Kickboxer (film)

Kickboxer
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mark DiSalle David Worth
Produced by	Mark DiSalle
Screenplay by	Glenn A. Bruce
Story by	Mark DiSalle Jean-Claude Van Damme
Starring	Jean-Claude Van Damme Dennis Alexio Dennis Chan Michel Qissi Haskell Anderson
Music by	Paul Hertzog
Cinematography	Jon Kranhouse
Editing by	Wayne Wahrman
Studio	Kings Road Entertainment Golan-Globus
Distributed by	Cannon Film Distributors
Release dates	April 20, 1989 (1989-04-20)
Running time	103 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1.5 million[2]
Box office	$14,697,005[3]

Kickboxer is a 1989 American martial arts film produced, storied and directed by Mark DiSalle, and directed by David Worth, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and former world kickboxing champion Dennis Alexio. The film was released in the United States on September 8, 1989. The film is considered to be a cult classic.

Plot

Kurt Sloane (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is the cornerman for his brother Eric (Dennis Alexio), an American kickboxing champion. Kurt and Eric travel to Bangkok to challenge Tong Po (Michel Qissi), Thailand's undefeated champion. After a brutal first round, Kurt realizes that they are outmatched by Tong Po and tries to convince his brother to stop the fight. Unwilling to give up, Eric returns for the second round and continues to take a vicious beating, finally prompting Kurt to throw in the towel. Tong Po ignores him and continues the assault, which ultimately leaves Eric paralyzed from the waist down. However, Eric was carried outside and left on the street without any help, until Winston (Haskell Anderson), a retired American special forces member, intervenes and agrees to take the brothers to hospital.

Furious at Eric's vicious beating, Kurt vows to avenge his brother and defeat Tong Po in the ring. Though reluctant at first, Winston eventually tells him about Xian Chow (Dennis Chan), a locally famous trainer living in a remote area of Thailand. Upon locating Xian, Kurt is able to convince him to train him in the art of Muay Thai ("Thai boxing"). While training, Kurt attempts to foil the operations of a group of Thai mobsters led by Freddy Li, who continuously threaten and steal money from Xian's niece, Mylee (Rochelle Ashana). After Kurt makes short work of the thugs in a bar fight, Xian is able to arrange a match with Tong Po on Kurt's behalf. It is determined that they will fight in the "ancient way", in which both fighters wrap their hands in hemp rope, which is then coated in resin and dipped in broken glass to make them deadly weapons.

In the days leading up to the match, Mylee is beaten and raped by Tong Po whilst Eric is kidnapped by Freddy Li's henchmen for the purpose of blackmailing Kurt into losing the fight. To save his brother's life, Kurt is instructed to go the distance with Po before losing the match. He endures a torturous beating, but fortunately, Xian and Winston are able to locate and rescue Eric before the fight concludes. With his brother free from danger, Kurt manages to find a second wind and ultimately defeat Tong Po and also kick Freddy Li.

Cast

• Jean-Claude Van Damme as Kurt Sloane
• Dennis Alexio as Eric Sloane
• Dennis Chan as Xian Chow
• Michel Qissi as Tong Po
• Ka Ting Lee as Freddy Li
• Rochelle Ashana as Mylee
• Haskell Anderson as Winston Taylor
• Richard Foo as Tao Lin
• Ricky Liu as Big Thai man
• Africa Chu as Messenger
• Joann Wong as Tao Liu's wife
• Louel Pio Roda as Lexl's husband
• Mathew Cheung as Surgeon

Production

As a backdrop for some of the training scenes, Kurt Sloane (Van Damme) trains near the temples in Wat Phra Si Sanphet and Wat Ratchaburana, part of the ruins of Ayutthaya city in Thailand. It is set and filmed at Bangkok Thailand in 56 days on June 28 and August 23, 1988.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack containing songs from the movie was released featuring songs from soundtrack specialist Stan Bush. The score for the movie was composed by Paul Hertzog. The full score was remastered and released in 2006 by Perseverance Records in limited quantity.

The track listing is as follows on the 2006 full score CD.

1. "To the Hospital / We'll See" (01:15)
2. "Groceries" (01:47)
3. "Very Stupid" (00:45)
4. "Tai Chi" (02:55)
5. "First Kiss" (00:53)
6. "Stone City" (02:34)
7. "Second Stone" (00:53)
8. "Hospital" (02:21)
9. "Palm Tree" (00:30)
10. "Advanced Training" (01:49)
11. "Ancient Voices" (02:08)
12. "Mylee Is the Way" (01:32)
13. "Warriors" (00:45)
14. "Buddha's Eagle" (01:01)
15. "Kidnap" (01:01)
16. "You've Done It Before" (01:45)
17. "Downstairs" (00:54)
18. "Round One" (02:12)
19. "Round Two" (01:36)
20. "The Hook" (01:32)
21. "Round Three" (01:32)
22. "The Eagle Lands" (04:02)

The 2006 official score release does not include a previously released version of the score track titled "Buddha's Eagle" which was released on the Best of Van Damme Volume 2 Compilation CD.

Box office and reception

Kickboxer is considered a box office success, as it grossed $14,697,005 in the domestic box office^[3] based on a $1.5 million budget.

Chris Willman of the Los Angeles Times called the film "egregiously dull" and a contender for one of "the dumbest action pictures of the year", citing its "jarring shifts in tone, insurmountable plot implausibilities, rampant racial stereotyping, superfluous nudity and inhuman amounts of comically exaggerated violence". Willman also questioned the manner in which characters seem to recover from serious injuries and major trauma.^[4]

Chris Hicks of the Deseret News criticized the film as a ripoff of The Karate Kid, with added elements from other films such as Rocky and Rambo. In addition to stating that ending the was predictable, Hicks also dismissed Van Damme as "little more than a low-budget Arnold Schwarzenegger Wannabee" whose attempts at acting were in vain.^[5]

There is currently no consensus on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, though it has a 63% "Rotten Score" generated by 50,319 users.^[6]

Home media

On June 8, 1999, DVD was released by HBO Home Video at the United States in Region 1. On 6 January 2003, DVD was released by Prism Leisure Corporation at the United Kingdom in Region 2.

Reboot

Radar Pictures is developing a reboot of the film with Jim McGrath and Dimitri Logothetis writing, Logothetis is also produced along with Ted Field and Nick Celozzi, Mike Weber and Peter Meyer executive producing and Stephen Fung directing with the film start filming either this fall or in early 2014.^[7]

References

External links

• Kickboxer at the Internet Movie Database
• Kickboxer at Box Office Mojo
• Kickboxer at Rotten Tomatoes
• Kickboxer on Jeanclaudevandamme.fr (French)