You told me to use any tactic that works, never to commit yourself to one style, to keep an open mind!

Killer Film chats with the real Frank Dux and cinematographer, David Worth for Remembering Bloodsport.

Frank Dux recalls how the film came to be. “I helped a friend of mine at the American Film Institute, who was trying to build a career for himself. He was trying to break into Hollywood, so I financed a small short film for him, along with appearing in it.” Dux continues, “When he was cutting it, he became friends with Mark DiSalle, who had it in his mind to do what they called a “chop-sockey” film. But he wanted to do something slightly different, he wanted to do a real one. Up until then, nobody did a real-life martial art film. They were all revenge-themed.”

“He heard about me from a Karate magazine and had been looking for me all of this time,” Dux remembers. “[My friend] showed him my picture, saying how I had been working with him, and I got meeting with Mark, telling him my story. I had already written it into a script and gave it to another producer, entitled Enter the Ninja. That title was in use by Cannon Films already, so they asked to come up with a different title. So I came up with Bloodsport, based on the name of what I was doing.” Each country calls in something different, but in the UK and canada, this underground fight tournament went by the name of the film. Many of the claims the film makes about Dux’s records, have been under some speculation.

[As read from the Title Card]: From 1975 to 1980, Frank W. Dux had 329 matches. He has retired undefeated as the Heavyweight class Kumite champion. He still holds records to this day. Quickest knockout: 32 seconds. Quickest punch in a knockout: 3.2 seconds. Fastest Kick in a knockout: 72 MPH. Total knockouts: 92.

Fans are encouraged to view official documents here, here, and here to attest to the legitimacy of the records.

One of Bloodsport‘s claims to fame, were the fighting scenes that mixed a slew of different styles against each other. David Worth was the film’s cinematographer, and along with Frank Dux, staged the fighting sequences in a genre changing way. “I knew that the success of the film would rise or fall on the fights, and we certainly had a lot of them over the course of the film. The most important were the final fights inside the Kumite,” Worth recalls. “My plan was to have that four walled set pre-lit so that I would not have to waste production time moving lights around. Then we would cover each fight using three cameras. That was our basic game plan.”

The Kumite set look pretty cramped with the amount of extras and the main actors on set. Worth says otherwise. “It wasn’t really cramped at all, our Kumite set was built in a large air conditioned sound stage and it had two stories, four walls and a ceiling. The main challenge was to get it all totally pre-lit so that we could shoot all of the coverage that we needed to get. Once, I had the set pre-lit we could shoot in virtually any direction 360 degrees and not have to change a light. It was a very production friendly way to work.” Dux reaffirms this. “David [Worth] and myself, sat up in the room, and along with Newt Arnold, who allowed us to put our two cents in on how to shoot the fighting. We devised a whole new way of shooting fighting movies at that time. The angles on how they were shot, were invented by Worth and me. Bloodsport was a lynch pin in the industry on how martial art movies were filmed.”

David Worth explains how the fighting scenes were set-up on set. “We shot all of the fights using three Panavision 35mm cameras and this was the drill:

1) Cover each fight with three cameras doing Wide Shots, to see the arena from behind the crowd, or the Judges, or various parts of the set.

2) Move the cameras in and cover each fight with three cameras in a Tighter Composition having one camera shooting a 2 Shot, while the other two cameras each concentrated on one of the fighters.

3) Newt [Arnold] and I would get on the mat and I would shoot each fight hand-held.

4) We would shoot the highlights of each fight, the best punches & the knock outs in slow motion. Challenging, but very cool.”

Still, the success of the film was riding on this unknown star, named Jean-Claude Van Damme. “He got the part, since JCVD looked identical to me,” Dux explains. “He showed he could do some high kicks after No Retreat, No Surrender, something I was famous for, and then I had to lobby Mark DiSalle to be in the movie because the reality of the situation was they wanted someone who was more established in film. [But] I convinced them for Van Damme to do it, and it was a start to a great relationship.”

“Of course, JCVD was young and inexperienced, but he worked very hard,” tells David Worth, who would in a few years later, direct Van Damme in Kickboxer (fans should remember my article on that film here). Chong Li, the film’s villain was played by Bolo Yeung, who martial art film fans recall from famous Shaw Brothers films like The Heroic Ones and King Boxer, but most famously in Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon. The film also features a fun performance by the late Donald Gibb and an early film appearance by future Oscar winner, Forest Whitaker. “Personally, I was far too busy figuring out the logistics for three Panavision cameras all day, everyday, to pay much attention to anything else,” laughs David Worth. “But Big Don Gibb was a fun guy who always good for a laugh. Forrest Whitaker was a super professional who always hit his marks, said his lines, and never bumped into anything except his own success.”

