The Quest (1996)

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1. 

   Siskoid

   I'd been told Jean-Claude Van Damme's directorial debut, The Quest, was way too much like Bloodsport. I see what they mean, but it's also completely different. Like a lot of JCVD films, it's about underground fighting; he plays to his strengths. But it's really more of a prequel to the whole Kumite business (under a different name) and takes place in the pulpy, slightly fantastical 1920s. Unlike Bloodsport, it's looks glossy and expensive, with amazing locations and lustrous cinematography. JC has a team around him, including a roguish post-Bond Roger Moore who's having a lot of fun here. The secret international championship features lots of different fighting styles, and there's an attempt to make the Mongolian fighter as cool and evil a presence as Bolo Yeung was in Bloodsport. I'm sorry, that can't, and doesn't, happen. What the movie DOESN'T have is coherent direction. The frame tale becomes a different frame tale when we get back to it (very very weird), JCVD is much too fond of hacky slow-mo to showcase his fighters' moves, the music is just one note away from Javert's theme in Les Mis, and we're never given a justification for JC's big move in the climax. Watchable and expensive-looking, but extremely flawed. 8 years 11 months ago
2. 

   A Blue Roar

   What did you expect from a Van Damme movie? Of the movies he's been in, this is one of the most enjoyable, and it has an atmosphere you won't find in a lot of other movies. 10 years 10 months ago
3. 

   bobh

   Nothing incredible, quite mediocre, not really worth watching unless you want some cheap entertainment but it's actually much better than Bloodsport which is just a total stinker. It has a better written story and much better fight choreography. 7 years 7 months ago

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