Customer Reviews

Kickboxer:the Fighter the Winner [VHS]

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Jean-Claude Van Damme will never be confused for anything other than what he is: a martial arts actor whose acting abilities are less important than his high-kicking ones. This is not a bad thing either. He is probably one of the two or three best action stars now working, and his legions of fans appreciate his style. In KICKBOXER, he reveals in one movie the best and worst of what he is capable. He plays Sloan, an American fighter whose brother is crippled by the savagery of the Thai champion, Tong Po, played by Van Damme's real life friend Michel Quissi, who stars in many of his other films. What the viewer sees is your basic get-revenge-on-the-dude-who-hurt-my-brother movie.
Van Damme closes with s stirring victory over a very tough and, in his own way, a colorful foe. Van Damme's strengths include his good looks, athletic ability, martial arts expertise, and even some boog-a-looing disco dancing. What he adds to this is a sense to the audience of breathless expectation. By simply looking at him undergo the bone-breaking training imposed on him by his Wise Old Master, the viewer can just for that moment put himself on the screen, absorbing the same beating. Even in his first films, when he played the bad guy, the audience knew that any victory the hero achieved over him was dictated only by the script. In KICKBOXER, Van Damme begins what for him proves a winning trend: he needs a worthy opponent to make the movie resonate. In KICKBOXER, Michel Quissi, who is no Asian at all, puts on makeup to simulate the epicanthic eyefolds and shaves his head to produce one mean-looking man. One of the most effective uses of a heavy that I have ever seen in any martial arts film is directors Mark DiSalle and David Worth's decision to introduce Tong Po not by sight but by sound. Van Damme hears a strange pounding and when he investigates by following the noise, almost as if he were a human geiger counter, he sees Tong Po kicking a concrete pillar hard enough to shake dust. The latent fear in his eyes connects viscerally to the audience. This scene in which Van Damme shows hesitation is one of his best, but he rarely exhibits this less than heroic temperament in future films. The down side to KICKBOXER is generic to the genre. It is simply not possible for him to absorb such bone-crunching punishment and bounce up off the mat to fight on and win. But his ability to do so is probably part of the myth and mystique that marks such fight movies. Does anyone really want to peek into the magician's hat to see where the dove comes from?

"Kickboxer" was one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's first good fighting movies. Now he's made several, but this is one of the movies that got him recognized as a great actor and a great fighter in movies. Kurt Sloane (Jean-Claude Van Damme) makes it his mission to seek revenge and ultimately fight Tong Po, the Thai kickboxer that paralyzed his brother Eric Sloane (Dennis Alexio). But if Kurt wants to earn a fight with Tong Po, he has to train and learn the style of Thai fighting. With the help of Xian (Dennis Chan), he just might have the chance.

I've seen just about all of Van Damme's movies, and I still think that "Kickboxer" is one of his best. It has a lot of great fighting in it, and the training that Xian puts Kurt through to get him prepared for the big fight was another great thing about the movie. The training sequences seemed a lot like real karate training. When Tong Po and Kurt finally fight, it was some of the best fighting action I've ever seen in a movie.

"Kickboxer" isn't the best Van Damme movie, but it is exciting and it's one of his best. It was a great movie to kickstart Jean-Claude Van Damme's career as an actor in fighting movies. It's hard to believe that the directors didn't pick Van Damme to be in any of the other Kickboxer movies because he did a good job in this one. If you like fighting movies, I definitely recommend getting "Kickboxer."

Everybody in search of a good story or anything else that would normally make this title worth a look: Go away! This is for Martial-Arts fans only! But if you like the old fashioned "good guy gets trained by wise old master to kick the butt of the bad guy"-movie Type: Go ahead! Buy this! This early van Damme movie delivers it all (unlike most of his more recent ones): Great fights with a stunningly energetic choreography and one of the longes training-sequences ever to be seen in a movie. Especially the final fight agains evil Tong Po is a feast for every Martial Arts junkie. Going over almost 12 minutes (beware of the heavily cut german and english versions!) this fight is one of the best, ever satged with van Damme showing all he's got, only that here it's much better filmed than it was in "Bloodsport" for ex. His famous "Splits-kick" can be reviewed in this movie again, too! If only he would be doing this kind of stuff still. END

I'm not a huge Jean Claude fan but I give credit where credit is do and this movie gets it. If you like Kickboxing or martial arts in general than you will like Kickboxer (why else would you be reading this review?). I won't give the plot in great detail but mainly Jean Claude goes to Thailand to learn Muy Thai in order to avenge his older brother's injury due to a fight with the champion Tong Po. As in Bloodsport, you get to see Jean Claude train to perfect his fighting skills though I'm not making definite comparisons between the two movies. Even if you don't really care for Jean Claude Van Damme but like martial arts, you should still check this one out. Now one thing I don't like about martial art dvd's is that most of them lack in the features department and this one is no different. Plus, this one is in full frame and not widescreen which is a shame.