Sadly, in February 2000, Newt Arnold passed away. David Worth offers up a remembrance of the director. “Newt was a great guy. I knew who Newt Arnold was, since he had been the AD for directors like Sam Peckinpah and William Friedkin and I really wanted to work with him. We spent a lot of time scouting and looking at locations, having exotic meals, and discussing how to do the film. Newt was very, very prepared. He had drawn up floor plans for all of his scenes, wanted to shoot a lot of coverage for each fight and we managed to do exactly that.”

On a budget of $1.5 million USD, then film went on to gross $21 million at the box office, and later through Cable broadcasts and VHS, became a cult classic. Frank Dux, who would later work again with Jean-Claude as the fight on Lionheart and The Quest, offers his explanation to the film’s success. “[The film] had a great, simple message: we can achieve the impossible and it’s based on a true story. It’s about loyalty, and even though we saw revenge in the movie, it wasn’t about that, it was triumphing over adversity in the face of it.”

David Worth adds “Like the maestro Woody Allen always says, ‘it all boils down to luck’. That, and being in the right place at the right time with the right film, as none of us had any idea that these two modest martial arts films [Bloodsport and his Kickboxer] would launch the career of Van Damme, become genre classics and rack up astounding world wide grosses, fans, Internet sites and longevity that is still going on today!”

You break my record. Now I break you, like I break your friend!

Fans are encouraged to learn more about Frank Dux here and feel free to leave a comment below!

Between Bloodsport and Kickboxer, the films shared a few connections, namely David Worth, who was the Director of Photography on Bloodsport and then got the chance to direct for Kickboxer. Killer Film discusses the film with director David Worth in Remembering Kickboxer.

“I always wanted to become a director and took the route of cinematography in order to become a better one. The producer of Bloodsport knew that I had already done two Clint Eastwood films (Bronco Billy, Any Which Way You Can) and after he saw how efficiently I handled myself and the Hong Kong crew I began to let him know that I was the best choice to direct the “next one”, says David Worth of how he got into this career. “I’m basically a self taught film maker who dropped out of college, picked up an 8mm camera and an editing viewer, and put hours and hours of film through both until I was confident enough to begin looking for work as a cinematographer. I did that mainly as a way of becoming a better Director, since I had worked with a lot of guys that I called “Gucci Bag” directors… They raised some money, bought a Gucci Bag, splashed some tanning lotion on their face and said they were directors.”

On many of the posters, including the recently released Lionsgate Blu-ray of Kickboxer, one will notice that they credited two directors, obviously David Worth and also Mark DiSalle, who was credited as the writer along with Van Damme. David Worth explains this: “When there were financial problems during pre-pre-production on Kickboxer, I drove into the producer’s offices in Century City everyday and worked on polishing the script, setting up the casting sessions, starting my storyboards and helping out on the publicity and ad campaign. I did this for over six months without a paycheck and without a contract. Eventually, my enthusiasm and persistence paid off as I was announced as the director of the film. I got up every day in Hong Kong and did my job as the Director of the film. I even shot many of the Main Title backgrounds while we were scouting locations in Bangkok. During post production I fulfilled my contract by delivering my Director’s Cut and leaving the rest of the post production to the producer.”

“A week before the film was due to be finished,” David Worth explains, “the producer informed me that he (DiSalle) was ‘sharing’ my credit [as the director] with me. I asked him if he wanted to kiss me? He asked, why?. [I said] because I like to be kissed when I’m being f*cked!”

One of the key elements to the film would be the fighting scenes. Working on Bloodsport helped Worth a little. “Yes, the experience of Bloodsport was amazing, but the Director Nute Arnold shot a lot of film – over 220,000 feet. On Kickboxer I wanted to be more efficient and I only shot about 125,000 feet. So we were not shooting as much coverage on our fights as we had done with Nute. Also, JCVD helped to make the film happen by coming on board as the star and his being an amazing martial artists made it easy for me to let him bring all of his creativity and expertise to the staging of the fight scenes.”

