Kickboxer – A Dangerous and Violent Quest for Vengeance.

Despite owning this film on DVD, it was only its recent appearance on terrestrial TV that reawakened my love for it and, as a result, I decided to write a review.

Eric Sloane before his crippling injury

Van Damme always played second fiddle to the likes of Schwarzenegger and Stallone during the 1980’s, however, he did release some gems and I class Kickboxer as his greatest success (we can forgive him for Street Fighter).

The crippling blow

As usual with Van Damme films, Kickboxer focuses around an incident with his Brother. Eric Sloane (played by Dennis Alexio) is crowned the World Kickboxing Champion following victory in the US national competition. He now believes he can take on and beat the best. As a result Eric, along with his brother Kurt (Van Damme), head off to the Far East for a showdown with the legendary Tong Po (real life Kick Boxer). Tong Po destroys Eric with a crippling assault, leaving him with a broken back. Kurt swears revenge, but the only way to achieve this is to take on and defeat Tong Po in the ring.

Kurt dances with the locals

Kurt sets off on a journey of discovery to learn the unorthodox methods needed to overcome Tong Po aided in his quest by the wise and talented Xian Chow – a very similar character to Mr Miyagi. Xian takes Kurt under his guidance and slowly teaches him the techniques needed to beat Tong Po. This is a good section of the film, where Kurt grows as a character and begins to earn the respect of Xian. There are serious bits and pure comedy nuggets – including some disco dancing to some 80’s tunes whilst destroying 8 local fighters.

As Kurt grows in stature his presence is felt in the local community who refer to him as Bak Shung or Nuk Soo Kow: The White Warrior. Tong Po’s representatives set up a fight, then set out to shatter his belief. They kidknap his crippled brother - Eric - and they rape his love interest - Mylee – all in an attempt to distract Kurt from the task at hand – retribution.

Fighting the old way

As the fight draws nearer, we learn it will be fought the old way – i.e. both men cover their hands in resin then broken glass. Tong Po has the better of the early rounds and seems to be in total control when he announces to Kurt – “You bleed like Mylee, she good fuck!" (a reference to the earlier rape of Mylee). However, when all seems lost, Xian and Winston Taylor (an American associate) arrive having rescued Eric. This is the catalyst to the comeback and we see Kurt take out his frustrations on Tong Po, who is powerless to prevent the impending ass whopping! Kurt is declared victorious and his revenge is complete.

The end is nigh

Revenge is best served with a kick to the face

Kickboxer is an easy to watch film with a good storyline throughout. It has the added bonus of comedy and some cheesy 80’s tunes – for this reason I give it 4 out of 5.