Back in the 80s, this one was one my top movies!!!! Along with Karate Kid, The Dragon : Bruce Lee's Story and best of the best. All inspired me to become a martial arts expert. Which I have used for over 7 years! I can seriously say I have watch this movie over 100 times, before going to tae kwon do and afterwards. Trying to perfect my form, all show off movies. Nothing too powerful, but it looks amazing in demos for karate schools. You will truly fall in love with this movie!! RENT/WATCH IT/OWN IT!!!

*why does van damm always have to reveal his rear end in almost every film he makes??

Kickboxer Blu Ray Review

Distributor Lionsgate US

Remember the late 1980's?

Music and film was changing forever, television was becoming less interesting and we had Jean Claude Van Damme kicking his way through every bad guy who was sillyenough to get in his way (well, he was starting to at least)

Yes, this was the film that put Van Damme firmly on the road to all martial arts fans front rooms and although one of his first films, it was also one of his best films which now reaches US blu ray from Lionsgate, which thankfully in this case is not region locked.

Kickboxer on blu ray is presented in a 16x9 1080p transfer which states that it has been newly remastered. Well, the film has in fact been remastered and it looks a LOT better than the DVD issues which all had horrible transfers to begin with, but don't go expecting to see a Dark Knight quality transfer in this release. Due to original film elements etc.. I do actually think that this is the best this film will ever look, the only way to upgrade this print would be to strike a new digital transfer from the original negatives and I honestly cannot see any distributor seeing that as a worth while investment.

On the other hand do not be put off by this review, I did like the transfer to this film, I just wasn't blown away by it, but again this film never was a special effects laden reference quality movie to begin with

The audio offered here is 5.1 DTS which again is adequate for the movie although the rear speakers will not have a lot to do here and again it is a big improvement over earlier DVD releases.

Extras wise it's a let down, that is unless you consider English and Spanish subtitles worthy as an extra feature which is all that is on offer here. Would it have been that hard to scrape together a few interviews or training features, never mind a Van Damme commentary which fans of this film can only dream about. Well apparently it would have been, so unless the before mentioned subtitles do it for you, you will be sorely disappointed on the extras front.

The film itself is also known for having some different versions containing alternate footage with various scene extensions and also some dubbing over the actor who plays Van Dammes injured brother. The version presented here is the regular US theatrical cut which for UK fans means that the end fight scene is complete, unlike the original UK video release which was cut by the B.B.F.C.

It is indeed a shame that some of the alternate footage did not find its way into the special features as deleted scenes but unfortunately it's another missed opportunity.

Ultimately what else is there to say, the film did not seem as dated to me as I thought it would and I really enjoyed re-visiting it again and experiencing it, looking and sounding so much better than ever before.

For fans of the film considering a purchase, just buy it, the disc is not that expensive and you will probably never see a better release due to lack of interest, although it is a real shame that the package here could have been so much better if only someone at Lionsgate had cared about the film as much as it's many followers.

"If your enemy refuses to be humbled... Destroy Him!"

- how I miss the 1980's

BLU REVIEW OBSCURA - find us on Facebook

This has always been one of my favorite 80's flicks-a tale of retribution between brothers, and a "journey" of revenge in an action setting. Based on the reviews of others at Amazon and elsewhere, I was excited to give this one a look. I purchased it under $10. I am giving the film 4/5 for entertainment value, but I'd only give it 3/5 for PQ, 5/5 AQ. The transfer was stellar in parts(those shots that were cleaned up)-the film has never looked better. However it was clear that the entire film was not cleaned up, as there was significant dirt in many parts of the film, especially indoor scenes, with noticable dust and dirt flying across the lens. I was disappointed that the whole film was not presented, according to those scenes that were excellent, especially for an 80's movie. Those scenes that were clean, were crisp, and clear, and detail was amazing, for an older film. For price I won't complain, as the majority of the film has never looked better, but they could have given the same consistent treatment to the whole disc-I would have paid a few dollars more. Van Damme is not known for his acting, but the fierceness and skill in his fighting, along with the overall entertaining story and setting of the film are still worth a look. If you're a fan it's worth the upgrade.

Ive always loved VanDamme movies, but in HD they're even better. I really didnt expect much from this bluray version, but when i put it in to watch, my jaw dropped. It is so clear!

Most likely, you have already seen this movie and you just want to know how the bluray quality is. This movie is better with bluray because the setting in bangkok is full of art and nature, and it really shows thru in this movie. Closeups are super sharp.

there are one or two scenes where the master video wasn't best quality...like the first hospital scene, you can see the pops and dirt on the film... this problem must have been unavoidable...

Finally, buy this bluray!

I searched for years to find this movie on dvd, and now its on bluray, its even better. Sure its a little corny at times, but what 80s movie isn't. This could be the best combat movie ever made.

This presentation is fantastic, both PQ and AQ is outstanding. Thank you Lions Gate. There is no extras available but if you like Jean Claude Van Damme's earlier movie then buy this.