Besides Van Damme’s incredible skills, an important part of the fighting seen in Kickboxer belongs to Michel Qissi, who would later be cast as the villain Tong Po. After hearing that the production was looking for a taller oriental male, Qissi volunteered and won the role. Qissi and Van Damme during this period would share a lot of the credit for Van Damme’s fights in his films, namely Bloodsport, Kickboxer, and Lionheart. “From what I could see on both Bloodsport and Kickboxer, JCVD and Michel Qissi had been friends for a while,” Worth tells. “Qissi helped JCVD train and played a small part in Bloodsport. Then during pre-production on Kickboxer when we were looking for a Tong Po. Qissi eventually shaved his head and more or less became the character.”

Worth continues: “Since he knew how JCVD worked and what he needed to train and to make the fight scenes work, he was always careful on set to make sure that JCVD had whatever he needed. He was a good choice and I believe that Qissi brought a lot to the film both in front of and behind the cameras.” In the final fight with Tong Po (Qissi) and Kurt (JCVD), they laced their gloves with glass. Obviously, it wasn’t real glass, but their fight was intense, and as Worth explains incredibly well-planned. “Every move was very carefully an precisely rehearsed before we put it on film. Also, the initial glass going onto the gloves was real glass, but the gloves used in the actual fight was covered with colored plastic.”

One of the more popular moments in the film, is the bar scene where Van Damme is dancing drunk with some of the patrons dates. It’s become a Youtube sensation, as well as a fun scene showcasing Van Damme’s dancing skills. “As I recall the scene was scripted. We did the entire scene; the drinking, the dancing and the fighting, even the riding off on the bike, in one day. We simply started at the beginning and shot everything in sequence, and yes, we were working quickly. JCVD did a great job; he is a trained dancer who has very smooth moves and when it comes to the fighting, there is no one is better.”

Worth remembers working with Van Damme on-set and behind-the-scenes prior to filming, “he was amazing! Van Damme was very involved, as he liked all of my story boards for the dramatic scenes and he brought all of his creativity and expertise to the fight scenes.I thought it was a great collaboration.” After 20 years from Kickboxer‘s original theatrical release, its held up by the fans as an early Van Damme classic. “Obviously, no one can predict the audience’s reaction,” remakrs Worth, “if they could, every film would be a hit! I’m very pleased that Kickboxer has stood the test of time and along with Bloodsport has remained an all-time favorite of JCVD fans worldwide. We didn’t know it at the time, but the gods of luck, timing and production were smiling on us all as we managed somehow to create two films that became martial arts classics.”

The Film:

Usually an actor will have one or two iconic films that helped his/her status or career. Van Damme is a bit of an anomaly, having a couple of films that boosted his career and star status in the late eights and early nineties. Kickboxer is one of them, a key early film in his career that eventually shot him to super-stardom. Following the martial arts genre formula to a T, Kickobxer is still quite a lot of fun, 20 years later. Having one hit under his belt already, Bloodsport, Jean-Claude Van Damme mimics that success here. The film has all of those genre cliches: a revenge motive, the underdog heroics, the tournament style fighting, and of course, the training montage. It’s the film that also set in stone, the Van Damme conventions we all became to love.

More than any other martial arts film star, Van Damme had personality, a key distinction from his counterparts at the time. Where Steven Seagal was cold and calculating, Chuck Norris was just, um, Chuck Norris, Van Damme always played the underdog, the guy nobody took seriously but in the end succeeded, and that is a universal theme Americans love (I know JCVD was a huge international star too). That’s probably was the reason he became a bigger star than his counterparts; he was likable, funny, but he never says die, a term many people rally around.

Kickboxer isn’t really inventive, outside of being an early film example of the Muay Thai fighting style, now made incredibly famous by Tony Jaa. Van Damme plays the kid brother who witnesses his champion older brother lose a fight to the deadly Tong Po, who cripples him. Recognizing his brother’s fighting style was no match for the Muay Thai, Van Damme seeks out to learn this style to exact revenge. While far from original, it works for many of the reasons I have mentioned earlier. The fighting scenes are fun, but it’s the film’s other stuff that make it a worthwhile watch. The typical training scenes are fun, Van Damme is probably more personable here than in any other film, especially the groovy drunk dancing he does in the bar, while fighting some guys his mentor irks off. Also, Tong Po (Michel Qissi) is one mean bad guy, maybe one of Van Damme’s most ruthless enemies. Having the head shaped like a viper, he not only cripples his brother, but rapes Van Damme’s brother’s girlfriend, and gloats about it!

