Bloodsport

The film was sold as the true story of Frank Dux, an American who claimed to have won an underground tournament called the Kumite in Hong Kong. The complication is that Sheldon Lettich, who co-wrote the screenplay with Dux, later said most of it turned out to be fabricated, disputing both the fight record and whether the Kumite existed at all. The "based on a true story" card is the weakest thing in the picture. For Jean-Claude Van Damme, everything started here. He had worked as an extra and a stuntman and had spent time homeless. He got the lead only after all but begging Cannon's Menahem Golan, using his villain turn in No Retreat, No Surrender as evidence. Shooting began in Hong Kong in October 1986 on a budget between 1.5 and 2.3 million dollars, and it grossed around 50 million worldwide, Cannon's most profitable release of 1988. Who it is for: anyone who wants eighties martial arts cinema undiluted, split screens and slow-motion kicks included. Who it is not for: viewers who take the true story claim seriously, or who want dramatic weight. What works here is choreography, not writing.