Review of Bloodsport (1988) by Tero H — 18 Oct 2012

Here's a list of pluses and minuses for this 80's martial arts movie:

+ There are many, acrobatic martial arts scenes.

- Of course, it is corny, childish and theatrical and has overacting.

+ so very 80's and the music is also atmospheric and very fitting to this era and to this film.

- the plot is very simple, its just about guys in a fighting tournament.

+ The story proceeds without any stops and the movie is not too long.

+ One extra star goes for loyalty to the adage "Keep it simple, stupid".

After 6th watching or something, still strangely seems one of the better fighting films from the 80's.

Some vague attempts at what honor and respect might be about. I'm also not sure if this film is as much about martial arts as it is about acrobatic jumping around and synchronized movements, but vanDamme has an admirably low fat percent! The characters are likable and despite the childish plot this remains one of the best fighting films by van Damme. Its also not nearly as violent as the rest of his movies have been. This is also a bit better than Kickboxer was. It may also not be an accurate depiction of mr. Dux, however.

A fun detail: Bolo Yeung, who acted in Bruce Lee's movie 'Enter the Dragon', also acts as a bad guy in this movie, and he uses the same maneuvres and lines as Lee did. I also have to say that its well filmed and compact as a whole, and the most important thing is that it has what you asked for: martial arts fighting done with the right kind of atmosphere, so that you can forget its bad stuff. Not bad in this film genre. The dvd has no extras, just the movie.