Kickboxer is also the first of many films that continued as a franchise after Van Damme. Odd, but hey, Van Damme was a huge name during the ’90s, making any would-be franchise and producer a buck. Here, though, with this film, Van Damme was getting established and proved to be his second big film, soaring him to the top. 20 years later, even with the 80′s tunes playing on the soundtrack, it’s still fun, perhaps the only reason it was made to begin with. If anyone doesn’t remember that awesome glass-and-glue laced kickboxing match at the end of the film, you just didn’t know cool 80′s Van Damme action was.

The Blu Ray:

Audio/Video: For the first time ever on U.S. Home video is the widescreen presentation of Kickboxer. The print isn’t perfect, far from it sadly, as it has plenty of print anomalies-scratches here and there, spots, but the high-def creates a nice sheen over it. The details are high and scenes in the jungle look vibrant. One wishes just a smidge more care went into it, though, as some will be disappointed, since it’s making its 1^st appearance in widescreen. The DTS audio rocks though for a 20 year old action film. Surrounds are light on action, but the bass was a pleasant surprise to hear.

Sadly, no extras outside of trailers for non-Van Damme films.

Conclusion: Kickboxer is a Van Damme classic; a lot of fun, with heart and soul, a career defining film. The Lionsgate Blu Ray is ho-hum, sadly.

The Film: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Blu Ray: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

The Film:

It’s been a while since we last seen Tony Jaa. Still, his stock as a martial arts superstar is at an all-time high, with 2005’s The Protector being a benchmark for his Muay Thai skills. The highly labeled “no stunt doubles, no wires, no CGI” returns here in a prequel/sequel Ong Bak 2: The Beginning and for the first time in a Tony Jaa film, there’s a decent story. If there was one complaint in his films, it’s that the stories serve as a crutch for his incredible Muay Thai martial arts, treating each fight as a demo reel. Like martial art fans cared. Tony Jaa might become one of our best martial arts stars, a place that is becoming void, with declining ages of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Van Damme, and others. But he needed a solid story, that would do much more than just showcase his talents, but use them in the context of the story.

For the most part, that’s what happens in Ong Bak 2. The story takes place in ancient times, telling of the classic and much-used tale of heroes, terrible warlords, and a troubling time, and while we’ve seen this plenty of times before, I’d say this film gets some slack, since the Thai culture aspects and landscapes added a few interesting things to the mix. Sure, it’s a cosmetic face lift, but to our Western eyes, it feels different. Plus, the bigger budget the film had really helps. We get sweeping vistas of Thailand, guards in awesome looking attire, and gorgeous cinematography. Since this film is a prequel to the events in the first Ong Bak, there’s some freedom in telling a story. Remember in Ong Bak, Ting’s (Tony Jaa) village had a Buddha statue where its head was stolen, and Ting goes off to find it. Here, Jaa plays Tien (a play on words from the first film’s character name), and ends with that statue coming into screen. These are nuggets of connecting points, and I’m sure in Ong Bak 3, it will lead up more into the history of the Ting’s village and the Buddha, but the ancient times really sets up for some barbaric fights. There is also some confusion if this really is a prequel to Ong Bak. Regardless, you can spot some connecting points

The fights are some of Jaa’s best, even if they don’t immediately standout. He’s in top form, and seems to have never missed a beat in the years since The Protector. The martial arts genre has explored a lot of different fighting styles throughout the years, and while JCVD used Muay Thai in Kickboxer nearly twenty years ago, even he never showcased this style to the full movie potential. Jaa has gained some depth as a movie star, and while he co-directs this with his long-time collaborator Panna Rittikrai, he knows what move looks good for the camera. There is a great fight centered around and on an elephant. Just remember, after Tein gets smashed through the elephant’s tusks, it’s all “no stunt double, no wires, no CGI”. Kindly remember to pick your jaw up off of the floor.

I’ve went on a bit on how this film gave Tony a story to work with, and while it does, the story is still quite ambiguous. There are some elements that look great visually, but we’re left scratching our heads about. A Tony Jaa fan, and even a martial arts fan won’t complain too much, since it helps the fights (which we all came for). With little dialogue, the film feels like a glorious silent film, with stunning cinematography and brilliant fight scenes, making any nitpicks on the ambiguous story mute. Also, this will help make Tony Jaa into a bigger star, since the lack of dialogue with please non-subtitle fans into enjoying the film, making Ong Bak 2: The Beginning Jaa’s most mainstream film to date. With all of the stale action fare Hollywood gives us yearly, it’s a blast to watch real martial artists do their thing, and right now, nobody does a martial art film like Tony Jaa.

