Customer Reviews

Double Impact

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I remember this one like it was yesterday; one of the earliest Van Damme vehicles that actually involved something approaching a modest budget (well, they total two Mercedes in one scene) and a script!

What this film did right was the inclusion of multiple villains, necessary not only because there are two Van Dammes, but because all of the classic martial arts films involved many enemies as well. Recurring VD villains include Peter Malota (the Spanish fighter in later film "The Quest"), whose blue-lit kickboxing scene with Jean-Claude is one of the best in recent memory, and famed "Enter The Dragon" baddie (and longtime martial arts staple) Bolo Yeung.

It helps that Van Damme also has veteran character actor Geoffrey Lewis on board; that kind of gruff, Sam Elliott presence makes up for a lot of acting acumen that is lacking in the rest of the cast. Peter Scarfe stars as the embodiment of evil, and Alonna Shaw as the embodiment.

The pacing is good; the script has some howlers, and the shooting locations are to die for. Look for a very early cameo by Julie Strain!

"Double Impact" was one of the first Van Damme movies I saw, and it was the one that made me a major fan of fighting movies in general. Jean-Claude Van Damme plays two roles in this action packed fighter. Two identical twins were separated when they were only a few months old after their parents were killed. Frank (Geoffrey Lewis) brings them together after 25 years of separation. The charismatic Chad (Van Damme) and the troubled Alex (Van Damme) collide at first, especially when Alex suspects that Chad might be trying to take something real valuable away from him. But they do have a couple of things in common other than their looks. They both have the same enemies, and they're both GREAT fighters.

Yeah yeah, critics, non-fans, and even fans alike, all say that Jean-Claude Van Damme is a terrible actor. I don't know about everybody else, but I thought Van Damme did a good job portraying Alex (the evil twin) in this movie. But then again, when it comes to fighting movies, I don't care about great acting, I want to see some great fighting and action sequences, and "Double Impact" has tons of them!

All in all, "Double Impact" might not feature the greatest effects, acting, or plot, but it does have some of the best fighting! If you like fighting movies at all, get "Double Impact." It's damme good!!

Double Impact is one of Van Damme's finest moments on the action film-arena. It delivers what it must to succeed, namely tons of great fighting scenes, which is what Van-Damme-movies are all about (well, almost). If you want to rent an old action flick, this is one of them you should get.

Jean-Claude Van Damme was making the best of his films in the beginning to the middle of the 90's.Death Warrant started out his action hero character and after that hit box offices Van Damme went full throttle in a number of other great action adventures.So we come to Double Impact,a film directed by Van Dammes long time buddy Sheldon Lettich.Two Van Dammes are always better than one,but now in 2003 if an action star duplicates himself,it's just downright stupid,action audiences have seen that combination way to much in recent years.But Double Impact was one of the first to do it,and to this day Double Impact is one of the best downright action films.Van Dammes acting is good and his cheorographed fight scenes are clever and original.This film deserves it's props and I'm here to give Van Damme his due,way to go!

This film has alot of action. One will see in this motion picture that Van Damme was young, and very charismatic. He still is. The movie has alot of action. Van damme by accident finds his twin brother, and together they go against the bad guys. I believe it is an Asian Gang of mobsters, but anyway it is good. Their is a very beautiful blonde who comes out in the movie. She is very beautiful and has a hot body, a very hot body. You will see Van damme have a nice love scene with her. This movie is well worth it. The action is great-great fight scenes, van damme's acting is great, and the beautiful blonde is a gorgeous woman that is a stunner.

Hey, "Double Impact" is campy good fun. One of JCVD's best, and Cory Everson is kickin' in it. The theme song jams; it could have been an American hit if released as a single! Nice Hong Kong locations, and JCVD really tries to make his twin brother characters distinct. Give this guy a break.

Give this flick credit for real HK locations and supporting actors. The story is typical for a Hong Kong action flick (and yes, that a *good* thing!). But while Van Damme is okay, Cory Everson is magnificent as the Bad Guy's "muscle". Tough and dangerous and always in skintight leather or vinyl, she rules!

The Jean Claude Van Damme Review Matrix (JCVD-RM)

1.Who is he? He's two guys! Identical twins separated at birth by the Chinese mafia, one, Chad, is a silk underwear-wearing pretty boy from Los Angeles, and the other, Alex, is a criminal from Hong Kong. Amazingly, they both grew up to be martial arts experts.
2.Which family member/friend must be avenged? Their parents are murdered by the same Chinese mafia
3.Does he take his shirt off? Bolo Yeung rips Chad's shirt off during a fight sequence
4.Does he have sex with a C-List actress? Yes. Actually, his sex scene with the beautiful Alonna Shaw is worthy of late-night skinemax fame.
5.Is there a tournament? Sadly, no.
6.Is training needed for this tournament? Perhaps some firearms training should have taken place, but aside from that, no.
7.Does he do the splits in training or in the tournament? When teaching/training a class for aerobics, or something, he dons some spandex and displays the goods for the ladies. He tells them that the splits are easy because of his big legs and karate.
8.Does he punch someone in the balls? Yes, Chad jab-kicked Bolo Yeung in the jewels during the final fight - which was clearly revenge for the nut-chop Bolo delivered to Chad's family jewels earlier in the movie.
9.Does he do a series of flying or 360 kicks? Let's just say that he can use the marks on Bolo Yeung's jawline for his next boot fitting
10.Is his enemy unbeatable? It's Peter Malota and Bolo Yeung. Plus, Bolo has a glass eye, and a career record of 0-1 previous to this movie. So, challenging? Yes. Unbeatable? Probably not.
11.Does he overcome an injury or other hindrance? Not only does he have to battle Peter Malota, Bolo Yeung, Cory Everson, and poor night-vision, but during one fight scene Donkey Kong apparently begins to throw barrels at Chad.
12.Does he win? Without the help of electricity, I have no doubt Bolo Yeung would have won. However, JCVDx2 manages to avenge their parents and claim their stole inheritance by taking down the entire Chinese syndicate.

So, this one goes slightly outside the typical JCVD flick, but the overall impression is positive. In spite of himself, he actually portrays a bad guy or a hardened criminal fairly well. I especially appreciated perhaps the best snot-rocket scene in cinema history - the lighting is stupendous. Ignoring the whole JCVD angle, this one is actually a decent movie with some rather funny dialogue with several gratuitous F-bombs.

I liked this movie. I think my favorite Van Damme movies are this one, Sudden Death and Time Cop. It would be really cool if they could have included the commercial for this movie. I don't know if you remember it but it went something like this: Van Damme in a double role... It's twice the punches, twice the kicks, it's too Damme much! Jean Claude also has my respect in that he voiced his irritation in the Hollywood crowd who stood in protest. Jean Claude gets five stars and my respect. You're the man Jean!

Vandamme, is up there with Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and a few others. This is not one of his best movies(See Hard Target or Universal Soldier). But it is enjoyable non-the-less. He plays two brothers which were separated at six months of age only to re-unite 25 years later as total opposits. One, a gruffy street-smart semi-thug, the other a ladies man martial arts instructor. The difference in the characters are vast and comical.

If you have never seen a Van-damme film, don't start with this one, if you are, then enjoy.