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme. He's NOT a good actor by any stretch of the imagination. But he is good at the action/martial arts and honestly, I believe these two movies are the best he's done.

Buying them together on blu-ray was a no-brainer and well worth the money I spent - $9.99.