Van Damme falls under the category “Ass kicker” in my childhood idol files. From the first time I watched Kickboxer, I knew I was dealing with the greatest action hero of our time. In the 80’s and 90’s, Van Damme could do no wrongs against me. Just when I thought that there could not possibly be anyone else in Hollywood for him to kick in the face, he would do it again, and release another movie where he kicks everyone in the face. Probably 75% of my childhood was spent pretending to be Van Damme, trying to do splits between two chairs and dipping my hands in broken glass before I would punch my friends in the face (The other 25% of the time was a mix of me pretending to be Captain Power, He-man, Dutch from Predator and of course just having to be myself)
Van Damme produced hit after hit. Maybe they weren’t critically acclaimed hits, but to me they were. Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Death Warrant, Lionheart, Double Impact, Hard Target, Timecop, Sudden Death, The Quest, In Hell, Street Fighter, Universal Soldier, Maximum Risk, Knock Off, Double Team, Nowhere to Run, Cyborg…this is the ultimate list of action.
Although Street Fighter is known as one of the worst movies ever made, it was not Van Damme’s fault. He tried his best, and every bit of goodness that comes from that movie comes from Van Damme.
Just watch this, and tell me he didn’t do his best.
You can’t argue with that. And who can forget Lionheart? One of the first movies to make me cry. So much emotion, so much feeling. Lionheart is like a love story about men fighting eachother.
In past years, Van Damme has kind of sailed away on a direct to DVD movie cruise. Lots of movies in which he fights people have and are continuously loaded onto video store shelves. This is the news you have been waiting for though. Van Damme is starring in a new mockumentary movie about his own life. As of right now, the film is called JCVD and Van Damme plays himself and is caught in a hostage situation in his home country of Belgium. Mabrouk El Mechri is responsible for the direction of the film.
This, my Jean-Claude loving friends, is a teaser trailer for the film about the casting. It’s in French, but there are subtitles. It looks incredible.
Last edited: Feb 17, 2009 @ 12:42 PM, 396 days ago
