The Quest (film)
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For the 1986 Australian film starring Henry Thomas, see Frog Dreaming
The Quest was a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie released in 1996, based on martial arts, with a storyline similar to that of Bloodsport. It was originally penned by Frank Dux. In the movie Bloodsport (Van Damme's 1st movie break in Hollywood), it is coincidental that Van Damme plays Dux.
In the film, Van Damme plays Christopher Dubois, a 1930s New York pickpocket who, is kidnapped and eventually transported across the globe at the hands of smugglers and pirates. He is rescued by a mercenary Englishman, Lord Edgar Dobbs, portrayed by Roger Moore - who then sells Dubois into slavery on an island where Dubois will be trained to fight. Dobbs later assists (and to some extent exploits) Dubois, buying Dubois' freedom so the now expert fighter can represent the United States in a Kumite-like tournament called the Ghang-gheng, where representatives of different countries fight in elimination bouts, with the winner of the tournament to receive a valuable statue, the Golden Dragon.
Dubois wins the tournament by defeating the representative of Mongolia.
[edit] Reception
The film earned $21,607,190 at the box office. Many Van Damme fans disliked the film as well as critics. Although die-hard fans claim it is one of his best.
[edit] Trivia
- The movie was originally supposed to be a movie about underground kumite competitions with the script penned by controversial martial artist Frank Dux. Dux sued Van Damme when he changed the script and situations as well as not paying a promised sum of money.
- When Roger Moore states his name "Dobbs, Edgar Dobbs", he does it in the style of James Bond movies, which he starred in for some time.
- Van Damme also co-starred with Abdel Qissi (Kahn, the Mongolian fighter) in Lionheart and The Order.
- Van Damme originlly wanted Benjamin C. DeWolfe to play the villain.
- This film is unusual in that it was rated PG-13 in America but then given an 18 certificate in the UK.