Just don’t make us wait so long for Ong Bak 3.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Magnet’s high-def transfer looks really good, sometimes almost artificial. Colors are bold and bright, clarity is high and detailed, yet restrained and blurred. Now, it’s not a horrible transfer, most will really enjoy having this flick on high-def, but for the more experienced eye, it isn’t as good as it could have been. The DTS track is bombastic; deep bass, constant rear speaker activity, home theater will rumble. Good stuff.

Alternative Cut of Ong Bak 2: Now, the disc’s cover art is advertising the film with two cuts, different lengths. For European audiences, Leon: The Professional‘s director Luc Bresson’s company EuropaCorp cut about 10 minutes from the film, streamlining the action in attempts for giving it a more mainstream look. It’s interesting, and I expect some will enjoy it. I prefer the original intended cut, no matter how confusing at times I was.

Interviews with the Cast and Crew: We got 25 minutes of interviews, including Tony Jaa, all giving us deeper insights into the film’s production and stunt work. Good stuff, if repetitive.

HDNet: First Look at Ong Bak 2: EPK promotional piece. Eh. 2 minutes, in HD.

The Story and Character of an Epic, Revealing the Majesty, and The Art of War are all separate featurettes, running 6 to 8 minutes, but are thematically linked, as they give us a look into Jaa’s directorial debut. Short, but interesting.

Capturing a Warrior, The Kingdom, and The Community are short pieces like the one’s above, that are raw behind-the-scenes footage with no direction or voice over. They’re worth a look, especially since it’s candid footage, like seeing a medical emergency happen.

Ong Bak 3: Exclusive Footage: Don’t get too excited, even though I am, as this is an EPK style piece. Neat and can’t wait. A pair of Trailers round out the extras.

Conclusion: Jaa is back and it’s a delight. His best ever? I don’t know, as I like to see Jaa continue and produce in a more frequent manner. Regardless, Asian movie fans and martial art fans rejoice…Tony Jaa is back! Magnet’s Blu-ray is a good release too.

The Film: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

For the most part, that’s what happens in Ong Bak 2. The story takes place in ancient times, telling of the classic and much-used tale of heroes, terrible warlords, and a troubling time, and while we’ve seen this plenty of times before, I’d say this film gets some slack, since the Thai culture aspects and landscapes added a few interesting things to the mix. Sure, it’s a cosmetic face lift, but to our Western eyes, it feels different. Plus, the bigger budget the film had really helps. We get sweeping vistas of Thailand, guards in awesome looking attire, and gorgeous cinematography. Since this film is a prequel to the events in the first Ong Bak, there’s some freedom in telling a story. Remember in Ong Bak, Ting’s (Tony Jaa) village had a Buddha statue where its head was stolen, and Ting goes off to find it. Here, Jaa plays Tien (a play on words from the first film’s character name), and ends with that statue coming into screen. These are nuggets of connecting points, and I’m sure in Ong Bak 3, it will lead up more into the history of the Ting’s village and the Buddha, but the ancient times really sets up for some barbaric fights. There is also some confusion if this really is a prequel to Ong Bak. Regardless, you can spot some connecting points

The fights are some of Jaa’s best, even if they don’t immediately standout. He’s in top form, and seems to have never missed a beat in the years since The Protector. The martial arts genre has explored a lot of different fighting styles throughout the years, and while JCVD used Muay Thai in Kickboxer nearly twenty years ago, even he never showcased this style to the full movie potential. Jaa has gained some depth as a movie star, and while he co-directs this with his long-time collaborator Panna Rittikrai, he knows what move looks good for the camera. There is a great fight centered around and on an elephant. Just remember, after Tein gets smashed through the elephant’s tusks, it’s all “no stunt double, no wires, no CGI”. Kindly remember to pick your jaw up off of the floor.

I’ve went on a bit on how this film gave Tony a story to work with, and while it does, the story is still quite ambiguous. There are some elements that look great visually, but we’re left scratching our heads about. A Tony Jaa fan, and even a martial arts fan won’t complain too much, since it helps the fights (which we all came for). With little dialogue, the film feels like a glorious silent film, with stunning cinematography and brilliant fight scenes, making any nitpicks on the ambiguous story mute. Also, this will help make Tony Jaa into a bigger star, since the lack of dialogue with please non-subtitle fans into enjoying the film, making Ong Bak 2: The Beginning Jaa’s most mainstream film to date. With all of the stale action fare Hollywood gives us yearly, it’s a blast to watch real martial artists do their thing, and right now, nobody does a martial art film like Tony Jaa.

Just don’t make us wait so long for Ong Bak 3.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars